Summary
In the opening chapter of this 1927 serial, 'For Life and Liberty,' we are introduced to Fred Powers, a man whose identity is forged in the furnace of public service. As a stalwart member of the Danville Fire Department, Fred reaches a personal zenith by winning the annual Fire Fighter's Tournament. The victory is more than a trophy; it is the financial foundation for his future with Mary Kent. However, the American dream is often shadowed by industrial greed. Grant Stewart, a local power player with an eye on the lucrative water rights beneath Fred’s land, orchestrates a calculated descent for our hero. When sabotage at the races fails, Stewart resorts to the psychological warfare of the gambling den. Lured into the Kentucky Club, Fred is stripped of his winnings and his land in a rigged game. The tragedy compounds when Fred’s young son, Jimmie, is caught in the crossfire of a violent confrontation between Fred and the club’s corrupt owner, Fenton. As a stray lamp ignites the club, Fred must navigate a literal and metaphorical inferno to save his son, leaving his reputation and his home in ashes as the screen fades to a cliffhanger.
Synopsis
Chapter 1 - For Life and Liberty -Fred Powers (Lafe McKee), a widower and member of the Danville Fire Department, wins enough money on the victory of the Danville Brrigade in the annual Fire Fighter's Tournament to build a home for his future wife, Mary Kent (Helen Ferguson.) Grant Stewart (Al Hart), who seeks to gain control of Fred's homestead, upon of which is located valuable water possibilities, has tried to throw the race to the rival town so that Fred's resulting poverty would force a sale. Failing in his scheme, Stewart's henchmen get Powers into a crooked gambling game in which he loses all his money and then gives Stewart a deed to his homestead as security for a loan which he also loses. Fred's son Jimmie is sent by Mary Kent to the Kentucky Club to look for his father. Fearing that the boy's entrance will stop the play, the henchmen send the boy upstairs. Powers loses his all but discovers club owner Fenton's crooked play and accuses him. Fenton draws a gun but Powers shoots first. Fenton falls. Powers runs out. The players try to stop him. In doing so a lamp is overturned and the Kentucky Club goes up in flames. Risking arrest, Powers returns to rescue his son who is calling from the upper window for help. To Be Continued in Chapter 2 - Paths of Peril.
