Summary
Jimmy Humphrey, a tipsy everyman, surfaces from a bathtub to find his own chest defaced by a cryptic imperative—‘Buy Jerusalem Steel’—inked in swaggering capitals across his shirtfront. Interpreting this graffiti as a missive from the gods of fortune, he cadges capital from his future father-in-law, John Thorndyke, and plunges into the market with the heedless ardor of a gambler intoxicated by the scent of destiny. When the shares collapse, the old man’s benevolence evaporates, replaced by a creditor’s snarl. Cornered, Jimmy hatches a baroque deceit: he will stage his own gory demise, leaving a hat bobbing in the river and a bloodied knife glinting like an exclamation mark in the mud. Assisted by his fiancée Barbara and the ever-accommodating Taylor, he vanishes into the hinterland, only to be waylaid by itinerant thieves who strip him of identity and wardrobe, reducing him to a tramp’s patchwork anonymity. Arrested for the very murder he invented, Jimmy stands in the dock while Barbara and Taylor face indictment as accessories. Yet in the eleventh-hour twist that silent-era audiences craved, Jerusalem Steel’s dormant ticker erupts, flooding Thorndyke’s coffers with gold. The old man’s rage dissolves into magnanimity; the gavel falls not on doom but on a wedding bell.
Synopsis
Following a jovial evening, Jimmy Humphrey awakens in his bathtub to find "Buy Jerusalem Steel" written on his shirt. Playing a hunch, he borrows money from his future father-in-law, John Thorndyke, to buy 5,000 shares. However, the stock falls and John demands that Jimmy make good on the loss. Refusing to give up on his hunch, Jimmy conspires with his fiancée Barbara, and a friend, Taylor, to fake his death by leaving his hat and a bloodstained knife in a conspicuous place. While traveling to the country, Jimmy is set upon by thieves, stripped of his clothing, and outfitted as a tramp. He is then arrested for his own murder, and Barbara and Taylor are charged as accessories. As John is about to post bail for the prisoners, he discovers that Jerusalem Steel's stock has dramatically increased in value. His wealth restored, John gives his blessing to Jimmy and Barbara.
