Summary
Harry Nelson, a fledgling attorney teetering on the brink of professional ruin, is thrust into a labyrinthine charade when the enigmatic Boris Norjunov, a man whose very silhouette suggests illicit dealings, solicits an ethically dubious favor. Harry's principled refusal ignites a cascade of events: moments later, the striking Jeanne Darcy bursts into his office, pleading for sanctuary while she transports a mysterious envelope destined for a secure deposit box. Compelled by a mixture of curiosity and a latent sense of duty, Harry escorts her, only for the pair to be ambushed and the envelope pilfered. That night, Boris violently detains Harry, sealing him within a locked chamber; Jeanne, in a paradoxical act of mercy, frees him after he glimpses their mirrored silhouettes locked in an intimate embrace. Weeks later, a summons from Jeanne lures Harry to a clandestine rendezvous where he witnesses Boris coercing Jeanne to execute a kidnapped heiress, Miss Lonsdale. The gun discharges, but the tableau shatters as Jeanne and Boris—revealed as her father—burst into laughter, confessing that the entire ordeal was a contrived performance designed to test Harry’s chivalry and secure a worthy husband for Jeanne. The film unfurls as a study in deception, gendered expectations, and the performative nature of honor, all rendered through the silent-era visual lexicon.
Synopsis
Harry Nelson, a struggling young lawyer, is approached by the shady-looking Boris Norjunov, who asks him to perform an unethical service. Harry indignantly refuses, and immediately after Boris' departure, a beautiful woman named Jeanne Darcy rushes in, begging Harry to protect her until she has placed a certain envelope in a safe deposit vault. Harry assents and accompanies her outside, where they are attacked and the envelope is stolen. Later that evening, Boris assaults Harry and locks him in a room. Jeanne releases him, but not until Harry has caught a mirrored reflection of her and Boris in an embrace. Several weeks pass before Harry receives a summons from Jeanne, and as he approaches their meeting place, he witnesses Boris threatening to kill her unless she shoots a kidnapped heiress, Miss Lonsdale. Harry is horrified when she fires the gun, but just then, Jeanne and Boris, actually her father, laughingly admit that the entire affair was staged so that she might find a truly chivalrous potential husband.
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