Summary
In an incisive critique of American nouveau riche aspirations, 'The Pretenders' unveils the tumultuous journey of the Pettingills, a Middle-Western family catapulted into immense wealth by an oil strike. Matriarch Maria and daughter Helen, insatiable in their social climbing, drag patriarch Silas to a Fifth Avenue mansion, only to find their newfound affluence inadequate without aristocratic connections. Helen, consumed by romanticized notions of royalty, laments her lack of titled acquaintances. Wearied by their incessant social striving, Silas impulsively befriends a charming taxi driver, Hubert Stanwood, bringing him home for the night. Faced with his wife's interrogations, Silas, in a moment of panic, fabricates an identity for Stanwood, introducing him as 'Count Erfitt.' This initial deception snowballs, as the Pettingills eagerly integrate the 'Count' into their lavish social calendar, with Helen quickly falling for his unassuming charm. Meanwhile, a sinister undercurrent emerges with the arrival of Macklin Thurston, who, posing as the 'Earl of Bradwood,' is actually a fraudulent claimant to Stanwood's true ancestral title. Unbeknownst to Hubert, he is the genuine heir, his grandfather and father having recently passed. Thurston, a proprietor of an international employment agency, deploys two conniving crooks, Rita and Dugan, into the Pettingills' Adirondack lodge, setting the stage for a dramatic house party. A genuine romance blossoms between Helen and Hubert, culminating in an engagement, but Thurston, orchestrating a malicious scheme, compels Rita to compromise Hubert, leading Helen to break off their engagement and align herself with the false Earl. As Hubert desperately seeks to expose Thurston, his own fabricated identity as a 'Count' is revealed, further cementing Helen's disillusionment. The narrative reaches its crescendo amidst a chaotic lawn fete and a botched jewel heist by Thurston's accomplices, wherein Hubert, though injured, prevents the theft. In a climactic twist, a lawyer arrives, unmasking Thurston and unequivocally identifying Hubert Stanwood as the authentic Earl of Bradwood, restoring order and paving the way for the rightful heir's reunion with a now enlightened Helen.
Synopsis
When Silas Pettingill strikes oil and becomes immensely wealthy, his wife Maria and their daughter Helen demand to move from their Middle-Western home to a mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Even then they are dissatisfied, for they have so fashionable friends. Helen is constantly reading books about royalty, and she bewails her fate because she knows no lords or earls. Wearying of their complaints, Silas goes out and makes friends with a taxicab driver, as agreeable young man named Hubert Stanwood, and as the hour grows late, takes him home with him to bed. In the morning Mrs. Pettingill demands to know who the stranger is. Not daring to tell her he has brought home only a chauffeur, he introduces Stanwood as Count Erfitt. Mrs. Pettingill runs to tell Helen the glad news, and they plan a series of social functions to introduce their guest. Soon the "Count" is seen everywhere with Helen. He does not want to pose under false colors, but Pettingill implores him not to let them know that he has deceived them. At a tea-dance they met Macklin Thurston, who is introduced to them as the Earl of Bradwood. Stanwood starts when he hears the name, for his own grandfather is the heir. He does not know that both have died, and that Thurston, discovering that the second son, Hubert, has been missing for several years, has appeared as a false claimant for the title. Stanwood decides to say nothing, but to investigate. Thurston is really the proprietor of an international employment agency. He uses this position to supply Huntington Lodge, the Adirondack home of the Pettingills, with two servants, Rita and Dugan, who are clever crooks. Both Thurston, as the Earl, and Stanwood, as the Count, are invited to a house party at the Lodge. Helen and Stanwood have fallen in love with each other at their first meeting. Stanwood proposes, and Helen accepts him. But Thurston tells Rita she must find a way to compromise Stanwood. She does so, and Helen breaks her engagement to Stanwood, and announced her engagement to Thurston, known as "the Earl." Stanwood engages a detective to unmask Thurston, but he has manufactured credentials, and Stanwood himself is unmasked as a false count by a man who knew him as a chauffeur. Helen orders him to drive her guests back to their hotel from the lawn fete that is in progress. Thurston goes to Helen's room and tries to persuade her to elope with him, but she refuses. Under cover of night, Rita and Dugan attempt to steal Helen's jewels. Stanwood returns in time to prevent them, but he is injured in the struggle, and when Helen enters she thinks it is he who is the thief. Still loving him, however, she urges him to escape, but the real thieves are apprehended. Detective Burke is about to take both Thurston and Stanwood into custody, not knowing which one of them is the tales Earl of Bradwood, when the lawyer arrives from New York and identifies Stanwood as the genuine Earl. Thurston is led away, and Stanwood and Helen, soon to be Lady Bradwood, are reunited.
