Summary
A velvet-gloved saboteur, Ludwig Schumann, lingers amid the marbled hush of a San Antonio grand-hall, awaiting coded whispers from the Black Legion; across the lobby, Marion Washburn—Senator’s daughter, lantern-jawed fiancé in tow—ignites a spark of longing that fractures his ideological armor. Enter James Walbert, carbon-copy stranger, all-American grin slicing through the cigar haze; a courier misidentifies him, palms him a photograph of Wanda Bartell, fabled femme-fatale slated to rendezvous on a fog-choked Gulf-bound steamer. Walbert, sensing destiny’s curveball, trusses up Schumann in a broom closet and boards the paddle-wheeler where Wanda’s cigarette holder glows like a fox-fire and Marion’s fiancé clutches naval blueprints destined for Wall Street. In Manhattan’s gas-lit caverns the Legion’s penthouse hive commands Walbert and Wanda to filch the plans; Wanda’s mickey-finissimo topples the fop, yet Walbert pivots, snatches the dossier, races back to denounce the cabal—only to confront the freed Schumann and a ring of revolvers. Marion, radioing the bulls, arrives with sirens wailing, transforming penthouse intrigue into bullet-riddled tableau, loyalty rewritten in gun-smoke and star-spangled redemption.
Synopsis
While waiting in a hotel lobby for instructions from his government, Ludwig Schumann, an agent of the Black Legion, is enchanted by Marion Washburn, the daughter of a Texas senator. As he is about to speak to the girl, Schumann is stunned to see a young American enter who could be his double. The American is James Walbert, whom Schumann's contact mistakes for the agent. The contact passes to Walbert a photograph of a woman spy, Wanda Bartell, whom the agent is to meet aboard a steamer. Walbert realizes the mistake and determines to protect his country. After overpowering Schumann, Walbert rushes to the steamer where he meets Wanda. Also aboard are Marion and her fiancé, Herbert Cornell, a Washington fop who is trying to prove his earnestness by transporting secret plans to New York. Arriving in New York, Wanda and Walbert report to the Black Legion headquarters where they are instructed to procure Cornell's plans. Wanda succeeds in drugging Cornell, but Walbert intervenes, seizes the plans and returns to headquarters, intent upon smashing the organization. He is greeted by Schumann, who has exposed the spy, and is hopelessly outnumbered until the police arrive, having been summoned by Marion.
