A Foolish Agreement - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

When Harry Wallace, coming home late at night, discovered a burglar in the act of rifling his father's safe, he disregarded the advice of the two young men who accompanied him, and instead of handing the man over to the police, he decided ...See moreWhen Harry Wallace, coming home late at night, discovered a burglar in the act of rifling his father's safe, he disregarded the advice of the two young men who accompanied him, and instead of handing the man over to the police, he decided to give him another chance and offered the surprised burglar the position of butler in the house. When the other young men protested against his foolish trust in the man, Harry proposed a novel test of their own characters. He proposed that each of them put 200inacertainsafeinordertoseehowlongtheycouldresistthetemptationoftakingit.WhenHarrymadethisproposal,heknewthathisfather′ssavingsbank,inwhichhiscompanions′moneywasdeposited,wouldbeobligedtosuspendpaymentforafewdays.HesuspectedthatMcClureandBennettmightfallinneedofmoney,andhewascurioustoseehowmuchresistancetheywouldoffertotemptation.Afewdayslater,thebankclosed.Ataboutthesametime,Harry′smotherwastakenveryill,andthedoctoradvisedthefamilythatachangeofclimatewastheonlythingthatcouldsaveherlife.BertMcClure,oneoftheyoungmenwhohadmadethewager,wasnippedbadlyinadropofthestockmarket,andputindesperateneedoffundsformoremargin.RalphBennett,theotheryoungman,losta200 in a certain safe in order to see how long they could resist the temptation of taking it. When Harry made this proposal, he knew that his father's savings bank, in which his companions' money was deposited, would be obliged to suspend payment for a few days. He suspected that McClure and Bennett might fall in need of money, and he was curious to see how much resistance they would offer to temptation. A few days later, the bank closed. At about the same time, Harry's mother was taken very ill, and the doctor advised the family that a change of climate was the only thing that could save her life. Bert McClure, one of the young men who had made the wager, was nipped badly in a drop of the stock market, and put in desperate need of funds for more margin. Ralph Bennett, the other young man, lost a 200inacertainsafeinordertoseehowlongtheycouldresistthetemptationoftakingit.WhenHarrymadethisproposal,heknewthathisfather′ssavingsbank,inwhichhiscompanions′moneywasdeposited,wouldbeobligedtosuspendpaymentforafewdays.HesuspectedthatMcClureandBennettmightfallinneedofmoney,andhewascurioustoseehowmuchresistancetheywouldoffertotemptation.Afewdayslater,thebankclosed.Ataboutthesametime,Harry′smotherwastakenveryill,andthedoctoradvisedthefamilythatachangeofclimatewastheonlythingthatcouldsaveherlife.BertMcClure,oneoftheyoungmenwhohadmadethewager,wasnippedbadlyinadropofthestockmarket,andputindesperateneedoffundsformoremargin.RalphBennett,theotheryoungman,losta500 payroll of which he was in charge. On the evening following the closing of the bank, several shadowy figures entered the drawing room of the Wallace home. When the lights were turned on, Harry Wallace, his father, his sister, Bert McClure, Ralph Bennett, his sweetheart Helen Wright, and Saunders,the butler, were discovered. The safe was open and the money gone. An intensely dramatic scene followed. A policeman was called and each of the people in the room confessed, for various reasons that he or she was the guilty party. Finally, Hetty Wallace produced the money, and confessed that she had taken it to save her brother from temptation. A telegram to Mr. Wallace, containing news that led to an announcement on his part that the bank would open in the morning, cleared matters up, and Harry Wallace decided to leave well enough alone from then on. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less