With Bridges Burned - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

The first scene shows the office of Comer & Mathison, contractors, and the dismissal of Louis Mitchell, a salesman, not because of his lack of ability but because of the hard times which make it necessary for the firm to cut down expenses....See moreThe first scene shows the office of Comer & Mathison, contractors, and the dismissal of Louis Mitchell, a salesman, not because of his lack of ability but because of the hard times which make it necessary for the firm to cut down expenses. Mitchell pleads hard for his position and for the opportunity to do great things for the firm, and intimates that he cannot accept dismissal because he has just been married. This argument, while a good one, does not appeal to the hard-headed business man, and even Mitchell's producing of the photograph of the "only girl" fails to convince the older man. So Mitchell is obliged to go home to the little wife and tell her that they are now without an income. But is she dismayed? Not in the slightest degree. She is true blue, and evidently equal to the emergency. After a moment's comforting of the downcast husband, she tells him that she has a position, an undertaking, waiting for him. She has seen in the paper the announcement that a big English syndicate is to rebuild the mining plants destroyed by the Boers during the war in South Africa. The contract involves about three million dollars, and she thinks it is just about the size contract that her husband should go after and get. The idea is so absurd and so wild that Mitchell cannot accept it at first, and argues strenuously against it, finally concluding with the unanswerable statement that the firm would not finance his visit to London to go after the contract. But even this does not cause the young lady's determination to waver. She announces that she has a little money in the bank which she has saved up, and that she will become financial backer of the enterprise. The fact that she has only a thousand dollars, and that the undertaking would naturally require about three or four thousand, is hardly an argument worth considering, and after a few more fruitless attempts to dissuade her, Mitchell, fearing to lose the proud position which he holds in the young wife's eyes, determined to go and do his American best to win the contract away from the rival concern on the other side. Of course, the firm, having nothing to lose, are not loath to let him make the attempt; and we see him at the bank with the little wife withdrawing the last money of her savings, and then at the pier, where she bids him good-bye and waves her handkerchief as the ship steams off down New York Harbor. In London he finds the business methods very different from those in America, and runs up against a snag by reason of a rival salesman, who is a little fearful of this American invasion, having conspired with the head clerk in the office to throw obstacles in his way. But, worse than that, when he finally succeeds in seeing the Director-General of the big syndicate he learns that the mass of blueprints which he will be required to figure upon would normally take about three weeks' time to go through, while he has but five days in which to complete this tremendous work. Nothing but the thought of the little girl who believes in him carries him through the attempt, which he makes with a gallantry worthy of knights of old. He locks himself in his hotel room and, without sleeping and barely taking time to eat in the five days and nights that follow, he goes through the mass of material and completes his work at the very last moment. But the rival salesman, knowing the situation, has contrived with the head clerk to set the clock ahead in the offices of the syndicate, so that when our half-frenzied hero arrives with his figures he is informed that he is five minutes too late, and that the legal hour for handing in the estimates has passed. If he had not worked five days and nights without sleep he probably would not be so easily turned aside, but the blow is too much for him and, dropping the precious documents on the floor, he staggers out of the office, crushed and well-nigh frantic. We see the little office boy pick up the envelope and put it in his coat pocket. Then the scene shifts back to the lonely little girl waiting in New York and to the unexpected arrival of her husband, who has not brought the contract back with him. Of course she is loyal and brave and tries to comfort him, but their hearts are nearly broken. Then there comes a telegram which makes the young husband believe that he is out of his head, for it is from his own firm and announces that the contract has been awarded to them, and that he is therefore made their General Sales Manager at a big salary. Of course, we can guess that the little office boy knew the plot and handed the papers in, and like the two young people, we would like to have hugged the office boy for his help. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less