Skyscraper Souls (1932)

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Skyscraper Souls (1932)

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Skyscraper Souls (1932)

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Skyscraper Souls (1932)

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The Dwight Building an elegant, one hundred story architectural wonder in New York City, is owned by banker David Dwight, who values the edifice more than anything. When the Board of Directors of Seacoast Bank, of which David is president, tells him that bank examiners may question the legality of the huge outstanding loan which he made to himself for the building, David determines to save his building at any cost. Even Sarah Dennis, David's mistress of many years and closest advisor, does not realize the extent to which David will go to keep the Building. Her love and loyalty to David has blinded her to the fact that his in-name-only wife Ella is merely an excuse not to marry Sarah, and that he ruthlessly goes after everything he wants. He tries to effect a merger with banker Hamilton, but is unsuccessful because Hamilton wants to remove David as president of the new bank. David then decides to pursue his old friend Charlie Norton of the Manhattan Bank. During a party in Norton's honor, David lures Sarah's secretary, Lynn Harding, up to his penthouse apartment. Lynn, an innocent girl who is devoted to Sarah, thinks that David wants her to deliver a report. When she arrives at the penthouse, she reluctantly takes a glass of champagne from David and soon becomes drunk. She then falls asleep on David's bed, forgetting that Tom Shepherd, a young bank teller with whom she is in love, is waiting for her downstairs. When Lynn awakens at three in the morning, David propositions her. She refuses him, then he takes her down to the lobby of the building, where Tom, who is hiding, sees them and assumes the worst. The next day, Tom angrily confronts Lynn and they break up when she says she doesn't want to marry anyone as jealous as he. When Lynn tearfully tells Sarah what has happened, Sarah takes Tom to lunch and explains, then encourages him to reconcile with Lynn. When he says that Lynn insists that they need more money to get married, she suggests that he take his savings and invest in Seacoast stock. Although Tom keeps his "insider" information secret, word spreads about the Seacoast-Manhatten merger and the stock soars. Soon people are investing everything they have, buying the stock on margin, certain that their dreams will come true. Meanwhile, Hamilton approaches David with a plan to make him and David rich by inflating the Seacoast stock, then selling short and ruining the rest of the stockholders. David eagerly accepts the plan, and some time later the stock rises to $350 a share, then plummets. Many people are wiped out when the stock drops, including Tom and Norton. When Norton confronts David, he is unremorseful and revels in the fact that he now owns the Dwight building outright. Almost everyone is against David, except Lynn, who decides to go with David to Europe when Tom's jealous outbursts continue. Sarah confronts David just before he is to leave, however, and begs him not to ruin Lynn's life the way he ruined hers. When he starts to leave, Sarah shoots him. Pretending not to be seriously injured, David tells his butler to get a doctor and wipes Sarah's fingerprints from the gun as he explains that he had an accident. He tells Sarah that he will always care for her, then dies. Realizing what she has done, Sarah then goes to the roof of the building and jumps off. Some months later, Ella sells the building and Lynn and Tom decide to start a new life together, realizing that money is not as important as they thought

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Skyscraper Souls (1932)

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Skyscraper Souls (1932)

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