Dynamite (film) - Plot

Plot

Coal miner Hagon Derk (Charles Bickford) is sentenced to hang for murder. His only concern is for his young sister Katie (Muriel McCormac), who will be left all alone. Frivolous socialite Cynthia Crothers (Kay Johnson) has her own troubles. By the terms of her grandfather's will, if she is not married by her twenty-third birthday (only a month away), she will not inherit his millions and will be left penniless. She is "engaged" to Roger Towne (Conrad Nagel), but he is married to Marcia (Julia Faye). Marcia has her own lover, Marco (Joel McCrea), and is willing to grant Roger a divorce ... for the right price. The two women haggle behind Roger's back and settle on $100,000.

Hagon, desperate to provide for Katie, offers his body for $10,000 in a newspaper ad. Cynthia sees it and goes to see him. She offers him the money in exchange for him marrying her. He accepts. Just minutes before Hagon's execution though, the real killer is goaded into attacking a man with a gun and is fatally shot. He confesses before dying, and Hagon is released.

Hagon goes to see his stunned wife. When her friends show up to party the night away, he eavesdrops on a private conversation and learns of the bargain between Cynthia and Marcia. He shows Roger the $25,000 check in Marcia's possession: the down payment. Roger tears up the check and tells Cynthia they are through if she pays for him. Hagon leaves in disgust after flinging his $10,000 at her.

When Cynthia is informed that she must actually be living with her husband on her birthday, she drives to his mining town. He refuses to go back to her palatial apartment, so she persuades him to let her stay with him. He agrees on condition that she cook and clean, just like a real wife, and locks up her fancy car in his tool shed. Her first attempt at preparing a meal is a dismal failure. Katie kindly helps out and keeps it a secret from Hagon, but Cynthia confesses on her own. Hagon tells her it is the first honest thing he has seen her do.

The next day, while shopping at the local store, Cynthia buys a gift for a young boy. His mother objects, but the child runs away with his present and is hurt in a traffic accident. The doctor says that only a brain specialist in the city can save him, but the boy only has hours to live. Cynthia breaks into the tool shed, speeds away in her car and returns with the specialist. The child is saved.

Hagon returns from work to find the door of his tool shed demolished and learns that Cynthia withdrew $2000 from the bank (to pay the specialist). He assumes that she got tired of his way of life and went to see Roger. When Hagon demands an explanation, Cynthia is too disheartened to reply. She telephones Roger to come for her. However, the child's mother tells Hagon what Cynthia has done.

When Roger shows up, he insists on seeing Hagon before leaving. They go down into the bowels of the mine to find him. A cave-in traps the trio with only fifteen minutes worth of air. Hagon finally confesses he loves Cynthia. Then he realizes there is a way out. He quickly packs a stick of dynamite into a wall; there is another chamber on the other side with enough air to sustain them until they can be rescued. However, without a fuse cap, someone will have to strike the dynamite with a sledgehammer to set it off. After arguing, the two men toss a coin for the privilege. Roger "wins", but Hagon wrestles the sledgehammer away from him. After Cynthia whispers something to Roger, he tells Hagon that Cynthia has something to say to him. When Hagon goes to Cynthia, she confesses she loves him. With the two safely out of the way, Roger sets off the dynamite and is blown to pieces.