Synopsis
The film opens with Dr. Harvey (or "Doc" as he is known to the locals) relating to the audience an odd tale that took place in his peaceful village.
Bill and Robin are boyhood friends who compete for the affections of Lena, a beautiful girl about their own age. In adulthood, the two men collaborate on the invention of the Reproducer, a machine that can exactly duplicate physical objects.
Lena comes back into the picture, reviving the childhood feelings in the two men. In time, they abandon their work on the Reproducer, Robin going away to learn his family's business. Bill is disappointed to discover that Lena loves Robin and intends to marry him.
Seeing the hopelessness of winning Lena for himself, Bill convinces the young woman to allow him to use the Reproducer to create a duplicate of her. The experiment succeeds, and Bill names the woman he has created "Helen."
Unfortunately, the experiment has worked too well, and when Helen is introduced to Robin, she falls hopelessly in love with him too. Bill decides his last chance is to use electro-shock to erase Helen's memory.
Helen agrees to give it a try, and Bill convinces Lena to help him with the procedure, manipulating some of the electronic equipment. The process seems to work, but the apparatus overheats and explodes, causing a terrific fire.
Robin arrives with Dr. Harvey, who has explained the situation to him, and manages to rescue a woman from the fire. Bill and the other woman perish in the flames.
There is some tension around the idea of which woman Robin has saved, Lena or Helen, especially when Dr. Harvey discovers that the woman has no memory. However, Dr. Harvey recalls that Bill had had to start Helen's heart with a device that he attached to the back of her neck, leaving two scars. Robin is relieved to find that there are no marks on the neck of the woman he has rescued: It is Lena.
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