After praying at the famous Tree of Hope for a job, Jean Stratton asks people on the street how long she has to pray at the tree before she gets work. A crowd soon gathers, and a police officer begins to arrest Jean until the wealthy Money Johnson intercedes and offers her a job at his new Acme Theatre. The next day, Bill, one of Johnson’s employees, begs for money for food from the stage manager, telling him that he lost all his money gambling. Meanwhile, in his office, Johnson dictates to his secretary, Miss West, a letter to a man named Wolf, which discusses the chiselling away of Johnson’s Philadelphia business by a man named Moran in Harlem. After instructing Wolf to threaten the chisellers with death, Johnson eyes Miss West’s legs and then makes a pass at her. Their subsequent kiss is interrupted by Jean, to whom Johnson relates the story of his rise to success. Johnson then warns Jean to never double-cross him and to always agree with him. When Jean is taken to meet Bill, she is introduced as Johnson’s protégée. Bill and his pal, Chummy Walker, tell Jean that she must repay her debt to Johnson, and then take her to their boardinghouse, where she will be staying. On the day of the dress rehearsal, Johnson warns Walker to stay away from Jean and then sends out an invitation to her for a “private party” in his office. Meanwhile, in the dressing room, Bill brings Jean flowers and she kisses him. On his way out, Bill encounters Walker and tells him that Jean loves him, and Walker congratulates him. During a dance number, Johnson receives a telephone call from a woman named Greta Rae, who wants to see him. Johnson tells her that he does not have time for her, but when Greta threatens to go to the district attorney with information about his new policy racket, he changes his mind. Later, when Walker tells Jean that she is not safe under Johnson’s supervision and that she should leave, she insists that she can take care of herself. Walker insists that she go and tells her that he cannot stand up to Johnson in a fight, which results in Jean calling him a coward and marching off to Johnson’s office. In the office, Johnson makes advances toward Jean, but she resists. When Bill bursts into Johnson’s office and demands that Jean leave with him, Johnson threatens him, and the two men fight. Bill wins and he and Jean leave. The next morning, after Bill and Jean are expelled from Johnson’s club, they resolve to find other jobs. A month passes, during which Walker becomes a drunk and Bill and Jean live together. One day, Bill receives a letter from Walker, who writes that he “can’t go on this way,” and that he is leaving. Bill, who is now working at Moran’s theatre, goes to a bar with his friend Spider, where he sees Walker, who is drunk, and they take him to Bill’s home. Later, Johnson summons Walker to his office to let him in on his latest scheme, a new machine that takes the kink out of black people’s hair. Johnson tells Walker that he wants to “float” the stock around Harlem first and then offers Walker stock and money to simply lend his name to the deal and not to mention Johnson’s name at all. Walker agrees to do it and leaves. When Greta shows up at Johnson’s office, her conversation with him reveals that he is trying to set up Walker because he thinks Walker is trying to take Jean away from him. Meanwhile, the district attorney begins an investigation into the hair kink racket, which results in Walker being indicted on charges of fraud. Upon learning this, Spider, to whom Walker sold a share of the stock, vows to get even with Walker. While visiting Walker at the police station, Jean learns that Johnson is behind the racket, but because Walker is afraid of Johnson, she decides to keep quiet. Later, Jean and Bill question Greta, hoping that she will implicate Johnson, but Greta does not cooperate with them until Jean forces her to do so by fighting with her. Greta’s statement results in Walker’s vindication and Johnson’s indictment. After Spider kills Johnson, Bill realizes that Jean and Walker are right for each other and leaves them to begin life anew. More on Wikipedia
Watch Harlem Is Heaven (1932)
