Mona LaRue, while preparing to go on a date, encounters a drunken neighbor on the stairs of her cheap apartment building in midtown Manhattan. The drunk says he is bringing in a stick of dynamite that he stole from his employer to hide under his mattress; when he acquires enough, he says, he plans to sell the dynamite to a rival construction company. Believing the drunk to be daft, Mona pays no attention to him. She then encourages her lonesome neighbors, Millie, a tall, lanky, ungainly and naïve woman, and her attractive, but innocent friend Peggy, both newcomers to the city, to go “walking down Broadway” to attract men. Peggy refuses to flirt, but agrees to go with Millie, and in front of a store, two men, Jimmy, also new to the city, and Mac, a loud tout, begin a conversation. Millie is very attracted to Jimmy, who is interested in Peggy, but Mac quickly takes Peggy’s arm as they walk down the street. They go to Coney Island, where Jimmy angrily pushes Mac away after Mac forces Peggy to stay put on top of a contraption which blows women’s dresses up. Although Peggy wants to go home, Millie, who thinks Jimmy is crazy about her, convinces her to go dancing with them at a Chinese restaurant. On the way home, Jimmy finds a dog who has been hit by a car, and Peggy offers iodine in the apartment. As they walk by a construction ditch, Millie falls into an open sewer and Jimmy rescues her. Peggy takes Millie upstairs for a hot bath and then joins Jimmy and Mac, whom Mona, interested in Mac, has invited in. When Mona and Jimmy are preparing sandwiches, Mac tries to kiss Peggy. She slaps him after a struggle and runs out. Jimmy takes a sandwich up to Peggy, and they both confess that they never picked up anyone before. As they stand together on a chair on top of a table, Peggy shows Jimmy a view of the stars through her skylight, and they kiss. Jimmy leaves her apartment early the next morning, as they both have become very much in love. Mac, peering from the door of Mona’s apartment, sees Jimmy leave and goes to Peggy’s room. Mona, who has discovered that the ring Mac has given her is glass, follows, and when she finds Mac struggling with Peggy on her bed, she fights him. Their brawl carries them into the hall, down the stairs and back into her apartment. Three months later, Jimmy and Peggy plan to move to a house they can rent in Long Island, if Jimmy can get a raise. When Peggy learns from a doctor that she is pregnant, she cries and considers herself “bad,” but Jimmy is ecstatic, and they plan to marry the next day, Christmas Eve. The next day, Jimmy convinces his boss in the bank to promote him to the bond department. When Mac learns about the planned marriage, he tells Jimmy that he went to Peggy’s room after Jimmy left on the night they met. Jimmy slugs Mac and goes to Peggy’s apartment. Finding Millie there, he questions her about Peggy. Because Jimmy laughs at Millie, she says that she and Peggy have picked up many men and that Peggy took up with him because she wanted to get even with Mac for throwing her over for Mona. Jimmy finds Peggy in the rain and asks her about Mac’s and Millie’s accusations. Angry because he has believed them, Peggy does not dispute the allegations. The drunk then brings some nitro glycerine into the building. Peggy comes crying to her room and locks herself in. Greatly upset, Millie finds Jimmy on the street and explains what really happened, telling him that she lied because she was jealous. Jimmy punches Mac and their fight is interrupted by an explosion in the apartment building. Jimmy runs through the flames to Peggy’s room, but cannot get in, so he climbs to the roof, breaks the skylight and enters. He carries Peggy to the roof, and then across a beam to the next building, as other tenants jump from windows. After the fire is put out, Jimmy explains that he was crazy with jealousy and realized that he wouldn’t want to live if anything happened to Peggy. He asks for forgiveness, and they kiss. More on Wikipedia or Mubi
Watch Hello, Sister! (1933)
