प्लॉट

Broadway's most successful producer, John Forrester, is deeply in love with his wife Margaret and dreams of the future when his son Jack will step into his shoes. He sails to England to produce a show but the ship strikes a derelict wreckage and is sinking rapidly. In the ensuing wild panic, Forrester saves many lives, until finally, panic stricken by sudden fear, he dons a woman's clothes and is among the rescued. On the coast of Newfoundland, the villagers, not aware of his true identity, curse him but he is befriended by Alec who helps him conceal his identity. With a planned story of his survival, he returns to New York but cannot face his family or friends after he sees the plaque to his heroism on his New York theatre. Deciding to remain thought of as dead, he becomes a derelict himself, surviving on odd jobs as he watches from afar his now-grown son begin his career as a producer. The son meets with failure and Forrester, claiming to be an old friend of his father, goes to him and renders assistance as Jack works on a new play. It is a success and Jack brings his mother to meet his mentor. She recognizes him as her husband and, after Jack has left the room, the two of them decide they still have happiness ahead of them, without Jack having to know the truth.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

A famous theatrical impresario acts heroically when the ship he is traveling on sinks. He saves many lives, but at the last minute saves his own by an act of cowardice. When he returns at last to his home, he learns that he is believed to be heroically dead, and that revealing his return will also reveal his cowardice.—Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

Eminent playwright John Forrester departs for London to work on his new play, The Sun Rises , while Margaret, his wife, stays behind with their young son Jackie. John's passenger liner hits a floating wreck and sinks. As the lifeboats are lowered, women and children board first, and John gives his life preserver to a woman named Henrietta Crosland. The shock of the disaster causes John to lose consciousness and later he is found dressed in women's clothes when the lifeboats are rescued by Newfoundland fisherman. Because John thinks he is a coward, he says he is fellow passenger Peter Korotoff before lapsing into a long illness. Meanwhile Henrietta tells the newspapers how John saved her, and he is assumed to have died a heroic death. Another passenger, Alec Klein, learns John's real identity and, when John has recovered, sends him back to New York. Alec urges John to reveal himself, but John imagines that the fishermen would expose his cowardice if he admitted his identity, and so he adopts the alias of Eric Jann, and watches his son from a distance. John works for years as a dishwasher and waiter. Meanwhile, Jack attends Eastmore University, where he produces a successful play. Jack believes he has inherited his father's talent and quits school to take his play to Broadway, where it flops. John, who avidly follows Jack's career in the newspapers, loses his job when he attends the play's opening night. Afterward, John introduces himself to Jack as an old friend of his father, and convinces him to collaborate on a new play. When the play is a success, Jack tries to introduce John to his friends, but fearing recognition, John flees the theater. Jack brings Margaret to John's apartment. When Margaret recognizes John, they decide to reunite somewhere far away, and to never reveal the truth to Jack.