"Dynamite" (13December1929) A Cecil B DeMille Photoplay

Coal miner Hagon Derk is sentenced to hang for murder. His only concern is for his young sister Katie, who will be left all alone. Frivolous socialite Cynthia Crothers 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, but he is married to Marcia. Marcia has her own lover, Marco, 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 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 sees Cynthia writing a $25,000 check as a down payment to Marcia and discussing the terms of their agreement. Hagon grabs the check stashed in Marcia's garter and shows it to Roger as proof that he has been made a pawn. Roger tells Cynthia that he will settle with Marcia himself, but if Cynthia gives her the check, they are through. Cynthia rips up the check as Marcia threatens to expose the plot. The pair go downstairs where Cynthia reveals that she married another man. When Hagon reveals he is her husband, Cynthia is made a laughingstock. Hagon throws out the partygoers, which frightens the men and arouses the women. Cynthia shows little appreciation for his saving her from the mockery and locks herself in her room. Hagon breaks down her door. After a brief confrontation, Hagon flings $10,000 at her and leaves.

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 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. 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 $2,000 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 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 wants to say goodbye to him. When Hagon goes to Cynthia, he asks her to get on with saying what she needs to say. Confused, she reveals that she said she loves Hagon. With the two safely out of the way, Roger sets off the dynamite and is blown to pieces. As Hagon carries Cynthia into the opened chamber, he tells her that he was wrong about Roger - that he was a brave man after all.