Crashing Through Danger

Three linemen--flirtatious, reckless Torchy, somber Slim and serious, shy Eddie--repair the city's power lines and are continually reprimanded for their happy-go-lucky behavior by their supervisor, Pop Foster. One afternoon, Pop is awarded a twenty-five year service pin for his sterling record by the superintendent, Mr. Carter. After the ceremony, during which Pop's pin is put on by his daughter Ann, Pop and his men go on an emergency service call. Pop goes down in a manhole to investigate the situation, and through Torchy's negligence, is killed in an explosion. The three friends gently break the grim news to Ann and vow to care for her. They decide to ask her to be their housekeeper and determine to treat her as a sister. Ann refuses their offer at first, but then changes her mind and moves them into her home. The companions live happily for three months, although each of the men gradually become romantically attracted to Ann. Ann carefully conceals her own growing affection for Eddie and helps him study to become a scientist in the test laboratory. On Ann's twentieth birthday, the men take her out to dinner, but the evening is ruined when they brawl with the friends of a man who has been annoying Ann. Slim comforts Ann at home and, mistakenly interpreting her kiss to mean that she loves him, announces to Torchy and Eddie that he is marrying Ann. Both Torchy and Eddie are consumed with jealousy, and after they leave, Ann angrily tells Slim that she will not marry him. Slim guesses that she is in love with Eddie, and after he joins the others on an emergency call, he tells Eddie that he has important news for him. Slim is electrocuted and falls to his death from a power pole before he can tell Eddie the truth about Ann's feelings, however, and Eddie and Torchy quarrel violently when Eddie thinks that Torchy is moving in on Ann. Eddie, who has received approval from Carter to work for Dr. Michaels in the laboratory, breaks off his friendship with Torchy and Ann and leaves their home. Soon after, a tremendous hurricane hits the city, and the linemen are overwhelmed with more dangerous work than they can handle. Torchy receives a call to repair the hospital's power lines, and after he rushes off, Ann goes to plead with Eddie to help him. Eddie at first refuses, but Ann persuades him that without his help, Torchy faces certain death from the live wires, and the pair go to help him. As Eddie is climbing the pole, Torchy is hit by a wire and loses consciousness, but Eddie rescues him and takes him to the hospital. Later, Torchy convalesces in the hospital as his burned arms heal, and he flirts with the nurses, while Eddie and Ann kiss.