Olsen's Big Moment

At the Cromwell Arms, janitor Knute Olsen tries to enjoy his night off but is harassed by telephone calls from demanding tenants and an unsympathetic manager, Jenkins. Tenants Mrs. Van Allen and her daughter Jane plan Jane's wedding to the rich Robert Brewster III, whose mother owns the building, although Jane loves another man, Harry Smith. Brewster arrives at the Van Allen apartment and Jane is disgusted by his drunken, nonsensical behavior. After Olsen helps Harry arrange a secret rendezvous with Jane, Jane gets angry when Harry insists that only her mother impedes their union and says she never wants to see him again. Mrs. Van Allen then orders Olsen to see Brewster to a cab, but Brewster instead drags Olsen with him to a speakeasy. Brewster approaches Virginia West, and when her protective brother, notorious gangster Joe "Monk" West, arrives, he erroneously assumes that Brewster is Virginia's secret lover, "Dapper" Danny Reynolds. Although he is disgusted that Virginia would be in love with an upper class playboy, Monk orders Brewster to marry her the next day and threatens to kill Olsen if he does not bring Brewster to City Hall at four o'clock. The next day at the West home, Virginia introduces Monk to her new husband, Danny. Happy that Virgina is married to Danny, who is also a criminal, Monk schemes with his brother-in-law to rob guests at Brewster and Jane's wedding, the anouncement of which Monk read in the newspaper that morning. They send their henchmen, Al and Elbows, to impersonate policemen and pretend to watch the presents. As the wedding guests arrive, the intoxicated Brewster realizes that he cannot marry both Virginia and Jane and offers to commit suicide to save Olsen from Monk's wrath when they fail to appear at City Hall. Olsen relates his predicament to Al and Elbows when they arrive, and they offer their protection. Brewster makes desultory attempts at suicide throughout the pre-nuptial proceedings, and a now grief-deranged Harry tells Olsen that he will kill Jane, Brewster, Olsen and himself if Olsen cannot prevent the wedding. While Olsen saves Brewster, who is about to jump from the building's roof, Monk and Danny arrive for the robbery. When Harry threatens to kill Brewster, Brewster turns the gun on himself, saying that he cannot marry Jane because of the scandal surrounding his potential bigamy. Meanwhile, Olsen locks Danny and Monk in another room and relates his actions to Al and Elbows, who proceed to hold up the guests. A fight ensues between the guests and the thieves with Olsen stealing a gun and saving the day before detectives arrive and take the crooks away. Jane is unperturbed and sits on Harry's lap in her bedroom during the entire fiasco. Brewster stays contentedly drunk, while his mother fires Jenkins and makes the capable Olsen the apartment manager.