One Third of a Nation 1939

On a night when a fire roars through a run-down New York City tenement, a young boy named Joey Rogers scrambles toward a faulty fire escape that collapses, leaving him badly injured. His much older sister, Mary Rogers, rushes him to the hospital with the help of the wealthy Peter Cortlant, who covers the medical bills on the spot. Cortlant is informed by his trusted ally and business mind, Arthur Mather, that he actually owns the building where the fire occurred.

The local district attorney digs into the incident and explains that the tenement’s age makes it exempt from modern building safety codes. Since no tenants had previously lodged complaints, no crime is straightforwardly established. When Cortlant visits the burned site, he is warned to steer clear of Mary Rogers by her boyfriend, Sam Moon, a tension that foreshadows the social and personal ramifications of the case.

Mary learns of Cortlant’s ownership of the building and, frustrated by the situation, takes Joey out of the hospital. The boy, crippled and increasingly delusional, believes the building itself is speaking to him and he vows revenge on the tenement. In the meantime, Mary meets again with Peter Cortlant and persuades him to consider converting his decrepit properties into public housing and to rebuild them for the city’s benefit.

Cortlant’s cost concerns, however, weigh heavily. His sister, Ethel Cortlant, grows worried about the project and resorts to blackmail—threatening to reveal an alleged affair with Mary to the press in an effort to derail the plan. The moral and financial stakes climb as the plot moves toward a brutal turn of events.

Tragically, Joey dies after setting fire to the tenement, a blow that ripples through everyone involved. In the wake of his death, Sam Moon tells Cortlant that he will marry Mary to shield her from scandal, a revelation that clears a path for Cortlant to push forward with his redevelopment plan. The result is a complex tapestry of ambition, tragedy, and social reform that frames the uneasy balance between humanitarian aims and personal interests.