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PSMITH JOURNALIST |
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An adaptation of "Psmith, Journalist" by P.G. Wodehouse Logline An eccentric Englishman battles New York slum landlords and criminals in his attempt to raise the profile of a boring daily newspaper. Synopsis Psmith (the “P” is silent) is a monocle wearing upper middle class English socialist. He has a habit of referring to all acquaintances as “comrade” and is able to place the most optimistic interpretation on what for many would be distinctly uncomfortable situations. Psmith has accompanied his friend Mike Jackson on a cricketing tour of the United States. In new York he befriends William Windsor, the acting editor of Cosy Moments, a rather insipid publication. Windsor is in charge of the paper while the full-time editor, J Fillken Wilberfloss, is taking a much needed break. Psmith decides to help his new friend liven up the newspaper. He fires most of the existing staff then begins writing a series of articles about slum landlords. The tenements of Pleasant Street, a particularly squalid New York neighbourhood, are his target. His writing brings him into conflict with Stuart Waring, the Pleasant Street proprietor. Waring tries to bribe Psmith and Windsor and, when that does not work, hires the Three Points gang to kill them. But Psmith is not deterred. He hires Kid Brady, an up and coming boxer, to act as the newspaper’s bodyguard. When Kid Brady is forced to withdraw his services, Psmith hires Bat Jarvis, a notorious criminal and cat fancier, to take his place. When the police throw Windsor into gaol on trumped up charges Parker, one of Waring’s offsiders, tricks Psmith into taking a ride into the country. There Parker plans to kill him. With the assistance of Kid Brady, who is training in a nearby camp, Psmith outsmarts Parker and returns to New York. There he is met by the returned editor Wilberfloss and the contributors Psmith had fired. An ugly confrontation is avoided when Psmith tells them that he has purchased the newspaper and Windsor has fulfilled his ambition of finding a job on a great metropolitan daily. Cosy Moments will go back to its previous style. But first there is the matter of Stuart Waring, the slum landlord. Psmith takes the editor the and once and future contributors to the showdown with Waring in Pleasant Street. Will pistols and cheque books be enough to solve the problem of Pleasant Street? Will the gangs of New York track down Psmith? Will Psmith escape America with his life? All is revealed in the final scenes of “Psmith, Journalist”. |
