Man of the Moment was released in 1935. The film is about an office worker Mary Briany (played by Laura La Plante) who is secretly in love with her boss. When her boss demotes her to make way for his new girlfriend and her co-worker, Mary cannot take the humiliation and makes a rash decision to commit suicide by jumping into the river. The suicide does not go according to plan and while she is in the river, a handsome and apparently wealthy man, Tony Woodward (played by Douglas Fairbanks Jr) stops his sports car and jumps into the river to save her.
The Rescue
After rescuing Mary from the river, Tony (The Man of the Moment) takes her back to his mansion. Mary is not happy to be rescued and gives him and the butler a hard time. Tony tells Mary the truth about himself in that he is actually penniless and is scheduled to be married the very next day to heiress Vera Barton (played by Margaret Lockwood). In another scene, Vera reveals to Tony’s friend Lord Rufus Paul, that she plans to shakeup Tony’s life and force him to quit drinking, smoking and other unsavoury habits. Vera’s father, is a wealthy millionaire and promises his almost penniless son in law 5000 Pounds to pay for a partnership in a company.
The Wild Night
The action heats up in Man of the Moment when Mary disguises herself as a man and crashers Tony’s bachelor party. The party gets a little out of hand and in the morning Vera and her father find Mary, Tony an his friends passed out on the floor. Filled with rage, Vera breaks off the wedding and storms out. With the wedding cancelled and Tony deeply in debt, he and Mary talk about committing suicide together. Just then, tickets arrive for his honeymoon in Monte Carlo. Tony proposes a suicide pact to Mary. With his last £300, he proposes that they fly to Monte Carlo and try and win big at the casino. If they win, everything will be fine, if they lose, they will commit suicide.
The Suicide Pact
In the Man of the Moment Film, the pair decide to fly to Monte Carlo as they feel they have nothing to lose. At the casino, the two bet everything they have on an all or nothing stake. Things don’t pan out the way they would have liked and they are only left with one choice. While they are contemplating jumping off a cliff, a casino employee tracks them down to give them £20 from their winnings they had not collected. With a second chance in hand, the two split up the money and head back into the casino. Tony manages to lose it all again but Mary has a streak of good luck sports betting odds.
All or Nothing
In the final stages of Man of the Moment, Mary has won an incredible amount of money and has not gotten round to telling Tony. Meanwhile, Vera comes to her senses and decides that she still wants to marry Tony after all. Rufus tells her that Tony is in Monte Carlo. The two fly to Monte Carlo together to track down Tony. Vera finds Tony in the Casino kisses him before Mary can intervene with her news. Heartbroken, Many heads to the cliff to kill herself. Before she jumps, Tony finds her and tells her he loves her. Vera is enraged and decides to marry a man no one else wants and she chooses Rufus.