The 14th Annual
FilmMakers International
Screenwriting Awards (FISA)

The seemingly perfect life of HARRY CROSBY is about to collide with his rocky personal world. Though his passionate wife, POLLY PEABODY, is determined to save him, she’s up against the lingering effects of war, where the casualties aren’t always left on the battlefield.

The story begins with a young couple, alone in a friend’s New York apartment where they’re going “to try something for the first time.” It’s 1929 and, like the Roaring Twenties itself, things are about to come to an abrupt end. The couple might look like they are in the throes of lovemaking, but when a gunshot goes off in the bedroom it’s clear something has literally killed the romance.

We are brought immediately back to 1919, where Harry’s life unfolds. It’s summertime on Boston’s North Shore and the golden boy is celebrating his twenty-first birthday. Afamily friend, POLLY PEABODY, joins the party. She’s “an orchid at a table of daisies.” She’s also married with two children.

Harry is immediately smitten and pursues Polly in the impulsive, intense way he goes after everything he wants. He’s charming, handsome, and wealthy. Naturally, he’s hard to resist. It doesn’t take long before he sweeps Polly off her feet and convinces her to leave the smothering confines of New England and run off to Paris. It’s the beginning of the Jazz Age and anything goes in the exploding world of modern art and culture. They have the makings of a beautiful life together. What could possibly go wrong?

As the adored nephew of millionaire banker J.P. Morgan, Harry is given the appropriate job to support his and Polly’s decadent new lifestyle. Together, they’re as frivolous and hedonistic as the era itself. Alone though, Harry is increasingly crippled by despair. His time as an ambulance driver in the First World War has left Harry with haunting memories. And while he was one of the lucky few that made it out alive, his parents insist he “was never quite right” after the war. The truth is Harry suffers from shellshock.

As Polly struggles to create some semblance of a happy life for them, Harry attempts to quell his despair. He quits his job, becomes a poet and publisher, has Polly send her children off to boarding school so as not to distract her, and insists Polly change her name to the more exotic CARESSE.

After those futile attempts, Harry’s quest for new thrills leads him to mindless affairs, gambling, airplane racing and opium—but nothing can rid him of his fear of dying alone in someone else’s battle. Just when Caresse thinks things can’t get worse, Harry decides they need to die together. Planning how and when to do it becomes his newest hobby. Not surprisingly, Caresse isn’t as enthusiastic. She insists Harry join her in Italy and then to New York City, all with the hope of getting him away from his risky behaviors and the dangerous temptations of Paris.

The backdrop of New York in 1929 says it all. With the stock market crash and the prohibition crime spree gripping the city, it’s clear the Roaring Twenties have come to an end. When Harry runs into a past mistress on the street, she proves eager to rekindle their affair and agrees to join Harry in whatever he wants.

It’s when Harry and the girl get the keys to a friend’s apartment and drink the afternoon away that Harry finally admits he cannot run from his demons. At the same time, Caresse is left to answer the question: how do you save someone who doesn’t want to be saved?