Bloodhounds of Broadway

On New Year's Eve 1929, a bustling diner becomes the opening stage for several interwoven lives. The Brain, a gangster with multiple girlfriends, sits with Regret and an outsider with bloodhounds, while Feet Samuels declares his love for Hortense Hathaway. Hortense is tossed out of the diner for her unsavory reputation, setting a volatile mood for the night to come.

A girl selling flowers arrives as Feet settles a debt with the Brain. The Brain offers $5 for a 5-cent flower and slyly tells her to keep the change. The moment reveals the night’s quirky economics, where money and favors weave through even the smallest acts. It foreshadows the chaotic mixture of crime and whimsy that follows.

Before anyone can leave, a hitman for the Brooklyn Mob stabs the Brain, wounding him severely. The Brain, in pain, tells his men to take him 'home.' His girlfriends, however, refuse to let him into the room for a range of reasons, leaving his fate uncertain as the night advances.

Feet Samuels plunges into a high-stakes craps game with reckless gambles and canny luck. The tension of the room crackles as chips fly and fortunes shift in moments. His presence heightens the sense that the night could tilt toward tragedy or glory at any moment.

Through a stroke of luck, Feet scores a massive payoff of money and jewelry. The victory feels hollow against the looming personal promise he has made. The win intensifies his determination to fulfill a desperate plan he has kept hidden.

Regret presses Feet about life and death, only to hear Feet reveal his plan to kill himself rather than welch on a past bet. Regret tries to talk him out of it, but Feet remains steadfast in keeping his last promise. The moment cements the personal stakes driving the night’s drama.

Harriet MacKyle, a sheltered socialite, hires a fixer to arrange a big party at her estate for that night. The plan is to gather many players from the city’s crime, media, and high society circles. The stage is set for a night of simultaneous celebrations and potential reckonings.

Regret dials up Waldo Winchester, the muckraking reporter, who is now at Harriet MacKyle's party. He asks Winchester to talk to Hortense Hathaway and to help her realize Feet is smitten with her. The connection between crime, media, and romance tightens the night’s narrative threads.

Hortense faces the pressure to abandon her dangerous life as a lounge singer and move to New Jersey to start a family. The request comes through the channel opened by Regret and Winchester, putting Feet’s hopes on a fragile future. Hortense wrestles with loyalty, ambition, and the possibility of a safer life.

Despite Regret’s perpetual bad luck, Lovey Lou’s affection remains unwavering. Her devotion adds another layer of tension and tenderness to a night already thick with risk and romance. The couple’s dynamic contrasts with the night’s tougher machinations.

The New Year’s Eve party becomes the central hub where the four major stories intersect—Feet’s romantic pursuit, the Brain’s collapse, Regret’s gambling misfires, and Hortense’s future choices. The event is framed by the muckraking reporter as the night unfolds and the stories push toward their climaxes. Tension builds as midnight approaches and alliances shift.

As the clock nears midnight, Waldo Winchester begins to frame the four major stories that defined the wild New Year’s Eve. The reporter’s perspective ties together the disparate threads—the personal, the criminal, and the media-driven narrative. The resulting timeline captures how a single night can expose both glitter and grime of Broadway.