John Hyde, a Play

To corrupt his depressed country's currency, anti-hero President John Hyde schemes with Dr. La Brea, his satanic backer, to foster a Faustian program of spending 3-dollar bills called "The Modern Deal.'' Hyde kills an opposed Court Justice, and to fill his vacancy names a former friend Frances Harkins, a judge in a local case against Helen Scopes, Hyde's promised amour. Helen is charged for teaching school children his doctrine of "monkey spending'' in violation of a local ordinance. The plot starts going wrong--or right. Frances, Helen, and Mrs. Hyde welcome news of economic recovery, and credit Hyde. Before midnight tolls La Brea's deadline, Hyde tries planting counterfeit and arson to reverse the reversal.