The Short (Pun Intended) Redemptive Life of Little Ned

Early In The Twentieth Century Three Children Of Poor Jewish Immigrants Stagger Beneath The Grueling Promise Of The American Dream. . Nate Cohen The Pint-Size Angry Son Of An Alcoholic San Francisco Prizefighter And Bohemian Mother Becomes A Parttime Criminal. Working At A Restaurant He Hurls Bacon Grease At An Anti-Semitic Employee And Flees The City. As Ned Christianson He Cooks On Cattle Ranches In Northern California And Wyoming. After Sleeping With A Rancher’S Daughter Ned Joins A Wild West Show. . Kayleh Rubenstein A Red-Headed Tailor’S Daughter Becomes The Child Vaudeville Star Clara Robbins. Her Uncle Henry (Zeev) Manages Her Then Sells Her Contract To A Vaudeville Star Who Abuses Her And When She Finally Resists Destroys Her Career. Clara Descends Into Liquor And Morphine. . Jake Orlinsky A New York Orphan Performs As The Child-Magician Joseph Hartwig In A Saloon Below A Brothel. After Losing His Job He Picks Pockets And Entertains On The Street. Harry Houdini Briefly Befriends Him. Following A Fatal Run-In At A New York Nightclub Jake Escapes To California.. The Three Young Performers All Hiding Their Jewish Identities Meet At San Francisco’S 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Clara And Joseph Have A Brief Affair. All Go South To Los Angeles Ultimately Seeking Careers In Silent Films. . Through The Ex-Gunfighter And Lawman Wyatt Earp Ned And Joseph Are Hired For A Western—And Get Fired. Clara Becomes The Kept Woman Of A Series Of Hollywood Executives And Is Raped At The Home Of Fatty Arbuckle. A Murder Prompts Ned And Joseph To Leave Los Angeles. A Suicide Sends Clara North.. They Reunite In San Francisco Where Two Violent Events Lead To Tragedy And Redemption.