Character Relationship Map: Pittsburgh

Characters

• Josie 'Hunky' Winters (played by Marlene Dietrich) — protagonist

  A woman from a humble coal-mining background who dares Pittsburgh to quit his job. She remains skeptical of his ambitions, is injured in a mine accident, marries Cash Evans, and ultimately prevents Pi...

• Cash Evans (played by Randolph Scott) — protagonist

  Pittsburgh’s best friend who is pushed into boxing for money. He quits the mine with Pittsburgh, becomes his business partner, but leaves when Pittsburgh betrays the workers. After a physical confront...

• Charles 'Pittsburgh' Markham (played by John Wayne) — supporting

  Ambitious coal miner who manipulates friends and forges contracts to enter big business. He marries into wealth, abandons his working-class ideals, betrays miners, and faces total ruin. After starting...

• Shannon Prentiss Markham (played by Louise Allbritton) — supporting

  Morgan Prentiss’s daughter. She marries Pittsburgh for status but leaves him when his business ventures fail and his character deteriorates, symbolizing the collapse of his upper-class facade.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Charles 'Pittsburgh' Markham → Shannon Prentiss Markham (Family Husband And Wife) — Their marriage connects Pittsburgh to wealth and status, but Shannon leaves when his business and character deteriorate.

  Pittsburgh marries the steel mill owner's daughter. After his business ventures fail, Shannon walks out on him.

• Cash Evans → Josie 'Hunky' Winters (Romantic Husband And Wife) — Their marriage follows Pittsburgh's ruin and forms part of the final personal reconciliation among the three characters.

  The plot states that Cash and Josie marry after Pittsburgh's success collapses.

• Charles 'Pittsburgh' Markham → Josie 'Hunky' Winters (Former Romantic Interest) — Josie is unimpressed by Pittsburgh's ambitions and challenges him early on. Their relationship changes as his ambition alienates her; she later marries Cash and helps restore peace between the two men...

  Pittsburgh calls Josie 'Countess' when they meet, and her challenge prompts him to quit the mine. Later, Josie marries Cash, and during the wartime re...

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Charles 'Pittsburgh' Markham → Cash Evans (Social Best Friends Turned Business Partners) — Their friendship and business partnership deteriorate when Cash rejects Pittsburgh's treatment of the miners. After their fistfight and separation, Cash later hires Pittsburgh under an assumed name.

  Cash is described as Pittsburgh's best friend. Pittsburgh pushes Cash into a boxing match for money, later makes him his business partner, and Cash ev...

Story Analysis

An ambitious miner's rise and collapse reveal the personal cost of abandoning his ideals, followed by a chance to serve and reconcile during wartime.

Plot Progression

1. The Miner’s Ambition — Pittsburgh works in the mine and uses his confidence to enlist Cash in a boxing match for money. Meeting Josie and accepting her challenge leads him to leave the mine.
2. A Risky Business Ascent — Pittsburgh secures a cut-price coke deal through a forged contract and enters big business. He marries Shannon, while his growing success begins to distance him from his former ideals.
3. The Cost of Success — Pittsburgh betrays the workers he had promised to help and stops unprofitable coal-tar medical research. Cash demands to leave the partnership, and a miners' revolt leads to a fistfight between the fo...
4. Ruin and Remorse — Cash abandons Pittsburgh, Shannon walks out, and Josie is badly injured in a mine accident. Pittsburgh's business collapses, leaving him alone and remorseful as he tries to correct his past mistakes.
5. A Wartime Reconciliation — During World War II, Pittsburgh begins again under an assumed name at Cash's new company. Josie prevents a quarrel between the men, who reunite in the spirit of devotion to their country.