Character Relationship Map: Manpower

Characters

• Hank McHenry (played by Edward G. Robinson) — protagonist

  Hank McHenry is a Los Angeles power line worker who gives up field work after a leg injury and becomes a foreman. He is attracted to Fay Duval, accepts her marriage despite her lack of love, and later...

• Fay Duval (played by Marlene Dietrich) — protagonist

  Fay Duval is Pop Duval's daughter and works as a nightclub hostess. She appears indifferent to her father's death, accepts Hank McHenry's money and proposal without loving him, then becomes attracted...

• Johnny Marshall (played by George Raft) — supporting

  Johnny Marshall is Hank McHenry's good friend and a member of his power-line crew. After being injured before the Boulder Dam project, he recuperates in Hank's home and resists Fay Duval when she decl...

• Pop Duval (played by Egon Brecher) — minor

  Pop Duval is an older member of Hank McHenry's power-line crew and the father of Fay Duval. He is killed during an ice storm, an event that exposes Fay's apparent indifference and irritates Johnny Mar...

Canonical Relationships

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

• Fay Duval → Johnny Marshall (Romantic Attraction) — Fay's attraction to Johnny creates the central romantic triangle.

  After a month in Hank's home, Fay tells Johnny that she is attracted to him.

• Hank McHenry → Fay Duval (Romantic Attraction) — Hank's attraction to Fay drives his courtship and later intensifies the final conflict.

  Hank becomes attracted to Fay after Pop's death and later proposes marriage to her.

• Johnny Marshall → Pop Duval (Professional Crewmate) — Johnny works alongside Pop and responds strongly to the aftermath of his death.

  Pop belongs to the crew that includes Johnny, and his death affects Johnny's reaction to Fay.

• Hank McHenry → Pop Duval (Professional Crewmate) — Hank and Pop are fellow power-line workers in the same crew.

  Pop is identified as an older member of Hank's crew before he is killed during the ice storm.

• Pop Duval → Fay Duval (Family Father) — Pop is Fay's father, and his death becomes an important emotional and social turning point.

  The plot explicitly identifies Fay as Pop's daughter after Pop is killed during the ice storm.

Story Dynamics

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

• Hank McHenry → Johnny Marshall (Social Close Friend) — Hank and Johnny begin as close friends within the same power-line crew.

  The plot describes Johnny as Hank's good friend and later shows Johnny recovering in Hank's home.

Story Analysis

A dangerous love triangle grows from shared labor, grief, financial dependence, and a fatal misunderstanding.

Plot Progression

1. A Promotion Under Pressure — Hank's leg injury ends his field work and brings him a promotion to foreman. His crew includes Johnny and Pop, establishing both professional duty and personal friendship.
2. Death in the Ice Storm — The crew faces dangerous icy weather, and Pop is killed. Johnny is angered by Fay's apparent indifference, while Hank begins to feel attracted to her.
3. A Marriage Without Love — Fay works as a nightclub hostess and accepts Hank's money and marriage proposal despite not loving him. The planned Boulder Dam project is interrupted by Johnny's injury.
4. Attraction and Arrest — Johnny recuperates in Hank's home, where Fay reveals her attraction to him. Fay decides to leave Hank but is arrested during a raid at her old nightclub.
5. The Pylon Confrontation — Johnny pays Fay's bail and stops her from leaving Hank, but Fay then tells Hank she wants Johnny. Hank misunderstands the situation, attacks Johnny on a pylon, and falls to his death.