The Magnet

Eleven-year-old Johnny Brent (James Fox) is home alone from school during a scarlet fever outbreak and gets into various misadventures after conning a younger boy out of a large horseshoe magnet. He tries to get rid of the magnet, which eventually finds its way into the hands of an eccentric iron lung maker who uses it to raise funds for a local hospital. As Johnny becomes shamed by his own sense of guilt, he begins to believe he has caused the death of another child and must clear his conscience.