Jack Pickford meets cute with Gloria Hope. While she thinks she is nursing him back to health, Robert Walker steals some Important Papers from her father's safe, and lays the blame off on Pickford. While trying to clear his name, Jack runs into the seemingly infinite number of burglars in the neighborhood. They quickly accept him as one of their own.
The largest role among the burglars is taken by John Francis Dillon, who also directed the movie. Although the print I looked at on the Eye Institute site had no titles, the movie did not suffer noticeably; although there were many spots where it looked like titles should be, the acting made things quite clear. Titles might serve to ornament the story, but were not needed to tell it.
Mr. Dillon plays one of those amiable mugs who inhabited the movies. In the talkie era, he would call the hero "pal" and misunderstand everyone's motives to comic and feature-lengthening effect. It may be, of course, that I have seen so many of this sort of movie that I can impute matters which aren't there. I think not. The mugs of the 1930s were played by actors who did not originate the roles, but performed as types that went back, in some cases, to ancient Rome and the gags of Plautus -- which he undoubtedly stole.
The camerawork is simple: unmoving center row orchestra, with occasional cuts to perform changes that might have been better performed by camera movement. That sort of work was costly, and for a further year or two, an unnecessary expense, until the Europeans got back into the market and Hollywood had to up its game.
The largest role among the burglars is taken by John Francis Dillon, who also directed the movie. Although the print I looked at on the Eye Institute site had no titles, the movie did not suffer noticeably; although there were many spots where it looked like titles should be, the acting made things quite clear. Titles might serve to ornament the story, but were not needed to tell it.
Mr. Dillon plays one of those amiable mugs who inhabited the movies. In the talkie era, he would call the hero "pal" and misunderstand everyone's motives to comic and feature-lengthening effect. It may be, of course, that I have seen so many of this sort of movie that I can impute matters which aren't there. I think not. The mugs of the 1930s were played by actors who did not originate the roles, but performed as types that went back, in some cases, to ancient Rome and the gags of Plautus -- which he undoubtedly stole.
The camerawork is simple: unmoving center row orchestra, with occasional cuts to perform changes that might have been better performed by camera movement. That sort of work was costly, and for a further year or two, an unnecessary expense, until the Europeans got back into the market and Hollywood had to up its game.