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Only Saps Work (1930)

Only Saps Work (1930)

Crime Comedy

You Just Know It's Funny!

Release Date: 1930, December 5
Directors: Edwin H. Knopf, Cyril Gardner
Countries: United States of America
Production: Paramount Pictures, Paramount Publix Corp.
Cast: Charley Grapewin, Jack Richardson, Nora Cecil, Charlie Hall, Fred Kelsey, G. Pat Collins, George Chandler, Mary Brian, Stuart Erwin, George Irving, Richard Arlen, Leon Errol

Overview:

Rubber-legged comedian Leon Errol made his talkie starring bow in Paramount's Only Saps Work. Based on a play by Owen Davis Sr., the film casts Errol as James Wilson, a kleptomaniac who starts with picking pockets and ends up robbing a bank. Wilson's friend Lawrence Payne (Richard Arlen) inadvertently aids our hero during one of his heists, ending up in deep doo-doo with the law. Before Wilson is able to extricate Payne from his dilemma for the sake of heroine Barbara Tanner (Mary Brian), he pauses long enough to pose as a private eye -- and even gives bellboy Oscar (Stu Erwin) tips on how to spot a crook! If only all of Leon Errol's feature films had been as consistently hilarious as Only Saps Work.

Keywords:

robbery detective cheerful con man stolen money bank robbery bellhop   comedy hypochondriac rich snob attraction meet cute landlady pre-code crook kleptomaniac former athlete comedy routine simpleton pantry boy social error