Writing
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.
Betrayal and espionage abound as an experimental aircraft is readied for its maiden voyage.
Football player John Kent tags along as Huck Haines and the Wabash Indianians travel to an engagement in Paris, only to lose it immediately. John and company visit his aunt, owner of a posh fashion house run by her assistant, Stephanie. There they meet the singer Scharwenka (alias Huck's old friend Lizzie), who gets the band a job. Meanwhile, Madame Roberta passes away and leaves the business to John and he goes into partnership with Stephanie.
Bert, a pitcher for a baseball team in a small town, is given the opportunity to try out for a team in the big leagues. Unfortunately, he incurs the enmity of McRae, the league's leading home-run hitter. In addition, he falls for the team owner's daughter, who McRae has designs on.
Unwed mother gives up baby for adoption and hopes to get it back when the adoptive mother dies.
After getting into a fight with a drunkard, Mike Moran spends 10 days on the rock pile and is disinherited by his wealthy uncle; out of luck and work, Mike joins the Marines and is soon court-martialed for kissing Vivian Marshall, a general's daughter. Mike's unit is ordered to China, and Mike goes along under guard. Vivian accompanies her father and is captured by a Chinese bandit; Mike rescues her and is himself taken prisoner. Vivian leads a Marine detachment to his rescue, and Mike is quickly pardoned, reinstated by his uncle, and firmly established in Vivian's affections. A lost film.
A sexy young nightclub singer sets her sights on a young man she believes to be a millionaire playboy, although he is in reality only an insurance agent.
Bill Gordon (James Dunn), whose lot-in-life is rising, falls in love with Helen Barlow (Boots Mallory), who is raising two cute motherless children who nearly wreck her romance when they can't understand why grown-ups kiss...and other complications.
Skippy, the mischievous son of a wealthy doctor, meets Sooky in poverty-ridden Shantytown, and together they try to save Sooky's pet from a cruel dogcatcher.
The Haddocks are going on a European vacation and from their reception at the station, where the whole town goes to see them off, it is clear who wears the pants in the family - it's their daughter Mildred. Her parents often proclaim she is a genius - but she is just smarter than them, which wouldn't be too hard! On the train, Finn meets shyster Harry who sizes Finn up as a sucker and quickly wires his partner Bessie, aka "The Princess" to make Finn's acquaintance and take him for everything he has.
Real-life outlaw Joaquin Murietta, who (according to this film, anyway) is a latter-day Robin Hood, dedicated to driving land-grabbers and corrupt politicians out of Spanish California.
The classic Mark Twain tale of a young boy and his friends on the Mississippi River. Tom and his pals Huckleberry Finn and Joe Harper have numerous adventures, including running away to be pirates and, being believed drowned, attending their own funeral. The boys also witness a murder and Tom and his friend Becky Thatcher are pursued by the vengeful murderer.
Anne Shirley, an orphan, is fostered by farmer Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla, who were expecting a boy to be sent them to help with their farm work. They accept Anne, who quickly endears herself to them and to the local villagers.
A working girl shares her apartment with an artist, taking the place in shifts.
A grocery clerk, longing to become a cowboy actor, goes to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune. Unfortunately, his acting ability is non-existent.
Buddy Rogers and Marian Nixon playing the grown children of feuding German-Americans Frank Morgan and Joseph Cawthorn. Romance blossoms between Rogers and Nixon, while Morgan and Cawthorn continue muttering Teutonic imprecations at one another.
Teenage orphan Jenny Yates becomes starstruck when a revival of an old Victorian melodrama passes through her small New England town, to the disapproval of her stern grandfather, Uriah. Stowing away in the car of Philip Greene, a wealthy young man working with the theater troupe, Jenny talks her way into the play's lead role. But director Archie Fisher doesn't tell her that the new version of the play is meant as a spoof.
An outlaw with a Heart of Gold sacrificing his own life for the happiness of two young people in love.
An unemployed reporter, fired because of his drinking, takes a job at an advertising agency. Drama.
A teen detective tries to help a jewel thief's daughter.
