Movie

Only Saps Work (1930)

• December 5, 1930
• 1h 17m

• Comedy
• Crime

“You Just Know It's Funny!”

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.

Directors

Cyril Gardner, Edwin H. Knopf

Writers

Sam Mintz, Percy Heath, Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Starring

Leon Errol, Richard Arlen, Mary Brian