Only Saps Work (1930)

  • NR
  • 12/05/1930 (US)
  • Comedy, Crime
  • 1h 17m

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.

Sam Mintz

Screenplay

Percy Heath

Screenplay

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Screenplay

Cyril Gardner

Director

Edwin H. Knopf

Director

Cast

Leon Errol's headshot

Leon Errol

James Wilson
Richard Arlen's headshot

Richard Arlen

Larry Payne
Mary Brian's headshot

Mary Brian

Barbara Tanner
Stuart Erwin's headshot

Stuart Erwin

Oscar
Anderson Lawler's headshot

Anderson Lawler

Horace Baldwin
Charley Grapewin's headshot

Charley Grapewin

Simeon Tanner
Clarence Burton's headshot

Clarence Burton

Sergeant Burns (uncredited)
Nora Cecil's headshot

Nora Cecil

Mrs. Partridge (uncredited)

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