You find kindness in strange places, and for orphaned Irish lad Jackie Searle it's with a Jewish antique dealer (Jean Hersholt). A very religious man who practices what he has learned through much study, Hersholt is a friend of the Irish cop who is killed when Hersholt's shop is robbed. He must then break the news to young Searle who is then taken in by him. At first, Hersholt's own son wants nothing to do with his adopted brother and even steals from him, but Searle refuses to snitch on him. He even goes as far as to take the blame from taking money from the till to protect him. The adopted brother sells Searle's prized harp, which Searle steals so he can enter a talent contest to win $10 to put back in the till. Afterwards, Searle turns himself into the police for stealing the harp back, then faints with pneumonia. The ending is a moral tale for all three people involved and is presented directly without maudlin emotions.
This is a rare example of a poverty row studio film (Majestic Pictures) that is surprisingly good. Some of the sequences appear to be actually on location in New York, with the photography seeming to be more real than stock footage used in similar films. Hersholt is really good, playing a man whom, like himself, was a great humanitarian and looked in men's souls, not their religious background. Searle's accent is a little off-putting and unlike any Irish accent I've ever heard. J. Farrell MacDonald is really good in the small role of Searle's dad, while Richard Wallace is a precursor to the Bowery Boys as Hersholt's son who will obviously head down a wrong path unless he realizes the error of his ways. Lucille La Verne is instantly recognizable as one of the locals. Fortunately, this has been released on DVD through the major distributor of public domain films (Oldies Video) and is listed as having been on VHS.
This is a rare example of a poverty row studio film (Majestic Pictures) that is surprisingly good. Some of the sequences appear to be actually on location in New York, with the photography seeming to be more real than stock footage used in similar films. Hersholt is really good, playing a man whom, like himself, was a great humanitarian and looked in men's souls, not their religious background. Searle's accent is a little off-putting and unlike any Irish accent I've ever heard. J. Farrell MacDonald is really good in the small role of Searle's dad, while Richard Wallace is a precursor to the Bowery Boys as Hersholt's son who will obviously head down a wrong path unless he realizes the error of his ways. Lucille La Verne is instantly recognizable as one of the locals. Fortunately, this has been released on DVD through the major distributor of public domain films (Oldies Video) and is listed as having been on VHS.