The rise and fall of a political wanna-be (Ben Lyon) is dramatized in this little scene drama which is told through flashback, showing how he went from dock worker to attorney to candidate for governor, not always influenced in the right way and how it affected his marriage to the pretty Helen Twelvetrees. Rod La Rocque, Russell Hopton, James Burke and Henry Kolker are among the variously honest or crooked men who help him rise to the top of the state, and the always amusing Barbara Pepper adds some spark. Twelvetrees is the long-suffering wife who suddenly wises up and leaves him, but not without providing some influence from behind the scenes in the hopes that he will wise up. This is an enjoyable, if sometimes slow-moving look at political life which has been done much better, but one that audiences can find some enjoyment in if they can get through the slow moving points of the story.
2 Reviews
A Good Cast Sleepwalk Their Ways Through A Brief Movie
boblipton6 January 2020
Ben Lyons and Helen Twelvetrees get married, but he can't get his professional life started. He wants to become a lawyer, but he can't even raise the money to get his one suit patched. Rod LaRoque, his old friend and Miss Twelvetrees former suitor, offers him a job on his newspaper, but Lyons turns it down angrily. Finally, Lyons gets a job as a dock walloper. He's content, but Miss Twelvetrees thinks she's just holding him back. She divorces Lyons and married LaRoque, thinking that hatred will drive him to success. She's right.
Unfortunately, this movie plays are like a synopsis of a movie than the movie itself. There's little in it of any interest, besides a single dock fight halfway through. Other than that, it's people talking about the situation, with occasional newspaper headlines describing Lyons' rise as a crusading Assistant District Attorney. While Lyons and Miss Twelvetrees put some emotion into their lines, LaRoque talks like a man in a trance.
There's one decent performance of any size in this movie. It's James Burke as a political boss. He gives Lyons his start in the District Attorney's office, uttering some well-meaning platitudes spoken with a cynical air. It's not enough to save this movie.
Unfortunately, this movie plays are like a synopsis of a movie than the movie itself. There's little in it of any interest, besides a single dock fight halfway through. Other than that, it's people talking about the situation, with occasional newspaper headlines describing Lyons' rise as a crusading Assistant District Attorney. While Lyons and Miss Twelvetrees put some emotion into their lines, LaRoque talks like a man in a trance.
There's one decent performance of any size in this movie. It's James Burke as a political boss. He gives Lyons his start in the District Attorney's office, uttering some well-meaning platitudes spoken with a cynical air. It's not enough to save this movie.
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