James Rufus Wallingford, master swindler, returns to America - cheating suckers & dodging the law. But then he falls in love with the daughter of an old man he wants to defraud. He needs to watch his step, or there won't be any NEW ADVENTURES OF GET RICH QUICK WALLINGFORD.
William Haines was perfectly cast as a smooth-talking operator in this, his fastest-moving, most densely plotted film. Leila Hyams is cute as his love interest, but she doesn't have a lot to do but look pretty or distressed. Clara Blandwick, as her mother, acts like a tough old customer. Guy Kibbee is fun as the detective waiting for Wallingford to slip-up. As Haines' accomplices in crime, Ernest Torrence and pickpocket Jimmy Durante are especially good. This was Durante's film debut and he soon would be a top Hollywood star.
By the way, for many decades this movie (based on a character already established in short stories in Cosmopolitan Magazine & a couple of silent films) held the distinction as the Hollywood film with the longest title.
William Haines was perfectly cast as a smooth-talking operator in this, his fastest-moving, most densely plotted film. Leila Hyams is cute as his love interest, but she doesn't have a lot to do but look pretty or distressed. Clara Blandwick, as her mother, acts like a tough old customer. Guy Kibbee is fun as the detective waiting for Wallingford to slip-up. As Haines' accomplices in crime, Ernest Torrence and pickpocket Jimmy Durante are especially good. This was Durante's film debut and he soon would be a top Hollywood star.
By the way, for many decades this movie (based on a character already established in short stories in Cosmopolitan Magazine & a couple of silent films) held the distinction as the Hollywood film with the longest title.