Only Saps Work
5.2
“You Just Know It's Funny!”
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.
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Cast
24 people
Leon Errol
James Wilson
Known for
The Invisible Man's Revenge
Alice in Wonderland
Richard Arlen
Larry Payne
Known for
Island of Lost Souls
Wings
Edward Dmytryk
Owen Davis
Cyril Gardner
Mary Brian
Barbara Tanner
Known for
The Front Page
Percy Heath
Edwin H. Knopf
Also in
Maciste und die chinesische Truhe
Rex Wimpy
Stuart Erwin
Oscar
Known for
Son of Flubber
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Also in
Woman Trap
Anderson Lawler
Horace Baldwin
Also in
Ace of Aces
Girls About Town
Edwin H. Knopf Director · Cyril Gardner Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz Screenplay
United States release December 5, 1930 · Produced in United States · Production Paramount Publix Corp.
Production
Paramount Pictures
Production · Distribution
Paramount Publix Corp.
Production
United States
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English
Release dates
United States · December 5, 1930
Theatrical
Ireland
July 24, 1931
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Some details come from TheTVDB.