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.
Acting
Leon Errol's rubber-legged kleptomania—pure vaudeville energy.
Writing
Pre-Code dialogue gets away with murder, literally.
Director
Cyril Gardner
Leon Errol
James Wilson
Richard Arlen
Larry Payne
Mary Brian
Barbara Tanner
Stuart Erwin
Oscar
Anderson Lawler
Horace Baldwin
Charley Grapewin
Simeon Tanner
Clarence Burton
Sergeant Burns (uncredited)
Nora Cecil
Mrs. Partridge (uncredited)
George Chandler
Elevator Operator (uncredited)
G. Pat Collins
Rafferty (uncredited)
Clifford Dempsey
Detective Smith (uncredited)
Charles Giblyn
Dr. Jasper (uncredited)
Charlie Hall
Waiter (uncredited)
George Irving
Dr. White (uncredited)
Fred Kelsey
Murphy (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Pre-Code Hollywood let criminals be charming protagonists without mandatory punishment—this freedom vanished after 1934.
Stuart Erwin's bellboy role launched his decades-long career as Hollywood's go-to flustered everyman.
US
