A con man in clerical collar bets on redemption in 1927's wildest holy hustle.
A hillbilly deacon, who is actually a cardsharp in disguise, becomes involved in a small-town fight game.
Acting
Jean Hersholt's shifty-eyed holiness is *chef's kiss*.
Production
Rural Americana sets built for 1927 budgets.
Director
Edward Sloman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jean Hersholt later became Hollywood's beloved 'Danish gentleman' and has an Academy humanitarian award named after him — wild arc from fake deacon con man.
This is peak pre-Code cinema: moral ambiguity, con artists as heroes, and religious hypocrisy played for laughs before the Hays Code shut it all down in 1934.
US
