Jackie Coogan before Chaplin made him cry — a 50-minute orphan revenge comedy from 1922.
Danny, a ragamuffin orphan, is adopted by a brutal plumber and his frail wife. His fear of hunger, resulting from his foster father's indifference, at one point leads him to substitute for the plumber in repairing a leak, but he causes a flood. Later, Danny is instrumental in saving a policeman's life and in sending the plumber to jail. He finds new happiness with his foster mother on her parents' farm.
Acting
Jackie Coogan's pre-Oliver Twist mugging for the camera.
Direction
Albert Austin wringing actual pathos from plumbing gags.
Director
Albert Austin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Preserved at the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam, this print survived because the Dutch apparently hoarded everything.
Jackie Coogan was Hollywood's biggest child star before the tax man and his mother ate his fortune — watch this and see the innocence before the scandal.
US
