Beggars in Ermine

"Beggars in Ermine" is a very melodramatic and rather uneven story of retribution. There are some moments that are uplifting or at least interesting, but there are other times when it is excruciatingly implausible.

John "Flint" Dawson (Lionel Atwill) is a steel mill owner who believes in old-fashioned virtues. He cares about his employees, and has a plan to ensure a bright future for them and the mill. But one of his executives, James Marley (Jameson Thomas), has a different and sinister plan. In one quick series of events at the beginning of the film, Marley leaves Dawson's life in ruins and takes over the mill. For the rest of the movie, Dawson assumes a new identity as a beggar, and organizes his fellow beggars with the goal of eventually getting revenge on Marley. Much of what happens next has little believability, but there are some good moments.

Most of the cast is adequate, and besides the melodrama there are some good shots of the steel mill. There is a pretty good opening sequence that effectively establishes the feel of being in the mill as steel is being made. It does, however, lead the viewer to expect a serious drama, rather than the exaggerated story that follows.

While not believable enough to be effective as social commentary, this film might still have enough to be of interest to viewers who really enjoy good-versus-evil melodramas.

Little known now, but pretty big stars for their day, Lionel Atwill and Betty Furness star in Beggars in Ermine. Atwill is "Dawson", owner of the mill, but is injured in an accident, caused by one of his own workers. then his own wife screws him over and takes all his money. now he's broke, and he organizes the homeless, and forms an organization to get the employees to try to save the company from complete destruction from his wife and the new owners. It's pretty good... similar to John Doe. Directed by Phil Rosen.. this one just one of TEN that he directed in 1934 ALONE! wow. Mr. "B" movie factory. It's not bad. Catch it if you can.

the reviews of this film unfairly marginalize it for lack of realism. Did they scoff at, say, "Fight Club" for such reasons? It's far more unique and interesting for its cache of Depression-era lore and its assumptions about the dispossessed. Highly recommended for its bizarre mix of creepiness and homiletic. Obviously allegorical, it nevertheless fails -i think somehow deliberately - in being uplifting and points instead to something sinister in the crippled, maimed and poverty-stricken denizens of the city. The blind accordionist who attaches himself to Atwill wears glasses which are half black, half clear. His speeches are absurdly virtuous cliché, which belie his mendacious appearance in a very unconvincing way. I also noticed the back of the envelope calculations Atwill makes when pitching his stock market club for beggars only involved impossible amounts: millions in months. A lot of ticker tape shenanigans go on in the second half of the film, all of which are so exaggerated, I ended up thinking public anxiety about the market was also being channeled here quite volubly, along with fear of the disabled and wretched poor. In a word, peculiar.

It starts out with Lionel Atwill the co-owner of a steel mill where he eats lunchbox meals with the puddlers. Partner Jameson Thomas steals his wife and tries to have Atwill killed, but 'only' cripples him. He wanders the country in a wheelchair, and with the help of blind accordionist Henry B. Walthall, organizes the handicapped beggars into a huge self-help organization, to take over his company and gain his revenge.

It's a fine performance by Atwill, and a beautiful print to watch it on. There are several peculiarities about the film that make me think that the novel it was based on, by Esther Lynd Day, was far more polemical than the movie, and that extensive swaths and subplots were trimmed by editor Jack Ogilvie. Instead, we have sequences of motionlessness centered around Atwill that made me stare.... but from which I could garner nothing.

Even so, the essentially bizarre story kept me interested through the end, as did Atwill's calm and thoughtful performance. Plus any chance to see Walthall in a significant role is a treat for me. With Betty Furness, Astrid Allwyn, and a clean-shaven Gabby Hayes with his teeth in.

Offbeat drama from Monogram and director Phil Rosen. Lionel Atwill stars as John Dawson, the charismatic head of a prosperous steel company. He's well-liked by his workers, but his board of directors are always looking for a quicker profit, and one member of the board has his sights set on Dawson's seat. After an "accident" at the steel mill destroys Dawson's legs, he is swindled out of his company and his fortune. He's soon after believed killed in a train accident, but in fact he sets out, with new blind friend Marchant (Henry B. Walthall), to organize the city's crippled and lame men and women into a corporation of beggars whose meager daily take is invested by Dawson, making them all millionaires, and allowing Dawson to have his revenge.

This plays like many of the Depression-era fantasies that envision sweeping change at the hands of righteous people against the corrupt and greedy who are destroying the nation and its institutions. The plot is honestly one that I haven't quite seen before, which alone is a rarity, and the odd cast pull off the roles. The settings are basic, as this is a Monogram picture, but that doesn't really hinder the storytelling.