Cheers of the Crowd

Russell Hopton is the publicity man for John Dilson's new show. When his old pal from the sideshow days, Harry Holman, shows up, Hopton sets up a publicity stunt in which Holman takes a bag containing a lot of cash to the police. The story is covered unawares by Hopton's girl friend on the police beat, Irene Ware, and the result is terrific. But Holman is wanted out west and trying to avoid publicity, which he can't, due to the success of Miss Ware's story.

It's a slow and deliberately told story, with Bradley Page, Betty Blythe, Milburn Stone, and Fred Toones showing up. Director Vin Moore shows his comedy background, mostly concentrating on Holman's abilities, but while the set pieces, including a nicely iced poker game are amusing, the piece is underwritten, so actual conflicts are quickly resolved and everyone is left standing around.

This story is about a nice crook...if there even is such a thing outside of movies! The story begins by a promoter contacting his old friend, 'Honest John' (Harry Holman). He wants John to orchestrate a publicity stunt to give his show a jump start. So, he arranges for John to pick up a bag of money and turn it in to the police...and it just so happens a reporter is there and she makes John a hero...writing stories about his honesty. Amazingly, after a while John seems to want to be honest...though he also happens to be a wanted conman! How can this guy manage to do good AND avoid going to jail?

In addition to Holman, Bradley Page is excellent playing the sort of jerk he often played in movies. I wouldn't say it's a great film but it did have some interesting performances that make it worth seeing.

By the way, my advice to you is that if you meet someone who adds 'honest' to their name...RUN!!! No honest person would ever consider doing this in the first place!