Monday, October 11, 7pm, The Paramount, Seattle
"Ain't it funny when you think of the millions o' people in warm houses and feather beds, an' us just driftin' 'round like the clouds?"
An orphan (Louise Brooks) kills the molesting farmer who adopted her and escapes, disguised as a boy, to a perilous life on the road. Rescued by a tramp (Richard Arlen) that stumbles on the scene while begging for a meal, they sleep in haystacks, hop freight trains and struggle to survive while dreaming of a better life. Wanted for murder, the girl's true identity is discovered by the denizens of a hobo camp, whose malevolent leader Oklahoma Red (Wallace Beery) forges a tenuous friendship with the youngsters and ultimately paves their way to freedom.
Loosely based on the harrowing autobiography of Jim Tully's youth and brought to the screen by notorious Hollywood roughneck William Wellman, Beggars of Life (1928) is a sublime convergence of writing, directing and casting. Arlen and Brooks display palpable chemistry, while Beery cements his indelible image as a lovable scoundrel in his last great silent-era performance.
"Ain't it funny when you think of the millions o' people in warm houses and feather beds, an' us just driftin' 'round like the clouds?"
An orphan (Louise Brooks) kills the molesting farmer who adopted her and escapes, disguised as a boy, to a perilous life on the road. Rescued by a tramp (Richard Arlen) that stumbles on the scene while begging for a meal, they sleep in haystacks, hop freight trains and struggle to survive while dreaming of a better life. Wanted for murder, the girl's true identity is discovered by the denizens of a hobo camp, whose malevolent leader Oklahoma Red (Wallace Beery) forges a tenuous friendship with the youngsters and ultimately paves their way to freedom.
Loosely based on the harrowing autobiography of Jim Tully's youth and brought to the screen by notorious Hollywood roughneck William Wellman, Beggars of Life (1928) is a sublime convergence of writing, directing and casting. Arlen and Brooks display palpable chemistry, while Beery cements his indelible image as a lovable scoundrel in his last great silent-era performance.