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Beggars of Life

Director: William A. Wellman (Dir)
Release Date:   22 Sep 1928
Duration (in mins):   80
Duration (in feet):   7,560
Duration (in reels):   9

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Grapevine	DVD	VHS	LaserDisk

Cast:	Wallace Beery	(Oklahoma Red)
	Louise Brooks	(Nancy)
	Richard Arlen	(Jim)
	Edgar Washington Blue	(Mose)
	H. A. Morgan	(Skinny)
	Andy Clark	(Skelly)
	Mike Donlin	(Bill)
	Roscoe Karns	(Hopper)
	Robert Perry	(Arkansas Snake)
	Johnnie Morris	(Rubin)
	George Kotsonaros	(Baldy)
	Jacques Chapin	(Ukie)
	Robert Brower	(Blind Sims)
	Frank Brownlee	(Farmer)

Summary:

Nancy lives in mortal fear of her foster father and, when he attacks her, she kills him in a moment of panic. The murder is discovered by Jim, a young hobo, who helps her to escape. Nancy dresses in men's rough clothes, and she and Jim hop a freight; thrown off by the brakeman, they take refuge in a hobo camp, the leadership of which is bitterly contested between Arkansas Snake and Oklahoma Red. The encampment is broken up by detectives, and Jim and Nancy take refuge with Mose and a seriously ill tramp in an abandoned shack. Red unexpectedly shows up with a stolen car and women's clothing for Nancy, helping her and Jim to escape in the car. The sick tramp dies, and Red, dressing him in Nancy's rough clothes, places his body in a lumber car which he sets aflame. The pursuing detective kills Red, and Jim and Nancy (who is declared to be officially dead by the police) hop a passenger train for Canada.

Production Company:	Paramount Famous Lasky Corp.
Distribution Company:	Paramount Famous Lasky Corp.
Director:	William A. Wellman	(Dir)
Producer:	Adolph Zukor	(Pres)
	Jesse L. Lasky	(Pres)
	Benjamin Glazer	(Supv)
Writer:	Benjamin Glazer	(Scen)
	Jim Tully	(Scen)
	Julian Johnson	(Titles)
Photography:	Henry Gerrard	(Dir of photog)
Film Editor:	Alyson Shaffer	(Film ed)
Country:	United States
Language:	English

Source Text:	Based on the novel Beggars of Life by Jim Tully (New York, 1924).
Authors:	Jim Tully

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number
Paramount Famous Lasky Corp.	21/9/1928 dd/mm/yyyy	LP25642

Physical Properties:	Si with sd seq:	Talking seq, mus score, and sd eff by Movietone
	b&w:


Genre:	Drama

Subjects (Major):	Detectives
	Disguise
	Foster parents
	Murder
	Railroads
	Tramps

Note:	A silent version of the film was also released, at a length of 7,504 feet.

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Exhibitor's Herald-World and Moving Picture World	30 Oct 1928	p, 51.
Film Daily	30 Sep 1928	p. 8.
The Film Spectator	27 Oct 1938	pp. 6-7.
New York Times	24 Sep 1928	p. 25.
Variety	26 Sep 1928	p. 14.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.



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