Only Saps Work

Only Saps Work

You Just Know It's Funny!

1930 · 77 min · ★ 6.0 · Comedy, Crime

Rubber-legged comedian Leon Errol made his talkie starring bow in Paramount's Only Saps Work. Based on a play by Owen Davis Sr., the film casts Errol as James Wilson, a kleptomaniac who starts with picking pockets and ends up robbing a bank. Wilson's friend Lawrence Payne (Richard Arlen) inadvertently aids our hero during one of his heists, ending up in deep doo-doo with the law. Before Wilson is able to extricate Payne from his dilemma for the sake of heroine Barbara Tanner (Mary Brian), he pauses long enough to pose as a private eye -- and even gives bellboy Oscar (Stu Erwin) tips on how to spot a crook! If only all of Leon Errol's feature films had been as consistently hilarious as Only Saps Work.

Directed by Cyril Gardner · Written by Percy Heath

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Cast

Leon Errol James Wilson
Richard Arlen Larry Payne
Mary Brian Barbara Tanner
Stuart Erwin Oscar
Anderson Lawler Horace Baldwin
Charley Grapewin Simeon Tanner
Clarence Burton Sergeant Burns (uncredited)
Nora Cecil Mrs. Partridge (uncredited)
George Chandler Elevator Operator (uncredited)
G. Pat Collins Rafferty (uncredited)
Clifford Dempsey Detective Smith (uncredited)
Charles Giblyn Dr. Jasper (uncredited)

Make it a double feature

2h 38m together

Only Saps Work

The Doomed Battalion

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