The Stoolie

A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era(ja)

Saheji, a man-about-town, gets stuck at a high-class brothel when he can’t pay the bill. He makes the best of his situation by performing various tasks amidst the tumult of the end of the shogunate—but always by making sure to get a “commission” for his troubles.

Lay That Rifle Down(en)

A story about a girl from the sticks doing drudge work at a hotel and dreaming of a better life.

Cleaverville(en)

A life-time criminal is on the run after completing a diamond theft gone wrong. She seeks her mother's help in staying on the run and resist the urge to reconnect with her daughter.

Shady Lady(en)

A crook becomes the victim of a crafty card player who works for the District Attorney.

Kind Lady(en)

Mary, a woman with good intentions, takes pity on Henry, an artist with no home. What begins as a simple offer to come inside from the cold for tea gradually turns into more. Before the unsuspecting woman knows it, Henry, his family, and his friends con their way into her home. Eventually, Mary creates a ruse to rid herself of the parasites, but they have a different plan.

Run Tiger Run(cn)

Two street urchins meet up with a sad and lonely rich kid. They become friends when the kid's shady uncle mistakes them for his nephews.

Amateur Crook(en)

Jerry Cummings, a mining engineer, has pledged a large diamond on a short-term note to a pair of crooked loan sharks, Crone and Jan Jaffin, and heads for Mexico. His daughter Betsy, posing as a jewel thief called Mary Layton, is working to keep the crooks from absconding with the jewel, and her efforts are hindered greatly by an artist, Jimmy Baxter, who thinks she is a crook and Crone and Jaffin the good guys.

No Place for a Lady(en)

A private detective and a blonde acquaintance whom he has rescued from a misdirected murder charge, discover a body in his beachside cottage; only it has disappeared by the time the police arrive, leaving him to be charged with hoaxing the police. With his license in jeopardy, his would-be fiancee and an inquiring reporter set out to investigate.

Should Men Walk Home?(en)

Mabel plays an out-and-out crook, a "Girl Bandit," no less. And she quickly hooks up with a male partner in crime, in this case a Gentleman Crook played by perpetually grinning Creighton Hale. Mabel seems a little livelier in this film than in some of her other late works. In the very first scene we find her hitch-hiking, and she's forced to make a mad dash for cover when Hale's car nearly hits her. Soon they team up and crash a swanky party in a mansion to steal a jewel from the host's safe.

Bad Lands(ja)

A grifter and her loose-cannon brother get their hands on a massive amount of money, but their ill-gotten gains puts a huge target on their back.

Only Saps Work(en)

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.

They Never Come Back(en)

Prizefighter Jimmy Nolan, facing an opportunity to get a championship fight, is knocked out when he sustains what is apparently a permanent injury to his arm. From there, Nolan's path leads downhill. He is drawn into a romance with a nightclub entertainer, then is framed on a theft charge by a jealous suitor. After his prison term, Nolan makes a spectacular comeback in a fight which proves his courage and integrity, while disproving the fallacy about the old sports adage that "they never come back."

Carry On Matron(en)

A gang of thieves plan to make their fortune by stealing a shipment of contraceptive pills from Finisham maternity hospital. They assume disguises and infiltrate the hospital, but everything doesn't go according to plan. The hypochondriac consultant Sir Bernard Cutting, Matron and the doctors and nurses at Finisham have a habit of getting in the way.

Nothing to Lose(en)

Advertising executive Nick Beame learns that his wife is sleeping with his employer. In a state of despair, he encounters a bumbling thief whose attempted carjacking goes awry when Nick takes him on an involuntary joyride. Soon the betrayed businessman and the incompetent crook strike up a partnership and develop a robbery-revenge scheme. But it turns out that some other criminals in the area don't appreciate the competition.

The Ice Harvest(en)

A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.

Der Etappenhase(en)

Smart Money(en)

Two brothers' trip to the big city to do a little gambling results in a fateful turn of events.

Nine Queens(es)

Two con artists try to swindle a stamp collector by selling him a sheet of counterfeit rare stamps (the "nine queens").

The Art of Seduction(ko)

A man and woman have great success in all of their dating pursuits. The woman uses her dating rules and fakes a car accident to capture the guy's attention, but she can't get him to succumb to her charm.

The Grifters(en)

A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.