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Luminous silent screen personality Louise Brooks stars in this drama about the trials and tribulations of life on the run from the law. A hungry, disheveled hobo gets more than he bargains for when he staggers toward a farmhouse in search of a hot meal. To his amazement, he finds an old man with a gunshot wound to the head and a frightened girl with a heartbreaking story to tell. Feeling sorry for her, he offers to help her hop a freight train to safety. Disguised as a boy to make traveling easier the girl agrees, but despite the hobo’s best intentions to help her on her way, they end up traversing the countryside together. However, their journey is not an easy one as they attract scorn and loathing from the people they meet, hostility and suspicion from other hobos, and unwelcome attention from the police during their quest to reach Canada and forge new lives for themselves. “Beggars of Life” is loosely based on the novel “A Hobo Autobiography” (1924) by Jum Tully a popular author of the 1920’s and 1930’s and one of the founders of the school of hard-boiled writing in the United States. Stars Louise Brooks as The Girl (Nancy), Richard Arlen as The Boy (Jim), Wallace Beery as Oklahoma Red, and Robert Perry as The Arkansaw Snake.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
316952
Language
English
Audience classification
M (15+)
Subject categories
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Homeless persons
Feature films → Feature films - United States
Literature → American literature - Film and video adaptations
Sound/audio
Silent
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)