There are two conflicting themes, or sets of values at work in Arliss' role. On the one hand he's supposed to be an elderly successful businessman (who is unaccountably poor) while also being a lovable scoundrel. On the other, he insists to anyone who'll listen that the most important thing in life - in fact the only point of having money - is being able to maintain one's independence. Yet he quite happily defrauds his shareholders by means of a clandestine deal through which he's able to secure considerable financial advantages for his 'family'. In other words, his vaunted independence is secured by a crime; it's counterfeit independence. Although the act in question takes place at the end of his life you get the impression that it would never have troubled him ethically at any time.
The acting is very stage bound, even Arliss' performance. The repeated emphasis on his advanced age might have gone over well in the theatre with some stage 'business'; on the screen with no variation it's dull. Within a couple of years his film acting would become so much more flexible.
The plot itself is very thin.