The Expert (1932)

In Chicago, elderly Charles "Chic" Sale (as John T. Minick) arrives to live with son Earle Foxe (as Fred) and his socially-conscious wife Lois Wilson (as Nettie). Asserting that an old man is harder to handle than a baby, their maid quits. Dorothea Wolbert (as Annie) and Louis Beavers (as Lulu) make the most of their small maid roles as the script gives them some room to characterize. "I come here to be a help, not a hindrance," Mr. Sale declares, and tries unsuccessfully to be handy around the house. Without much to help with, Sale goes outside to shovel and meets adorable neighbor Dickie Moore (as Richard "Dickie" Foster). The plot thickens when thieving little Moore sees Sale has a stash of money hidden in his trunk...

Watch as director Archie Mayo does a fine job introducing young Moore as "across the tracks" although he lives in the relatively nice community. The orphan boy is living Charles Dickens-style with unscrupulous Ralf Harolde (as Jim Crowley) and his sexy wife Adrienne Dore (as Sadie). This simple adaptation of Edna Ferber's "Old Man Minick" scores in the cute Sale/Moore casting and captures a pre-"New Deal" America where an old man with no personal assets is able to bond with a similarly afflicted orphan; they provide each other with a grandfather/grandson relationship that might have otherwise been impossible. The "old folks' home" herein is not the more common "poor house" many had to live in, though.

***** The Expert (3/5/32) Archie Mayo ~ Charles 'Chic' Sale, Dickie Moore, Lois Wilson, Earle Foxe