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Lionel Barrymore was at a low career ebb when he agreed to appear in the independently produced Brooding Eyes. Barrymore emulates his brother John in the role of Slim Jim Carey, the "black sheep" of an aristocratic British family. A professional blackmailer, Carey suddenly and mysteriously disappears from sight, prompting his partner in crime Pat Calaghan (Montagu Love) to take over Carey's operation. Part of Calaghan's game plan is to claim an earldom which was to have been inherited by his "late" partner. But Carey, who is still alive, squashes Calaghan's scheme by showing up in his ancestral home as the family butler. In this guise, he prevents Calaghan from getting his slimy hands on the mistress of the manor, Maria De Costa (Alma Bennett) -- who is actually Carey's long-estranged daughter.