Burn 'Em Up Barnes on AllMovie

After making a hit in the Torchy series of two-reelers, Johnny Hines chose this lively picture as his first full-length comedy. It was one of the year's hits. Young Barnes (Hines) is called "Burn 'Em Up" because of his love for fast driving, both on the track and on the street -- much to the annoyance of the local traffic cops. When Barnes shows no interest in business, he gets in an argument with his father, a millionaire car manufacturer (J. Barney Sherry), and leaves home. Almost immediately he is attacked by a gang of thugs who steal his clothes and toss him, unconscious, into a freight car. When he comes to, Barnes meets two tramps (Edmund Breese and George Fawcett) who adopt him as one of their own. The three of them land in a small town where Barnes falls in love with Madge (Betty Carpenter), the daughter of the town's bank president (Richard Thorpe). He has competition for the girl's affection, however, and his rival is glad to see him falsely arrested for kidnapping a baby. But through a series of adventures and misadventures, Barnes manages to prove his innocence and he winds up in a race which wins him a nice sum of money. This picture was remade as both a serial and a feature in 1934.