While the silent comedy team of Karl Dane and George K. Arthur made some very entertaining films in the latter half of the 1920s (Rookies, for example, was a winner), this feature didn't quite live up to the duo's potential. That said, having Dane play a big, dumb hotel detective and placing the boyish, diminutive Arthur in the role of a bellhop was inspired casting. The two of them are rivals for the heart of Lois, a typist at the hotel where they are working (Marceline Day). There's a jewel thief at the hotel and for all his bragging, Dane can't seem to get a handle on solving the case. Determined to win Lois and show up Dane, Arthur gets on the case himself. Their investigation takes both of them to a strange house miles outside of town which contains trap doors and secret passageways. The thief, who has been posing as a professor of Egyptology, is finally rounded up, and the jewels recovered -- by the bellhop. He and Lois walk off together, leaving the hotel detective -- whose presence has more often hindered than helped -- to suffer the scorn of the cops. There are a few truly amusing moments, most notably when Arthur dresses up as a maid and can't get Dane to stop pawing him.
by Janiss Garza
synopsis
