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The Calling of Dan Matthews is a modernized and sanitized version of Harold Bell Wright's muckraking novel. Minister Dan Matthews (Richard Arlen) wants to rid his community of its seamy "Old Town" district, a breeding ground for prostitution and other crimes. Most of the property in question is owned by leading citizen J. B. Strong (Frederick Burton), who is ignorant (or chooses to be) of the appalling conditions in his tenements. Mathews convinces Strong that changes must be made, but is still compelled to whale the tar out of Hardy (Douglass Dumbrille), the evil vice lord of Old Town. The good reverend also wins the hand of Strong's daughter Hope (Charlotte Wynters).