Let's keep this quick and painless. 'Riders Up' stars Creighton Hale and George Cooper as a pair of compulsive gamblers who live in Kate Price's boarding-house, but who are always behind on the rent. (As I said, they're compulsive gamblers.) Hale's character is nicknamed the Information Kid, because he allegedly always has "inside dope" on upcoming races ... yet, as I said, he's always behind on the rent.
This is one of those deeply annoying movies about men who shirk their responsibilities, but we're expected to like them because they're charming and clever. Whenever the landlady corners Hale and Cooper and she starts to speak (demanding the rent), they pop some salt-water taffy into her mouth, or pull some other lurk. Ethel Shannon plays the landlady's daughter, who's also the boarding-house waitress. Improbably, she and Hale are sweet on each other; in real life, a woman like this would know better than to encourage a man like him!
Eventually, Hale and Cooper get a tip on a horse that can't possibly lose. (Where have I heard THAT before?) So, they 'borrow' their landlady's silver tea service, and they pawn it in order to bet the lot on the horse. Guess what happens. And then guess what happens after that. This scenario brought to you by Script-o-Matic.
There are a couple of good performances here, especially by Robert Brower as a grizzled railbird, and by former Keystone Cop Hank Mann as another roomer in the boarding-house, who (unlike our alleged heroes) is always prompt with his rent. And there's the problem: we're meant to like the characters played by Hale and Cooper, but I despised them. Say, fellows: ever heard of getting a job? My rating for this one: barely 4 out of 10.
This is one of those deeply annoying movies about men who shirk their responsibilities, but we're expected to like them because they're charming and clever. Whenever the landlady corners Hale and Cooper and she starts to speak (demanding the rent), they pop some salt-water taffy into her mouth, or pull some other lurk. Ethel Shannon plays the landlady's daughter, who's also the boarding-house waitress. Improbably, she and Hale are sweet on each other; in real life, a woman like this would know better than to encourage a man like him!
Eventually, Hale and Cooper get a tip on a horse that can't possibly lose. (Where have I heard THAT before?) So, they 'borrow' their landlady's silver tea service, and they pawn it in order to bet the lot on the horse. Guess what happens. And then guess what happens after that. This scenario brought to you by Script-o-Matic.
There are a couple of good performances here, especially by Robert Brower as a grizzled railbird, and by former Keystone Cop Hank Mann as another roomer in the boarding-house, who (unlike our alleged heroes) is always prompt with his rent. And there's the problem: we're meant to like the characters played by Hale and Cooper, but I despised them. Say, fellows: ever heard of getting a job? My rating for this one: barely 4 out of 10.
