The False Road

Lloyd Hughes gets out of prison and is welcomed back by girl friend Enid Bennett and his old friends, until he gives them shocking news: he's going straight. They all quickly abandon him, so he heads out of town and gets a job working for banker Charles Smiley. Along comes the gang, who break into the bank and steal bonds. When Hughes finds out, he heads back to the city and tells them that the honest life is for suckers. Miss Bennet is shocked, and disappointed.

The copy I looked at was on a DVD kickstarted by Tim Lussier from a copy at the Library of Congress. It's a well preserved movie, and the score by David Drazin is a very good one. The direction by Fred Niblo, Miss Bennett's husband, is surprisingly brisk for this period, aided by some very handsome camerawork by George Barnes. Although the ending of the movie may seem a touch old fashioned to the modern audience, there are some very suspenseful sequences, like Miss Bennett cracking a safe. Wade Boteler, a staple of more than 400 features from 1919 through his death in 1943 at the age of 54, offers a solid performance as the gang boss.