Duke Wadsworth Harris is too ill to rise from his bed, but not so ill he can't lecture his son, Marc McDermott, on not hanging around with ladies and men who drink cocktails, play jazz piano, and dance. Also, play cards and lose more money than you have, which McDermott immediately proceeds to do. He borrows money from Harry Eytinge, who eventually demands his money back. To pay him, McDermott forges his mother's name on a check.
Hevvings! Having done the foul deed, and placed it in his wallet, he walks through the ancestral home's portrait gallery, and falls asleep. In the style of a 18th Century Gothic Novel or Gilbert & Sullivan's RUDDIGORE, the portraits come to life and hector him like daddy.
It would drive me off cocktails, I can tell you that. It's a heavy-handed bit of movie-making by Charles Brabin, done in a style which had long gone out of style. There's some nice double-exposure special effects, but the guys in the portrait frames can't keep really still while waiting to guilt-trip McDermott.
