Amateur Crook

This comedy-drama from the mind of Sam Katzman -- besides producing this quickie, he also directed -- is a fairly amusing story about how starving artist Bruce Bennett (still credited as Herman Brix) helps ditzy Joan Barclay whose father has pawned a fabulous diamond -- well, it's too long to explain here and for a Sam Katzman production it's a darned fine one. But neither Bennett nor Barclay are capable of reading their lines very well. Some good photography manages to survive the current muddy prints, but most of the fun is provided, as so often in the case, by supporting actors, including Vivienne Oakland as Bennett's landlady and Jimmy Aubrey as a junk dealer.

Bennett became a better actor as time went on, but never got the real break he needed -- or perhaps he was never really good enough. Miss Barclay disappeared soon enough and Katzman kept on chunking them out.