The Iron Master

When J. Farrell MacDonald dies, he leaves the estate and the iron mill in the hands of Reginald Denny, who has worked his way up from the bottom. His wastrel family resent his careful ways and the tight budget he keeps them on, so they conspire with competitor Richard Tucker, who proposes they wreck the business to force a merger with his interests. Siblings Lila Lee and William Janney agree.

It's good if cheap Poverty Row version of the story, directed by Chester Franklin. Based on a play by Georges Ohnet, it had been filmed at least twice in France: a silent version in 1919, and a sound version the same year as this one, co-directed by Abel Gance. This version is perfectly serviceable, although the budgets that producer M.H. Hoffman means it falls into rote patterns. Still, the actors give it their all, and Franklin gets a good performance out of Freddie Burke Fredericks, in what would be his last screen role.