Are Crooks Dishonest? (1918)

Directed by Gilbert Pratt
Starring Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels, Snub Pollard
Produced by Rolin Films

A couple running a fake seance business decide to take a break in the park after one particularly "fruitful" day.  There, they meet up with a couple of con artists who are running a scam involving a lost ring.  While most people have seen it all before, the woman running the seances has seen it all before and easily turns the tables on the pair.  But when they end up taking refuge at her business, will they manage to con the con artist?

Here's a Harold Lloyd short and it's another very straight-forward tale.  While Lloyd get the top billing it really is Lloyd, Bebe Daniels and Snub Pollard all playing equal roles.  Also, unlike a lot of comedies we have reviewed here, Are Crooks Dishonest? relies more on situational humor and sight gags than the physical comedy of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.

But was it funny?  Not really.  It's amusing in parts, particularly when the crooks hide out at Daniels business, but it's never laugh-out-loud funny.  A lot of screen time is taken up by Lloyd running his scam repeatedly on people in the park and, even if you though it clever the first time, by the sixth time you're waiting for the plot to move along. 

The con itself will be familiar to modern audiences.  Pollard loses a valuable ring and enlists the victim's help to find it.  Lloyd comes along and finds the ring.  The victim, thing the ring is worth something, offers to buy it.  Lloyd gets paid off and the victim of the hoax is left with a ring from "Phoney Jewelry Company."

If one wants to take the film as a commentary on the times, it's an argument that everyone is a crook.  The crooks attempt the scam on a half dozen or more people, always with the same result.  Those being scammed only fall victim because they are trying to steal the ring themselves.  And not one person fails to fall victim until Daniels' character comes along.  And she doesn't fall victim only so she can con the crooks out of the money they just stole.  Are crooks dishonest?  Is everyone dishonest?  Is everyone a crook?

At the end of the day, Are Crooks Dishonest? is average. It's a nice diversion that may make you smile in parts and its brevity is a virtue.  I prefer Chaplin and Keaton's work to this.

** out of *****

Watched on YouTube
NOTE: Photo upload is not working.  Hopefully it is fixed for my next post.