An impressive early part-talkie, BEGGARS OF LIFE expresses a brilliant naturalism in its portrayal of hoboes. Richard Arlen is a hungry, unkempt wanderer drawn into a country house in search of a hot meal. Peering through the dusty screen door he sees an older man sitting motionless at a
dinner table. Upon closer inspection, he finds the man a victim of a gunshot wound to the head. Demure Louise Brooks enters and explains she killed the man, her adopted guardian, when he tried to rape her. Dressed in boy's clothes, she leaves with Arlen in hopes of hopping a freight train to
safety. They settle down in a hobo camp presided over by Robert Perry. Then Perry's rival, ...
Released:
1928
Rated:
NR
Length:
80 mins