Worldly Goods

James Kirkwood plays John Tullock, an industrialist. During the Great War, he manufactured planes for the US Government. They were so bad pilots called them "Tullock's Coffins." Ferdinand Schumann-Heink was one who survived a crash. He was blinded. Returning to the States, he has his friend tell his fiancee, Merna Kennedy, that he died. He gets a job as an airplane mechanic and one day Kirkwood comes by, grouchy that his plane isn't ready to go. Meeting Schumann-Heink, he decides to pay for the surgery that will restore the man's sight, even though he has vowed to murder Kirkwood if he ever gets the chance. Kirkwood also meets Miss Kennedy. He falls in love, persuades her to marry him, and tries to do good with the money he has accumulated.

It's produced by Trem Carr, so you know you're on Poverty Row, even with Phil Rosen succeeding in making the story flow, and having something to say about human fallibility. The line reading, particularly Kirkwood's, are rather poor. Sound supervisor Neil Jack undoubtedly cast a pall over that aspect of the production.