When I read about this film, it reminded me of the latter film "Captain January" (in 1924 with Baby Peggy and in 1936 with Shirley Temple). An old man who lives on the water ends up with a child that isn't his and takes care of it while others who think they can do a better job try to take it away from them. This is a bit different. Our main character, played by F.A. Turner lives on a not-very-nice houseboat. One night, during a storm, a lady with child in tow comes in. She dies and F.A. ends up a father. F.A. gets some money from selling his boat (the friend he sells it to allows to stay in it) and down the river they go. F.A. buries the mother out in the woods. Not too long after that he's joined by a tramp named "Booge". The child, Buddy, likes Booge so F.A. allows him to stay. The threat to the child's staying with F.A. comes not too long after that after a justice of the peace comes up with intent of taking the child. Booge, who was there (F.A. was in town), turns the j.p. away. Eventually, Booge is hauled off to jail. F.A. and the kid sleep in a barn that night and then head into town. They see where they can get 10-cent bean soup and who should they meet in there but Buddy's sister, Susie! She's staying with the lady who runs the restaurant. She's not very nice and treats Susie shamefully. Eventually, the j.p. catches up with F.A. and the latter turns over the kid to him. F.A., as the title implies, is mighty handy with a jack-knife and made several toys for Buddy. An influential lady celebrity champions the toys and talks him into making more. F.A. makes a good amount of money and goes over to a widow lady friend (who has both children in her care now) and proposes. The final scene is when Booge comes up and observes the happy scene from a distance. As it turns out, Booge is the children's father and he's pleased to see the scene. Not a perfect film, but a good one.
Review of The Jack-Knife Man
