Even in 1921 this film was old-fashioned, both technically and dramatically. All he same, it's worth watching, even if the reasons for watching it aren't cinematic. The filming technique is simple: an unmoving camera, with the actors in front of it, in long takes, the standard methods of theatre-derived early cinema. Most of the shots are medium close-up or show the whole set - mostly shots of Bill Rivers's living room and members of his family and his fish stall just outside. The only exception is a race between Bill and another coaster driving their own carts in a race on a country road. This is filmed from the back of a car travelling in front of them and is astonishingly well-done. Unfortunately, it seems to have used up all the film's effects budget, as the other two races are depicted by random shots, with the competitors indistinguishable from each other. In the last race - a steeplechase - there is a title reading "She can't lose now!" followed by a shot of three horses neck-and-neck as they cross a fence. The "dialogue" is clumsy: a series of unnecessary remarks and conversations in transliterated cockney interrupting the (in)action.
The stories too are clichéd: Bill wins a little money backing his own horse in a road-race, loses his savings backing her in a trotting race and then regains the lot backing the winner of a steeplechase. The other story is of Bill's niece, Maggie, who ran away from home and vanished years ago, out to better herself. Now and again Bill and his father look for Maggie in the West End (there's a hint they think she's a prostitute) and fail to find her. Maggie - now Marjorie Dessalar - is an actress and is just about to succeed when she takes the lead in a musical. She is also being pursued by a baronet, who may be bold (we're told he has a D.S.O.), but he isn't bad - in fact, he is strictly honourable in his intentions towards Marjorie. Equally, Marjorie tells him of her background and introduces him to her relatives before they marry. The Bart. isn't put off and enables Bill to regain his money by backing his horse by halves and all is well. That is the reason to watch the film: for all its cinematic faults and hackneyed plots, there is a remarkable human generosity to it. The Cockneyisms of Bill and his family and neighbours are looked at anthropologically as much as a source of humour. When Bill confesses that he has lost their nest-egg, his wife is stoical, accepting that Bill's pride in Polly, his horse, carried him away. The only partly malevolent character - an acquaintance of Sir Robert who marries for money - is depicted as comical rather than wicked.
The stories too are clichéd: Bill wins a little money backing his own horse in a road-race, loses his savings backing her in a trotting race and then regains the lot backing the winner of a steeplechase. The other story is of Bill's niece, Maggie, who ran away from home and vanished years ago, out to better herself. Now and again Bill and his father look for Maggie in the West End (there's a hint they think she's a prostitute) and fail to find her. Maggie - now Marjorie Dessalar - is an actress and is just about to succeed when she takes the lead in a musical. She is also being pursued by a baronet, who may be bold (we're told he has a D.S.O.), but he isn't bad - in fact, he is strictly honourable in his intentions towards Marjorie. Equally, Marjorie tells him of her background and introduces him to her relatives before they marry. The Bart. isn't put off and enables Bill to regain his money by backing his horse by halves and all is well. That is the reason to watch the film: for all its cinematic faults and hackneyed plots, there is a remarkable human generosity to it. The Cockneyisms of Bill and his family and neighbours are looked at anthropologically as much as a source of humour. When Bill confesses that he has lost their nest-egg, his wife is stoical, accepting that Bill's pride in Polly, his horse, carried him away. The only partly malevolent character - an acquaintance of Sir Robert who marries for money - is depicted as comical rather than wicked.
