''Dinty'' is a 1920 American silent comedy drama film written by Marshall Neilan and John McDermott specifically for

Wesley Barry Wesley Barry (August 10, 1907 – April 11, 1994) was an American actor, director, and producer. Barry began his career as a child actor in silent motion pictures and later became a producer and director of both film and television. As a direc ...

, a young actor known for his freckled complexion. Prominent among the supporting players were Colleen Moore, Marjorie Daw, Pat O'Malley, and

Noah Beery Noah Nicholas Beery (January 17, 1882 – April 1, 1946) was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominen ...

. Together with the African American Aaron Mitchell and the Chinese-American Walter Chung, Barry creates the prototype of the multi-ethnic baby gang which will serve as a model for the successful series of '' Our Gang'' (1922–44) and in other feature films like ''

Little Annie Rooney ''Little Annie Rooney'' is a comic strip about a young orphaned girl who traveled about with her dog, Zero. King Features Syndicate launched the strip on January 10, 1927, not long after it was apparent that the Chicago Tribune Syndicate had ...

'' (1925) with

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

.Gevinson, Alan. ''Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960'', University of California Press, 1997. The film is extant, archived in the

Filmmuseum Eye Filmmuseum is a film archive, museum, and cinema in Amsterdam that preserves and presents both Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands. Location and history Eye Filmmuseum is located in the Overhoeks neighborhood of Amsterdam in t ...

in Amsterdam.

Plot

In a village in the Irish woods, young Doreen Adair ( Colleen Moore) falls in love with a young man, Danny O'Sullivan (Tom Gallery). One day, Danny receives notice that he is offered a job in America. Before leaving, he marries Doreen. A year later, a son is born, and Doreen decides to follow her husband to America. Upon arriving in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, Doreen discovers through Danny's landlady Mrs. O'Toole ( Kate Price) that her husband has been killed in a car accident. To support herself and her infant son Dinty, Doreen labors night shifts as a scrub woman until, at the age of twelve, Dinty (

) becomes the family's breadwinner by selling newspapers, forming his own street gang with other children. Doreen, meanwhile, suffers from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

and gets weaker by the day. Meanwhile, in Chinatown, when Judge Whitely ( J. Barney Sherry) imprisons the son of opium smuggler Wong Tai (

), Wong Tai retaliates by kidnapping the judge's daughter ( Marjorie Daw). Dinty, whose work as a newsboy has familiarized him with the Chinese underworld, leads police to Wong Tai's hideout and saves the judge's daughter from a bizarre death by torture. As Dinty's mother has succumbed to tuberculosis, the grateful Judge Whitely adopts Dinty.

Cast

as Dinty O'Sullivan * Colleen Moore as Doreen O'Sullivan * Tom Gallery as Danny O'Sullivan * J. Barney Sherry as Judge Whitely * Marjorie Daw as Ruth Whitely * Pat O'Malley as Jack North *

as Wong Tai * Walter Chung as Sui Lung * Kate Price as Mrs. O'Toole * Tom Wilson as Barry Flynn * Aaron Mitchell as Alexander Horatius Jones * Newton Hall as The tough one * Young Hipp as Wong Tai's son *

Hal Wilson Hal Wilson (also credited Harold Wilson; born Hippocrates Wolfarth, October 2, 1861 – May 22, 1933), was a character actor who appeared in silent films. He was born in New York City.(14 October 1914)Hal Wilson's Career: Eclair Character Actor B ...

Anna May Wong Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese-American actress to gain intern ...

as Half Moon (uncredited)

Production

In an earlier film, ''

Go and Get It ''Go and Get It'' is a 1920 American silent comedy-drama film, comedy-drama mystery film directed by Marshall Neilan and Henry Roberts Symonds and written by Marion Fairfax. The film stars Pat O'Malley, Wesley Barry, Noah Beery, Noah Beery Sr. a ...

'' (1920), Barry played a supporting role as a paperboy named "Dinty". Neilan used the character to create a story in a similar vein as a starring vehicle for Barry, who was being groomed by the studio. Moore, on loan from

Christie Film Company Christie Film Company was an American pioneer motion picture company founded in Hollywood, California by Al Christie and Charles Christie, two brothers from London, Ontario, Canada. It made comedies. While Charles served almost exclusively in ...

, would sign a lucrative contract with Neilan when production for ''Dinty'' was completed.

appeared in an uncredited role that also led to more work with Neilan; after ''Dinty'', he created a role for her in ''

Bits of Life ''Bits of Life'' is a 1921 American film produced and directed by Marshall Neilan. The cast included Lon Chaney and Noah Beery, Sr. For her performance in this film, Anna May Wong received her first screen credit. It is notable as an early ...

'' for which she earned her first screen credit. Portions of the film were shot on location in San Francisco including Chinatown and

Adolph B. Spreckels Adolph Bernard Spreckels (January 5, 1857 – June 28, 1924) was a California businessman who ran Spreckels Sugar Company and who donated the California Palace of the Legion of Honor art museum to the city of San Francisco in 1924. His wife Alm ...

' Spreckels Mansion. The end of the film was shot on location on Catalina Island. Sets were designed by

Ben Carré Ben Carré (1883–1978) was a French art director and painter who settled in the United States. He designed sets for dozens of Hollywood films including '' The Blue Bird'', ''The Phantom of the Opera'', ''Don Juan'', ''The Jazz Singer'', and '' ...

Release

Released November 29, 1920, ''Dinty'' was successful. A booklet on Wesley Barry's life was put out concurrently, part of the movie's promotional strategy. Neilan also used the release of ''Dinty'' to debut a campaign to improve the artistic quality of

film stills A film still (sometimes called a publicity still or a production still) is a photograph, taken on or off the set of a movie or television program during production. These photographs are also taken in formal studio settings and venues of oppor ...

. Reviews of the film were generally favorable. The '' Dramatic Mirror'' called it "a photoplay of remarkable direction, excellent acting ... and perfect photography". The reviewer for

Motion Picture News The ''Motion Picture News'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1913 to 1930. History The publication was created through the 1913 merger of the ''Moving Picture News'' founded in 1908 and ''The Exhibitors' Times'', founded ...

wrote: "There are enough elements in this feature to please every type of picturegoer." Positive reviews appeared in trade papers ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', '' Wid's'', and the '' Exhibitors Herald''. Some of the positive reviews were conditional. The '' Photoplay'' reviewer commented that Neilan's "human touch ... however obvious and conventional it may become, is usually effective". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' critic noted the "deliberateness" that led to a deficiency in "genuineness", especially in the dramatic and action scenes.

References

External links

* *
''Dinty''
at Silent Era website {{Marshall Neilan 1920 films American silent feature films Films directed by Marshall Neilan Films directed by John McDermott Films set in San Francisco American black-and-white films 1920s English-language films 1920 comedy-drama films Articles containing video clips Films shot in San Francisco 1920s American films Silent American comedy-drama films