Dinty
About Dinty
Dinty, a newsboy, is trying to keep his sick mother alive. Fights with the other boys on the street pull him into a second fight, this one with drug smugglers in Chinatown. Wesley Barry plays Dinty. Marshall Neilan and John McDermott wrote the part for him.
Cast & crew
More about Dinty
Marshall Neilan directed. Marion Fairfax is also credited on the scenario. First National released it on 21 November 1920. Colleen Moore, Marjorie Daw, Pat O'Malley, and Noah Beery are in the supporting cast. Running time 73 minutes. Aaron Mitchell and Walter Chung play boys alongside Barry.
Themes
Background
A 1920 First National comedy-drama that puts a newsboy between a sick mother and a Chinatown gang.
Making
Neilan built the picture around a child star he already had, rather than around a property.
Notes
- Barry was cast for his freckles. The script was written for him.
- Noah Beery is among the adults. Colleen Moore and Marjorie Daw are the women in the story.
- The Chinatown section is a smuggling plot, not only a street fight.
- A later write-up of the film treats Barry, Mitchell, and Chung's gang as a model for the mixed group Our Gang started in 1922.
Scenes
- Dinty's errands for his mother turn into a clash with the other newsboys and then with smugglers.