Burn 'Em Up Barnes (1921) (Silent)

Johnny 'Burn 'Em Up" Barnes is a race car driver of wealthy means. Waylaid by competitors and dumped in a boxcar, Johnny befriends a hobo named Flannel (portrayed by Edwin Breece). Concurrently, the character Madge Thompson (Betty Carpenter role) is living out a secret love affair with a King Cole (Edmund Breese). This surreptitious amorous endeavor produces a child out of wedlock. Thompson raises the infant with King Cole helping when he can while keeping up appearances for his bank job. The two maintain a home and a stressful relationship. When it appears the child has been killed when it wanders onto train tracks, the couple lament. That is until it is revealed that the baby was taken safe-and-sound by Barnes while passing by in another train and raised by Johnny and Flannel. Suspicion of kidnapping threatens to send Barnes to prison when his racing rival reveals that Barnes as a kidnapper. A late entry in an automobile race will help the racer escape incarceration. Johnny Hines is known for the silent short, Speed Spook. His career floundered at the advent of the talkie era. The comedy is wise and amusing, the plotline and acting is evocative and complex. The race scenes are compelling, and the race cars are enjoyable to view in action. Definitely an enjoyable film worth the price of admission.