"Hercules" (Victor McLaglen), "Echo" the ventriloquist (Lon Chaney) and his small friend "Tweedledee" (Harry Earles) scrape by performing at various sideshows, always looking for ways to make more money. They devise a plan to use a bird shop as a way of discovering which homes hold valuables ripe for theft, and then, naturally, robbing them! Things seem promising at first. "Echo" disguises himself as an elderly woman, "Tweedledee" pretends to be her child, and their companion acts as the strongman. However, things go wrong when one robbery targeting a wealthy banker leads to a shooting, putting the trio under suspicion from the police. They escape to a secluded cabin in the woods, but when “Hector” (Matt Moore) is arrested for the crime, "Echo" begins to feel guilty. He attends the trial, questioning whether he’ll allow an innocent man to be convicted. Simultaneously, he develops feelings for "Rosie" (Mae Busch), who seems interested in the man facing execution. Will anyone step up and do what's right? The film feels a bit drawn out initially, taking some time to get going. Once it does, though, Tod Browning’s direction of the final thirty minutes is genuinely tense, featuring several narrow escapes involving the Lord's Prayer, a large ape, and some documents. It's interesting to reflect, nearly a century later, on what we considered entertainment and how common rural poverty was in parts of the United States at that time. The movie highlights the disparity between rich and poor, but does so with moments of gentle humor and Chaney delivering a strong performance.

Source on TMDB