On one level it is a straight adventure story -- an orphaned boy's adventures in trying to cross a continent to find an aunt he has never met.
At another level it is more complex, as it shows his relationships with the different adults he meets. Some are uncaring, while others try to exploit him, and leave him hardened by the encounters so that when he meets people who help him with no ulterior motive, he remains detached and withdrawn from real human contact. At first sight Fergus McClelland seems to have a rather wooden performance as the boy, Sammy Hartland, but in fact this is part of the character in the story.
Eventually it is a diamond smuggler, played by Edward G. Robinson, who breaks through his reserve, and begins to bring him out of his shell.
At another level it is more complex, as it shows his relationships with the different adults he meets. Some are uncaring, while others try to exploit him, and leave him hardened by the encounters so that when he meets people who help him with no ulterior motive, he remains detached and withdrawn from real human contact. At first sight Fergus McClelland seems to have a rather wooden performance as the boy, Sammy Hartland, but in fact this is part of the character in the story.
Eventually it is a diamond smuggler, played by Edward G. Robinson, who breaks through his reserve, and begins to bring him out of his shell.