 Sound proved no hindrance and Fries would appear in many of Roach's German-language talkies, as well as characters in many of the Our Gang shorts.Often cast as inebriates, detectives, and bartenders (with a memorable turn as a Blacksmith matching wits with a delinquent 9-year-old in Roach's "Readin' and Writin'"), Fries played scores of bit parts and walk-ons in grade-A films.One of his more notable appearances was as a shiphand in the Marx Brothers' "Monkey Business".