Lights! Camera! Action! Sound!

 

LIGHTS OF NEW YORK-1928-This is a crude early sound gangster crime drama that's only remembered today because it was the first full sound movie. It's not very good with wooden acting, terrible musical numbers and it moves at a snail's pace. 

The basic story is about a sleazy nightclub owner/bootlegger Hawk Miller (Wheeler Oakman) framing a naive barber Eddie(Cullen Landis) for the killing of a police officer. One character says "You might get indigestion from too much chicken". Miller's plan doesn't turn out like he wants it to and he winds up mysteriously shot. Eddie's partner Gene (Eugene Pallete) tries to help by giving a shave to the dead Miller. When the hard nosed Detective Crosby (Robert Elliot) is ready to arrest Eddie, Molly, Miller's girlfriend (Gladys Brockwell) admits to killing Miller. 

LIGHTS OF NEW YORK is one of the few feature films directed Bryan Foy, a former vaudeville performer with the famous family group “The Seven Little Foys”. He began in movies as a gag writer for Buster Keaton and began directing in the early 1920's, making mainly short films. Later he produced many shorts and after that several features including THE HOUSE OF WAX.

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Slaves

SLAVES IN BONDAGE-1937-Jim Murray (Wheeler Oakman from ESCORT GIRL) and Belle Harris (Florence Dudley) are running whore houses using kidnapped girls. A reporter named Phil (Donald Reed) tries to crack the ring with the help of his girlfriend manicurist Donna Lee (Lona Andre). For some reason two guys do a weird acrobatic dance for Phil, who's unimpressed. It turns out the manicure parlor is actually a front for it's real business: prostitution! A thug named good looking Freddy is shot and his dead body dumped on the street. An Asian woman does a fan dance. Meanwhile two of Murray's stooges Nick (John Merton) and Dutch (Richard Cramer) plot to take over. Jim (who's sweet on Donna) frames Phil with some marked money while Belle tries to "recruit" Donna. Nick and Dutch try their takeover and a big fight ensues. The police finally get wise and arrest everyone and Phil rescues Donna from Jim's evil clutches. This badly directed and edited exploitation film is full of comic drunks, cliched dialogue, a cat fight and 2 woman spanking each other.

Lead actress Lona Andre was in OUR RELATIONS with Laurel & Hardy and lost out on the role of "the panther woman" in ISLAND OF LOST SOULS to Kathleen Burke.

Producer J.D. Kendis also produced ESCORT GIRL. Director Elmer Clifton started his career in silent films (his most famous was DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS) but made mostly low budget dramas in the sound era. One of his last projects was the serial CAPTAIN AMERICA.

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Exploitation Movie For A Christmas Night

ESCORT GIRL-1941-A sleazy guy named Breezy Nolan (Guy Kingsford) runs an escort service but the real owners are Greg (Wheeler Oakman) and Ruth (Betty Compson) who oversee the operation while running a respectable cafe'. Ruth's daughter June (Margaret Marquis) pays a surprise visit with her fiance' Drake (Robert Kellard) who's going to work for the DA in bringing down the escort service. Of course June has no idea of her mother covert actions. Drake manages to get a job with the service (undercover). Through a big mix up Drake winds up thinking June is working as an escort. She wants to expose Greg as the leader of the illegal activities but when he reveals who his partner is June relents. Greg gets her drunk (she's pretty funny boozed up!) and Ruth freaks out when she finds them together. When Drake and Greg fight it out Ruth is shot and Greg falls out a window. Ruth confesses the truth and the couple live happily ever after.

The direction and acting are sub-par but the fights are entertainingly bad and the print I saw was choppy. It's the only director credit for Edward E. Kaye.

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