Lights of New York (1928)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Bryan Foy

Writers:

Murray Roth (writer) and
Hugh Herbert (writer)

Release Date:

28 July 1928 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

It's Hear!

Plot:

Ayoung kid from Upstate New York named Eddie (Landis) is conned into fronting for a speakeasy on Broadway...

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Nightclub | Prohibition | Murder

Cast

Helene Costello	...	Kitty Lewis
Cullen Landis	...	Eddie Morgan
Mary Carr	...	Mrs. Morgan
Wheeler Oakman	...	'Hawk' Miller
Gladys Brockwell	...	Molly Thompson
Robert Elliott	...	Detective Crosby
Eugene Pallette	...	Gene
Tom Dugan	...	Sam
Tom McGuire	...	Collins
Walter Percival	...	Jake Jackson
Guy D'Ennery	...	Tommy (as Guy Dennery)
Jere Delaney	...	Dan Dickson

Runtime:

57 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Vitaphone

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Originally approved for production as a 2-reeler. Albert Warner approved expanding it to a 57-minute feature despite an untested director. It's $75,000 cost returned $2 million to the studio.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Hawk is clearly breathing while lying dead in the barber's chair.

Quotes:

Mrs. Morgan: When children leave home, they forget.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

At Dawning

Fascinating Antique

LIGHTS OF NEW YORK was the first "all-taking" feature film, coming in at a brisk 57 minutes and directed by Bryan Foy (of the famous vaudeville family).

The story has two dopey barbers (Cullen Landis, Eugene Palette) yearning for a chance at "big city life" and getting involved with gangsters and bootleg booze. One of the guys gets framed for the murder of a cop but is saved at the last minute by a gun moll (Gladys Brockwell).

Much of the story takes place in a night club called The Night Hawk, which is run by a crook named Hawk (Wheeler Oakman) who has his eye on a pretty chorine (Helene Costello) who is the girl friend of Landis. Costello gets to do a brief dance, and we hear Harry Downing (made up to resemble Ted Lewis) sing "At Dawning) in his best Al Jolson style.

The acting ranges from good (Palette and Brockwell) to awful (Oakman). A couple of the actors muff their lines but then keep right on with the scene. As noted elsewhere this was intended to be a short 2-reeler and was made on a shoestring budget. Yet the sound quality is surprisingly good, the voices all register clearly, and there is a neat cinematic touch in the silhouette death.

The film was a box-office smash even though it was shown as a silent film where theaters were not wired for the new sound technology. No one expected this little film to gross an amazing $1.3 million. It briefly made stars of Costello and Landis and certainly launched Palette on his long career as a star character actor.

Co-stars include Mary Carr as the mother, Robert Elliott as the detective, Eddie Kane as the street cop, and Tom Dugan as a thug.