Hong Kong Nights
About Hong Kong Nights
Gunrunner Gil Burris offers arms to a Chinese village. Wong, a respected villager, goes with him to Hong Kong wearing an antique bracelet from a village elder. American agent Tom Keene, played by Tom Keene, notices that Wong will not sell the bracelet. Keene's sidekick Wally meets Trina Vidor as she leaves for Macao. Keene's embassy boss sends him after Burris. In Macao, Trina is with Burris. A ship's captain later finds Burris dead and Wong dying after an explosion on an island. Keene and Trina are pulled from a cave just before the tide, and the next day's papers say they have married.
Cast & crew
More about Hong Kong Nights
E. Mason Hopper directed. Norman Houston and Roger Allman wrote it. Walter Futter and Fenn Kimball produced it. Arthur Reed photographed it. First Division Pictures distributed it. Wikipedia dates the release December 24, 1935. The AFI Catalog dates a release of September 15, 1935. Running time is 59 minutes. The title cards say the film is copyrighted, but no registration or renewal was filed.
Themes
Making
Futter's independent unit sold a Hong Kong gunrunning story through First Division without a copyright registration that the later catalogs can find.
Look
Arthur Reed photographed the nightclub, the marketplace, and the island cave.
Preservation
No original copyright registration or renewal appears in the catalogs for 1935–1936 or 1962–1964, so the film is treated as public domain in the United States. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Wera Engels plays Trina Vidor. Warren Hymer plays Wally. Tetsu Komai plays Wong. Cornelius Keefe plays Gil Burris.
- Tom London plays Blake. Freeman Lang plays Captain Evans. Allan Cavan plays Mr. Caulder, also spelled Colder in the AFI synopsis.
- Michael R. Pitts treats the picture in Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940.
Scenes
- Keene watches Wong refuse to sell the elder's bracelet.
- Keene and Trina are taken out of the cave ahead of the tide.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Hong Kong Nights (1935).webm)
