Lights of New York
About Lights of New York
Eddie Morgan comes to New York. Gangster Hawk Miller talks him into fronting a speakeasy. Hawk kills a policeman who gets too close and plants the evidence on Eddie. Eddie’s girlfriend Kitty is pulled into the frame. Cullen Landis plays Eddie. Wheeler Oakman plays Hawk. Helene Costello plays Kitty. Bryan Foy directed. The picture is all spoken dialogue, recorded on Vitaphone discs.
Cast & crew
More about Lights of New York
Warner Bros. released it on 6 July 1928. The Vitaphone Corporation handled the sound-on-disc system. Louis Silvers is the music credit. Wikidata times it at 57 minutes and lists a cost of $23,000 and box office of $1,252,000. English Wikipedia says it grossed over $1 million. Eugene Pallette, Mary Carr, Gladys Brockwell, and Robert Elliott are billed. It followed Don Juan (1926), which had a synchronized score, and The Jazz Singer (1927), which had some spoken scenes.
Themes
Background
It opened in July 1928, between the part-talking Jazz Singer and the end of 1929, when the studios had switched to sound.
Making
Foy shot a cheap crime story entirely in spoken dialogue so Warner could see whether audiences would sit through a full talkie.
Technique
Every scene is spoken. Warner’s earlier Don Juan had music and effects only. The Jazz Singer mixed silent stretches with dialogue.
Music
Dialogue and music are on Vitaphone discs. Louis Silvers is the music credit.
Preservation
The film survives. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Wikipedia calls it the first all-talking feature.
- The budget figure is a B-picture number, $23,000.
- The story is a speakeasy frame-up, not a musical.
- A Commons file names Foy and the year.
Scenes
- Hawk talks Eddie into putting his name on the speakeasy.
- A policeman is killed and the evidence is left on Eddie.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Lights of New York (1928) by Bryan Foy.webm)
