Red Lights (1923 film)

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Red Lights
Red Lights (1923, by Badger).jpg
Directed by Clarence G. Badger
Written by
Starring
CinematographyRudolph J. Bergquist
Production
company
Distributed byGoldwyn Pictures
Release date
September 30, 1923
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSilent
English intertitles

Red Lights is a 1923 American silent mystery film directed by Clarence G. Badger and starring Marie Prevost, Raymond Griffith and Johnnie Walker. [1] The plot concerns a railroad tycoon who is about to be reunited with his daughter who was kidnapped many years ago.

Contents

Plot

Most of the film takes place on a moving train. A psychic named Sheridan Scott professes to have the ability to foresee and prevent criminal acts. He agrees to help Ruth Carson, the daughter of a wealthy railroad magnate, solve a mystery regarding why flashing red lights over her head portend death for various people around her. Ruth had been kidnapped years earlier, and was later found and reunited with her father. The young heroine comes to believe her long-deceased uncle is menacing her from the beyond, but Scott solves the mystery of the flashing red lights, and learns the true identity of the man behind a plot to murder the young heiress and steal her inheritance...a scientist who uses telepathy to frighten the young woman.

Cast

Production

The film is based on a play called The Rear Car by Edward E. Rose, but according to critic Christopher Workman, "the film is not very faithful to its source material....it's a moderately enjoyable ride regardless." The film's survival status is unknown. [2]

The play was filmed again in 1934 as Murder in the Private Car, starring Charles Ruggles as the psychic detective, although in that version, the supernatural elements were played down a bit. [3] Actor Lionel Belmore went on to co-star in a number of 1930s Universal horror films including Frankenstein and The Vampire Bat. Jean Hersholt later starred in a number of MGM horror films, including The Mask of Fu Manchu and Mark of the Vampire. [4]

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The Other Person is a 1921 Dutch-British silent mystery film directed by Maurits Binger and B.E. Doxat-Pratt. It was a co-production between a Dutch film company and a British film company.

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Lord Arthur Saville's Crime is a 1920 Hungarian silent crime film directed by Pál Fejös and starring Ödön Bárdi, Lajos Gellért and Margit Lux. It was also released as both Mark of the Phantom and Lidercnyomas. The film was based on the 1891 short story Lord Arthur Savile's Crime by Oscar Wilde. It was one of Pal Fejos' earliest films and is now considered lost. It was photographed by Jozsef Karban.

<i>Vampires of Warsaw</i> 1925 film

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The Sorrows of Satan is a 1917 British silent fantasy film directed by Alexander Butler and starring Gladys Cooper, Owen Nares and Cecil Humphreys. It was made at Isleworth Studios. It was based on the 1895 novel of the same name by Marie Corelli (1855-1924). The plot involves a poverty-stricken author who is so depressed about his life that he agrees to sell his soul to the Devil.

The Lost Shadow is a 1921 German silent film directed by Rochus Gliese and starring Paul Wegener, Wilhelm Bendow and Adele Sandrock. The cinematographer was Karl Freund. The film's sets were designed by the art director Kurt Richter. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin. For some reason, the film was only released in the US in 1928. It is today considered a lost film.

References

  1. ↑ Goble, Alan (2011) [1999]. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. p. 925. ISBN   978-3598114922.
  2. ↑ Red Lights at silentera.com. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  3. ↑ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 268. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  4. ↑ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 268. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.


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