Voices of the City

Last updated

Voices of the City
Voices of the City (1921) - 1.jpg
Film still published in Photoplay
Directed by Wallace Worsley
Written by Arthur F. Statter
Story by Leroy Scott
Starring Lon Chaney
Leatrice Joy
Distributed by Goldwyn Pictures
Release date
  • December 1921 (1921-12)
Running time
60 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)
Budget$200,000 [1]

Voices of the City (also known as The Night Rose, its intended original release title) is a 1921 American silent crime drama film starring Leatrice Joy and Lon Chaney that was directed by Wallace Worsley, based on the Leroy Scott novel The Night Rose. [2] The film took more than 9 months to be released due to a controversy[ clarification needed ] over the proposed title and the film's abundance of gunplay. The film was retitled Voices of the City and was only released in December 1921, although it had been completed in early March. The film is still listed under The Night Rose in some reference sources. [2]

Contents

The ball sequence involved 300 couples and took five days to film. [3] It is considered a lost film today. [4] A still exists showing Chaney as the gangster, Red O'Rourke. [5]

Plot

While at the seedy Blue Jay cafe in San Francisco with her sweetheart Jimmy Halloran (Cullen Landis), Georgia Rodman (Leatrice Joy) is a witness to the murder of a policeman by Red O'Rourke's gang. Georgia and Jimmy are regarded as accessories to the slaying and begin looking for them to question them. Georgia's mother throws her out of her house for consorting with lowlifes. Offering to hide the couple, Red O'Rourke (Lon Chaney) actually plans to kill Jimmy so he can't testify against him. O'Rourke tells Georgia the police are looking for her so that she remains hidden during the day. She becomes known as the "Night Rose" because she only comes out at night, wearing a veil.

Advertisement Voices of the City (1921) - 5.jpg
Advertisement

O'Rourke's girlfriend Sally Monroe (Schade) becomes jealous that her boyfriend is trying to get Georgia to marry him. She tells Georgia that O'Rourke is a rat and that he is planning to kill Jimmy at a local ball run by O'Rourke at which he plans to marry Georgia. Jimmy is lured to Black Mike's Cafe where he is shot by one of O'Rourke's men. Georgia, believing him to be dead, determines to have her revenge.

Georgia pulls a gun on O'Rourke at the ball while they are dancing. Just as she is about to shoot him, Sally grabs the pistol out of her hand and fires the fatal shot. Georgia's mother forgives her and welcomes her back, and upon her return, Georgia finds Jimmy recovering at her mother's home. [6]

Cast

Controversial Release

In 1921 when The Night Rose was released, many American cities and states had enacted their own film censorship laws. Because of its crime plot, The Night Rose was subjected to censorship, and was the first film rejected in whole by the recently created New York State Motion Picture Commission [7] which it condemned "as highly immoral and of such character that its exhibition would not only tend to corrupt morals, but to incite crime." [8] Goldwyn appealed the decision to New York state court, which upheld the commission's decision on November 18, 1921. [1] Goldwyn then came to an agreement with the state commission to edit the film, which removed many of Lon Chaney's scenes and inexplicably changed the name of his character from Red O'Rourke to Duke McGee. [9] [7] The film was finally released in December 1921 under the title Voices of the City. [9]

Critiques

"Interesting underworld melodrama with intricate plotting and counter-plotting by a master criminal and an abundance of gun play...Lon Chaney, as always, gets the utmost out of the role of a powerful leader of lawbreakers. He has a gift for quiet emphasis in pantomime which fits nicely into this lurid tale." ---Variety [10]

"It is not a particularly convincing sort of story and the continuity is rather ragged in spots. Lon Chaney plays his part of the gang chief with his usual energy and ability to invest such roles with a species of sinister fascination." ---Exhibitors Trade Review

"With some changes in the subtitles and the necessary cuts, plus a new main title, the picture is being shown at the Capitol. Through the process (of censorship), the story has become somewhat disjointed and illogical as well as hard to follow. Lon Chaney has done much better things than this." ---Film Daily [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lon Chaney</span> American actor (1883–1930)

Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney was an American actor and makeup artist. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with makeup. Chaney was known for his starring roles in such silent horror films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). His ability to transform himself using makeup techniques that he developed earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces".

The Motion Picture Division of the State of New York Education Department, also known variously as the New York State Censorship Board, New York Censor Board, and New York Board of Censors, was an organ of film censorship in the Pre-Code film era.

<i>The Penalty</i> (1920 film) 1920 film

The Penalty is an American psychological thriller crime film starring Lon Chaney and originally released in 1920 by Goldwyn Pictures. The movie was directed by Wallace Worsley, and written by Philip Lonergan and Charles Kenyon, based upon the pulp novel by Gouverneur Morris. The supporting cast includes Charles Clary, Doris Pawn, Jim Mason, and Claire Adams. The copyright for the film was owned by Gouverneur Morris, who wrote the novel on which the film was based. The budget for the film was $88,868.00. Portions of the film were shot in San Francisco.

<i>A Blind Bargain</i> 1922 film by Wallace Worsley

A Blind Bargain is a 1922 American silent horror film starring Lon Chaney and Raymond McKee, released through Goldwyn Pictures. The film was directed by Wallace Worsley and is based on Barry Pain's 1897 novel The Octave of Claudius. Lon Chaney played a dual role in the film, as both Dr. Lamb and "the Ape Man", one of Chaney's few "true horror films". The claim that Wallace Beery appeared as an ape-man uncredited has never been proven, but does persist in many sources.

<i>Danger, Go Slow</i> 1918 film

Danger, Go Slow is a 1918 American silent comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard, and starring Mae Murray, Jack Mulhall and Lon Chaney. Robert Z. Leonard and Mae Murray co-wrote the screenplay together. The film is today considered lost.

<i>While the City Sleeps</i> (1928 film) 1928 film by Jack Conway

While the City Sleeps is a 1928 American silent crime drama film about a tough New York City police detective, played by Lon Chaney, out to catch a murdering gangster. The film was directed by Jack Conway, written by Andrew Percival Younger, and co-starred Anita Page, Carroll Nye, Wheeler Oakman, and Mae Busch.

<i>The Big City</i> (1928 film) 1928 film

The Big City is a 1928 American silent crime film directed by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney. Waldemar Young wrote the screenplay, based on a story by Tod Browning. The film is now lost.

The Stronger Mind is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney, Murdock MacQuarrie and Pauline Bush. Chaney did not routinely work for the United production unit at Universal, and was obviously sent over as a one-time loan-out for this production. It is now considered to be a lost film. A still exists showing MacQuarrie and Chaney as the two bank robbers.

Fires of Rebellion is a 1917 American silent drama film written and directed by Ida May Park, and starring Lon Chaney, William Stowell, and Dorothy Phillips. The film is today considered lost. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of the lecherous photographer Russell Hanlon. The film's main musical theme was Serenade by R. Czerwonky.

<i>The Rescue</i> (1917 film) 1917 film

The Rescue is a 1917 American silent drama film written and directed by Ida May Park and starring Lon Chaney, William Stowell and Dorothy Phillips. The screenplay was based on a story by Hugh McNair Kahler. The film is today considered lost. A photo exists showing Lon Chaney in his role as Thomas Holland, a rare occasion when Chaney did not play a villain.

<i>Pay Me!</i> 1917 film

Pay Me! is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and starring Lon Chaney, Dorothy Phillips, and William Stowell. In the United States, the film is also known as The Vengeance of the West. The screenplay was written by Bess Meredith, based on a story by Joe De Grasse. This film was Universal Pictures' first "Jewel Production" release. Once considered to be a lost film, an incomplete (23-minute) print was rediscovered in the Gosfilmofond archive in Russia in 2019. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of the villainous Joe Lawson.

Fast Company is a 1918 American silent comedy film directed by Lynn Reynolds and starring Juanita Hansen, Edward Cecil, Lon Chaney and Franklyn Farnum. The film is today considered lost.

<i>A Broadway Scandal</i> 1918 film

A Broadway Scandal is a 1918 American silent romantic drama film directed by Joe De Grasse that features Carmel Myers, Lon Chaney and Edwin August. The screenplay was written by Harvey Gates. This would be Lon Chaney's last film for director Joe De Grasse, ending a multiyear collaboration between the two men. The film's tagline was "Engagement Extraordinary! An Amazing Romance of a French Girl in New York". It is today considered to be a lost film. A still exists showing Lon Chaney as Kink Colby, together with the other main players in the shot.

<i>Riddle Gawne</i> 1918 film

Riddle Gawne is a 1918 American silent Western film directed by William S. Hart and Lambert Hillyer, and featuring William S. Hart, Katherine MacDonald and Lon Chaney. The film was co-produced by William S. Hart and Thomas H. Ince. The screenplay was written by Charles Alden Seltzer from his earlier novel The Vengeance of Jefferson Gawne. Chaney historian Jon C. Mirsalis claims that William S. Hart contributed greatly to the screenplay but all other sources credit the writing of the screenplay solely to Charles Alden Seltzer.

<i>That Devil, Bateese</i> 1918 film

That Devil, Bateese is a 1918 American silent action-drama film directed by William Wolbert and starring Monroe Salisbury, Ada Gleason, and Lon Chaney. The screenplay was written by Bernard McConville, based on a story written by Bess Meredyth. Even though this film was released before some of his earlier Universal films, it was actually Chaney's final film from his first stint at Universal Studios. Filming took place at Big Bear Lake and the San Bernardino National Forest in California. The film is considered lost.

<i>Victory</i> (1919 film) 1919 film by Maurice Tourneur

Victory is a surviving 1919 American action film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Jack Holt, Seena Owen, Lon Chaney, Wallace Beery and Bull Montana. The film is an adaptation of the 1915 eponymous novel by Joseph Conrad. The screenplay was written by Jules Furthman and Ben Carré was the art director.

<i>The Ace of Hearts</i> (1921 film) 1921 film by Wallace Worsley

The Ace of Hearts is a 1921 American crime drama film produced and directed by Wallace Worsley. The screenplay by Ruth Wightman is based on the pulp novel The Purple Mask by Gouverneur Morris. The film stars Leatrice Joy, John Bowers, Raymond Hatton and Lon Chaney. One unique feature of this film is that the main title of the movie isn't written on the screen; rather an Ace of Hearts card is shown in its place instead.

<i>All the Brothers Were Valiant</i> (1923 film) 1923 film by Irvin Willat

All the Brothers Were Valiant is a 1923 American silent sea adventure and romantic drama film starring Lon Chaney. The film was produced and distributed by Metro Pictures corporation and directed by Irvin Willat. The cast also features Malcolm McGregor, Billie Dove and Robert McKim. The screenplay was written by Julien Josephson, based on the eponymous novel by Ben Ames Williams. The film was also known as Cold Courage.

<i>For Those We Love</i> 1921 film by Arthur Rosson

For Those We Love is a 1921 American silent romantic drama film produced by and starring Betty Compson, and featuring Lon Chaney and Richard Rosson. Written and directed by Arthur Rosson, the film was based on a story by Perley Poore Sheehan (who later co-wrote the script for Chaney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The film was distributed by Goldwyn Pictures. Some sources list the release date as being in March 1921. This is unlikely since the film was only copyrighted in July, but the exact release date has not been confirmed. It is now considered a lost film. A still exists showing Chaney holding the heroine.

<i>A Mans Country</i> 1919 film

A Man's Country is a 1919 silent Western drama film directed by Henry Kolker, and starring Alma Rubens, Alan Roscoe, and Lon Chaney. It was written by Richard Schayer based on a screen story by John Lynch. The poster's tagline was "A forceful and spectacular drama of the primitive West in the days of the Gold Rush, when men fought hard, women lived fast and human life was cheap."

References

  1. 1 2 "Appeal from Censor's Decision Denied". Variety. New York City: Variety, Inc. November 25, 1921. p. 1. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Silent Era : Progressive Silent Film List".
  3. ↑ Blake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". Vestal Press Inc. Page 118. ISBN   1-879511-26-6.
  4. ↑ Blake, Michael F. (1997). A Thousand Faces: Lon Chaney's Unique Artistry in Motion Pictures. Vestal Press. p. 68. ISBN   1-461-73076-7.
  5. ↑ "Voices of the City (1922)".
  6. ↑ "Reviews: The Night Rose". Exhibitors Herald. New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company. 14 (7): 63. February 11, 1922.
  7. 1 2 Anderson, Mark (2007). "Tempting Fate: Clara Smith Hamon, or, the Secretary as Producer". In Lewis, Jon; Smoodin, Eric (eds.). Looking Past the Screen: Case Studies in American Film History and Method. Duke University Press. p. 148, note 62. ISBN   978-0-8223-9013-8.
  8. ↑ "Goldwyn Demands Court See Feature: Object to Censors Throwing Out The Night Rose". Variety. New York City: Variety, Inc. November 4, 1921. p. 1. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  9. 1 2 Progressive Silent Film List: Voices of the City (aka The Night Rose, the film's original title) at silentera.com
  10. ↑ "Voices of the City (1922)".
  11. ↑ Blake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". Vestal Press Inc. Page 116. ISBN   1-879511-26-6.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.