Lights of New York

Lights of New York (1928) was the first all-talking feature film, released by Warner Brothers (who had introduced the first feature-length part-talkie The Jazz Singer in the previous year) and directed by Bryan Foy. The film, which cost only $23,000 to produce, grossed over $1,000,000. It is often claimed that it is the first film to define the crime genre, however it was done two years before in Josef Von Sternberg's Underworld (1927 film). The enthusiasm with which audiences greeted the talkies was so great that by the end of 1929, Hollywood was producing sound films exclusively. The plot of the film centers around Eddie (Cullen Landis), a young kid from upstate New York who is conned into fronting for a speakeasy on Broadway. There is a chorus-girl with a heart of gold (top-billed Helene Costello), a cop-killing gangster boss, Hawk Miller (Wheeler Oakman) and his downtrodden ex-girlfriend (Gladys Brockwell). With the cops closing in on him, Hawk needs a fall guy. Planting...