''Night World'' is a 1932 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

featuring

Lew Ayres Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film ''All Quiet on the Western Fro ...

, Mae Clarke, and

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...

. The supporting cast includes

George Raft George Raft (né Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembe ...

and

Hedda Hopper Elda Furry (May 2, 1885February 1, 1966), known professionally as Hedda Hopper, was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, more than 35 million people read her columns. A strong supporter of the Hous ...

(before she became a noted gossip columnist). The film was directed by Hobart Henley and features an early Busby Berkeley music number, "Who's Your Little Who-Zis".Everett Aaker, ''The Films of George Raft'', McFarland & Company, 2013 p 26 Although Karloff is a villain, he plays a charming man, quite unlike most of the parts he was allowed to play at the time.

Plot

On a cold winter's night outside Happy's Nightclub, Irish-American police officer Ryan (Robert Emmett O'Connor) chats with African-American doorman Tim Washington (Clarence Muse), who is worried about his critically ill wife. Inside, club owner Happy (Boris Karloff) is arguing with his shrewish but glamorous wife Jill (Dorothy Revier) and welcoming frequent customers Ed Powell (George Raft), a crooked gambler, and Michael Rand (Lew Ayres). Rand is a wealthy college boy who watched his mother kill his father after catching him with another woman, a case widely covered by the tabloids. Rand is now drinking heavily to deaden his pain. Backstage, gambler Powell asks chorus girl Ruth Taylor (Mae Clarke) for a date and, after losing an impromptu bet, she agrees to go out with him. After the floor show, all the chorus girls are asked to stay late by their cruel dance master, Klauss (Russell Hopton), who is secretly having an affair with Happy's wife Jill. Edith Blair (Dorothy Petersen) spots a drunken Michael Rand sitting alone at a table. Edith was the 'other woman' in the murder of Michael's father. She tells Michael that she and his father were only good friends, and that his father loved him deeply. She also tells Michael that his killer mother never loved his father, and cursed him as he was dying. An upset Michael creates an outburst and overturns a table at the nightclub. He passes out after being punched, and is taken to the back room of the club where Ruth cares for him. Happy leaves to discuss bootleg liquor purchases with another gangster, Jim. (Huntley Gordon.) As he exits, doorman Tim asks if he can leave early to visit is ailing wife, but Happy refuses. When Michael wakes up from his liquor-related nap, he and Ruth have a warm chat. Gambler Powell interrupts them and insists Ruth come to his apartment immediately. Michael punches Powell and Tim takes the fallen gambler out to a taxi. Suddenly, Michael's mother (Hedda Hopper) arrives at the nightclub. Michael confronts her about the way she treated his father. The late-night dance rehearsal continues, but Klauss calls a break so he can spend more time with Jill. Happy returns, and Tim asks again if he can go see his wife in the hospital. Happy refuses. Happy catches Jill and Klauss together, and Klauss leaves in disgrace. Happy tells Jill that he will not divorce her, but remain married to her and do his best to make her miserable. Michael and Ruth sit down for a meal together. Michael asks Ruth if she would be interested in running away to Bali with him, as his wife, even though they have only known each other for a few hours. Their happy moment is interrupted by Tim, who has just learned that his wife is dead. As he leaves the club to finally go to her bedside, he is fatally shot by gangster Jim and a comrade, who have come for Happy. They shoot Happy and then his wife Jill. When they turn their guns towards Michael and Ruth, they are suddenly shot dead by the returning police officer Ryan. Michael and Ruth get into the police wagon together, and Ruth agrees to go Bali with Michael.

Cast

as Michael Rand * Mae Clarke as Ruth Taylor *

as "Happy" MacDonald * Dorothy Revier as Jill MacDonald *

as Mrs. Rand *

as Ed Powell *

Russell Hopton Harry Russell Hopton (February 18, 1900 – April 7, 1945) was an American film actor and director. Biography Hopton was born in New York City, New York. He appeared in 110 films between 1926 and 1945, often playing streetwise characters f ...

as Klauss * Clarence Muse as Tim Washington, the doorman *

Dorothy Peterson Bergetta "Dorothy" Peterson (December 25, 1897 - October 3, 1979) was an American actress. She began her acting career on Broadway before appearing in more than eighty Hollywood films. Early years Peterson was born in Hector, Minnesota, the ...

as Edith Blair * Bert Roach as Tommy *

Gene Morgan Gene Morgan (March 12, 1893 – August 13, 1940) was an American actor. He appeared in 111 films between 1926 in film, 1926 and 1941 in film, 1941. Background Morgan was born in Racine, Wisconsin. In his early roles he was cast in westerns ...

as Joe * Huntley Gordon as Jim * Robert Emmett O'Connor as Police Officer Ryan * Arletta Duncan as Cigarette Girl * Louise Beavers as Maid (uncredited) * Billy Bletcher as Nightclub Patron (uncredited) * Sammy Blum as Salesman (uncredited) * Helene Chadwick as Nightclub Patron (uncredited) * André Cheron as Frenchman from Schenectady (uncredited) *

Byron Foulger Byron Kay Foulger (August 27, 1898 – April 4, 1970) was an American character actor who over a 50-year career performed in hundreds of stage, film, and television productions. Early years Born in Ogden, Utah, Byron was the second of four ...

as Mr. Baby / Nightclub Patron (uncredited) * Greta Granstedt as Blonde (uncredited) * Jack La Rue as Henchman (uncredited) * Florence Lake as Ms. Smith (uncredited) * Robert Livingston as Nightclub Patron (uncredited) * Geneva Mitchell as Florabelle (uncredited) * Eddie Phillips as Vaudevillian (uncredited) * Pat Somerset as Guest (uncredited) * Larry Steers as Nightclub Patron (uncredited) * Harry Woods as Gang Leader (uncredited)

Production

The film's working title was ''Night Club''. This film is preserved in the Library of Congress collection.

Reception

The ''New York Times'' said "the film is a symphonic arrangement of songs and snatches of human experience. Unfortunately, the result is mainly a strained and artificial fiction. The threads have been forced into the pattern, willy, nilly." It added that Raft and Muse "give effective performances."Review of film
at

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

References

External links