''Red Lights'' is a 1923 American silent

mystery film A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, ...

directed by Clarence G. Badger and starring Marie Prevost, Raymond Griffith and

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...

. The plot concerns a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

tycoon who is about to be reunited with his daughter who was kidnapped many years ago.

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

* Marie Prevost as Ruth Carson * Raymond Griffith as Sheridan Scott *

as John Blake * Alice Lake as Norah O'Neill * Dagmar Godowsky as Roxy * William Worthington as Luke Carson * Frank Elliott as Kirk Allen * Lionel Belmore as Alden Murray * Jean Hersholt as Ezra Carson * George Reed as Porter * Charles Murphy as The Henchman * Charles West as The Conductor * Martha Mattox as Secretary

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. 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. 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''.Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 268. .

References

External links

* * * 1923 mystery films 1920s English-language films American silent feature films English-language mystery films Films directed by Clarence G. Badger American black-and-white films Goldwyn Pictures films Rail transport films Silent American mystery films 1920s American films {{1920s-US-film-stub