''Roadhouse Nights'' is a 1930 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 ...

gangster film. A number of sources including Sally Cline in her book ''Dashiell Hammett Man of Mystery'' claim it is based on the novel '' Red Harvest'' written by

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett ( ; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the characters he created are Sam Spade ('' The Ma ...

(author of '' The Maltese Falcon'', ''

The Thin Man ''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of '' Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main ...

'', and ''

The Glass Key ''The Glass Key'' is a novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett. First published as a serial in '' Black Mask'' magazine in 1930, it then was collected in 1931 (in London; the American edition followed 3 months later). It tells the story of a ...

''). However the credits of the film itself say only "An Original Screenplay by

Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplays and play ...

." Hammett receives no mention at all (and the plots are not similar). The movie, an amalgam of musical comedy and gangster melodrama, was directed by

Hobart Henley Hobart Henley (born Hess Manassah Henle; November 23, 1887 – May 22, 1964) was an American silent film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He was involved in over 60 films either as an actor or director or both from 1914 to 1934. Early ...

, stars Helen Morgan, Charles Ruggles, and

Fred Kohler Fredrick Louis Kohler (April 20, 1888 – October 28, 1938) was an American actor. Career Fred Kohler was born in Kansas City, Missouri or in Dubuque, Iowa. As a teen, he began to pursue a career in vaudeville, but worked other jobs to suppor ...

, and features a rare screen

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

performance by

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

, in his screen debut, with his

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

partners Lou Clayton and Eddie Jackson ("Clayton, Jackson, and Durante"). Helen Morgan also sings ''It Can't Go On Like This'', by Jay Gorney and

Yip Harburg Edgar Yipsel Harburg (born Isidore Hochberg; April 8, 1896 – March 5, 1981) was an American popular song lyricist and librettist who worked with many well-known composers. He wrote the lyrics to the standards " Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" (w ...

Plot

Lola is a nitery chanteuse's whose gangster bosses head a murderous bootleg operation. Willie is a news reporter pretending to be an inveterate drinker. He frequents Lola's club, his phony drunkenness a cover for his investigation of the bootleg ring.

Cast

* Helen Morgan as Lola Fagan * Charles Ruggles as Willie Bindbugel *

as Sam Horner *

as Daffy *Leo Donnelly as City Editor * Tammany Young as Jerry *Joe King as Hanson * Lou Clayton as Joe * Eddie Jackson as Moe *Fuller Mellish Jr. as Hogan

Production

Filmed at Paramount's Astoria Studios in Astoria, Long Island, ''Roadhouse Nights'' is typical

Prohibition-era entertainment, with a reasonably "straight" performance from comic actor Ruggles and a few songs from Helen Morgan.

External links

*
Mystery File review by Walter Albert''New York Times'' 1930 review
1930 films American black-and-white films Paramount Pictures films Films produced by Walter Wanger American crime films 1930 crime films Films based on works by Dashiell Hammett 1930s American films Films with songs by Yip Harburg {{1930s-US-film-stub