''Night Parade'' is a 1929 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...
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. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
Malcolm St. Clair based on the play ''Ringside'' by Hyatt Daab,
Edward Paramore, Jr. and
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades.
Early years
Abbott was born in Forestville, New Y ...
.
Released by RKO Pictures in October 1929, it starred
Hugh Trevor
Hugh Trevor (born Hugh Trevor-Thomas; October 28, 1903 – November 10, 1933) was an American actor whose short career began at the very end of the silent era in 1927. He would appear in nineteen films in the scant six years during which he wa ...
,
Aileen Pringle
Aileen Pringle (born Aileen Bisbee; July 23, 1895 – December 16, 1989) was an American stage and film actress during the silent film era.
Biography
Early life
Born into a prominent and wealthy San Francisco family and educated in Europe, ...
,
Dorothy Gulliver
Dorothy Kathleen Gulliver (September 6, 1908 – May 23, 1997) was an American silent film actress, and one of the few to make a successful transition when films began using sound.
Biography
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Gulliver, she w ...
and
Robert Ellis.
Plot
Bobby Murray is the middleweight champion, managed by his father, Tom. He is expected to lose an upcoming fight in defense of his title. A local sportswriter, Sid Durham, also thinks he will lose, but he has high regard for Tom. A gangster, John Zelli, also feels that Murray will lose, but wants to ensure that fact. Zelli enlists the talents of sultry Paula Vernoff to seduce Bobby, and get him to agree to throw the fight.
Over the course of several meetings between Paula and Bobby, she eventually, through seduction and alcohol, gets him to agree to purposely lose. Durham, through his connections, learns of Zelli's plot, and tells Tom what Bobby agreed to. Tom confronts Bobby, who confesses, after which he learns that a childhood friend, Doris O'Connell, who he always had feelings for, also has feelings for him.
Unsure of what to do, Bobby goes to the fight. Meanwhile, his father, Tom, goes to have a little meeting with Zelli, and makes sure that Zelli won't bother Bobby again. As the fight progresses, Bobby is on the verge of losing. But as he is knocked to the canvas a last time, he sees his father and Doris arrive ringside, giving him the courage to get up and win the fight.
Cast
*
Aileen Pringle
Aileen Pringle (born Aileen Bisbee; July 23, 1895 – December 16, 1989) was an American stage and film actress during the silent film era.
Biography
Early life
Born into a prominent and wealthy San Francisco family and educated in Europe, ...
as Paula Vernoff
*
Hugh Trevor
Hugh Trevor (born Hugh Trevor-Thomas; October 28, 1903 – November 10, 1933) was an American actor whose short career began at the very end of the silent era in 1927. He would appear in nineteen films in the scant six years during which he wa ...
as Bobby Martin
*
Dorothy Gulliver
Dorothy Kathleen Gulliver (September 6, 1908 – May 23, 1997) was an American silent film actress, and one of the few to make a successful transition when films began using sound.
Biography
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Gulliver, she w ...
as Doris O'Connell
*
Robert Ellis as John W. Zelli
*
Ann Pennington as Dancer
*
Lloyd Ingraham
Lloyd Chauncey Ingraham (November 30, 1874 – April 4, 1956) was an American film actor and director.
Biography
Born in Rochelle, Illinois, Ingraham appeared in more than 280 films between 1912 and 1950, as well as directing more than 100 ...
as Tom Murray
*
Lee Shumway
Lee Shumway (March 4, 1884 – January 4, 1959), born Leonard Charles Shumway, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 400 films between 1909 and 1953. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and died in Los Angeles, California.
Select ...
as Sid Durham
*
Charles Sullivan (actor)
Charles Sullivan (April 24, 1899 – June 25, 1972), also known as Charlie Sullivan, was an American character actor who was born just before the turn of the 20th century on April 24, 1899. He would begin his acting career at the age of 25, in th ...
as Huffy
Notes
The film was also released by RKO as a silent film.
The film was known as ''Sporting Life'' in Great Britain,
[ and ''La Più Bella Vittoria'' in Italy.][
]
See also
* List of boxing films
This is a list of films about boxing, featuring notable sports films where boxing plays a central role in the development of the plot.
The Patent Leather Kid
1927
A self-centered boxer learns the meaning of patriotism on the battlefield dur ...
* List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)
This is a list of early pre-recorded sound and part talking/ all talking feature films made in the US and Europe during the transition to sound, between 1926-1929. During this time a variety of recording systems were used, including most notably ...
References
External links
*
{{Malcolm St. Clair
1929 films
1920s sports drama films
American boxing films
American sports drama films
American black-and-white films
1920s English-language films
American films based on plays
Films directed by Malcolm St. Clair
RKO Pictures films
1929 drama films
1920s American films