Night World (1932) DVD-R

Starring Lew Ayres, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff, Dorothy Revier, Russell Hopton, Hedda
Hopper, Louise Beavers, George Raft
Directed by Hobart Henley

Print: black/white
Runtime: 58 min.
Genre: drama
Print Quality: B

For years believed to be a lost film, Night World suddenly resurfaced in the early 1980s,
revealing itself to be an undiscovered gem, as well as a garden of delights for movie buffs.
Clearly inspired by Grand Hotel, this 57-minute extravaganza takes place within the walls of
the swank nightclub owned by affable racketeer Happy MacDonald (Boris Karloff). In the
course of a single evening, MacDonald is set up for murder by his faithless wife (Doris
Revier) and choreographer Ed Powell (George Raft); the philosophical black doorman
(Clarence Muse) learns that his beloved wife has died in childbirth; alcoholic socialite
Michael Rand (Lew Ayres), the son of an acquitted murderess (Hedda Hopper, playing one of
the nastiest mothers in screen history), finds true love in the arms of hard-boiled chorus girl
Ruth Taylor (Mae Clarke); and Michael and Ruth are saved from a pair of psychotic mob
torpedoes by the timely arrival of beat cop Robert Emmet O'Connor. There are also a few
marvelous pre-Code jibes at homosexuality and drug use, not to mention a full-blown
musical number by Busby Berkeley (overhead camera angles and all).