While New York Sleeps (1920)

Genres - Drama, Crime  |   Sub-Genres - Urban Drama, Melodrama  |   Release Date - Aug 23, 1920 (USA - Unknown)  |   Run Time - 80 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Janiss Garza

This picture, in three parts, was promoted as being true-to-life, but judging from the reviews, it's obviously just melodramatic fodder -- except for the last story. The first part, entitled, "Out of the Night," involves a suburban wife (Estelle Taylor) whose husband (William Locke) is away for the night. Her ex-husband, who she assumed to be dead (Marc MacDermott), shows up at her door. But before things get too complicated a burglar (Harry Sothern) enters the house and kills him. The wife tells the burglar she'll keep his secret if he keeps hers. The next part, "The Gay White Way," involves a vamp (Taylor again) playing the badger game until she is caught by a detective who had been pretending innocence. The last and most interesting story is "A Tragedy of the East Side," which takes places in the slums. A paralyzed man (MacDermott again) watches helplessly as his son (Sothern) woos and weds a girl of little character (Taylor once again). The girl takes in a fugitive from the law (Earl Metcalfe) and hides him at their home. A romance develops between the two, and the son only figures this out by his father's facial expressions. He finds the couple together and the gangster kills him. When the police come around to investigate, the father's facial expressions, once again, reveal the killer's whereabouts.

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Keywords

burglary, woman, daughter, detective, ex-husband, fugitive, handicap, killing, slums, thief, vamp