I’m 51. I plan on sticking around another half century, and I’m hoping that someone finds a print of both Convention City and London After Midnight while I’m still in possession of all my marbles. If a near-complete 16mm safety reduction negative original cut of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, a film six years older than Convention City, could be found in Argentina in 2008, anything is possible. I have studied film history extensively, and my educated guess is that at least one copy of the film exists in a private collection. Joan Blondell wrote that she had what sounds like an awful lot like an OCN. Her claims have never been substantiated, and the copy has never been found. But I believe her. She would have no reason to make that up. I just wish there were a way to compel people with rare films in their collection to share them with the world.
Well said, and I agree with you. I'm older than you so I won't be around if it takes years. I hope someone with a copy of Convention City sees our comments and releases it immediately for public viewing. Please!!!
By the way, that lovely record used as background music is "Jersey Walk (Medley) (Introducing: The Little White House)" by Roger Wolfe Kahn and his Orchestra. This recording is the B side of Nat Shilkret's "Half A Moon (Is Better Than No Moon)". Victor 20231. Recorded in 1926.
This is a great video, thank you for sharing it! But I'll be honest, I don't buy the story that Warner Bros. destroyed every print. Jack Warner was not a man to throw money away, and while the Code in the mid-30s prohibited this film from being re-released (at least not without substantial cuts), no one knew at the time if the Code was going to be in place for an extensive period, or eventually just fade away like previous attempts to enforce morality on Hollywood had. If it was the latter, than "Convention City" would be profitable to the studio in re-release. And there are anecdotal reports of people having watched this on television in the 50s and 60s, which if true would indicate that prints did still exist. Are any still out there now? I would not be the least bit surprised if there is one deep in the Warner vault, possibly mis-labeled. And there might even be a couple of copies on back shelves at various local TV stations, gathering dust. So I hold out hope that someday soon, this "lost" film will again be found! :)
The Motion Pictures Assn. of America wasn't enacted until 1967. When this movie was released it was "The Motion Pictures Producers and Directors of America."
Thoroughly enjoyed your interesting film and history of lost pre-code Convention City. I also loved the music in the background. Perfect authenticity for the early 1930s. Thank you!
Great information on this long-lost motion picture, Speed Graphic. First heard about it some four, five months ago, with the rumors of full-frontal nudity helping squash its wide-spread distribution. Gotta say, that Joan Blondell was quite a looker when she started out in Hollywood. A bit of clarification. Scenes of Atlantic City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines trains begin at 4:51. Prior to that, a major station (location unknown to me) on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway stands in for the Eastern U.S. location. Edit: Just read your entire description, Speed Graphic. You have all the California locations mapped out. Well done!
Fascinating. Great that you are able to show the clips in near original quality. So often the conversion is done badly giving the idea that old movies were poor even when new. Audio hint! Great music, but we get stereo noise on a mono 78. Hit the "mono" switch. Less noise! Great work. Thanks.
If that were the case at least one of those copies would have been found by now. At best any copies left would be deteriorated beyond any use due to the nitrate contents.
Some of this appears it was also filmed at Santafes..old LA DEPOT..W AN ENGINE OF THE TYPE (if not the same No.)also used in an our Gang short & Oliver & Hardys Berth pains.
"Convention City" was a mediocre film at best. If you want Pre-Code then there are plenty of films that are more worthy of being sought out. For example, "Bride of The Regiment" (1930) made a cuckold out of a husband on his wedding night. The film was made it such a way to suggest to sophisticated audiences that the wife did actually commit adultery while less sophisticated audiences would have believed the "it was all a dream" excuse given by the wife. Additionally, the film was entirely in gorgeous Technicolor. There is a recently found fragment on youtube that shows how gorgeous the colors were. Reviewers of the day were alternately amused or righteously disgusted depending on their level of sophistication. "Party Girl" (1930) had a premise similar to "Convention City" but only survives in a censored version because of the large amount of Pre-Code content that it once had that rivalled anything that the tame "Convention City" ever offered.
The "code" was weirdly enforced early on.. EVERY STATE had their own standards board and they could RE CUT the film as they say fit. So there were many different versions of the same film being shown nationally.
It was withdrawn not long after its initial run but a sole print was reported to have been shown in the late 30s. Warner Bros destroyed the master print in the late 40s maybe cos of its condition maybe even because it was out of copyright and maybe because its subject matter was 'hot property' it was never picked up by other distributors, but there us still no definitive status of the films supplied to theatres wether those owners disposed of them or 'collectors' simply collected the few that weren't.
Could the train footage have taken at one of Los Angeles's now gone SP, UP, Santa Fe train stations six years before they were replaced with the current Union Station? Maybe another Southern California location like Long Beach. It's doubtful they spent the money to film in Atlantic City especially since I saw a date palm tree in the background. Nor would they built sets for these train shots either. Does anybody recognize the dual tower church in the background or the concrete traffic bridge the train passes under entering the station?
