The Pace That Kills (1928 film)

The Pace That Kills

Directed by
  • Norton S. Parker
  • William A. O'Connor (credited as Wm. A. O'Connor)
Produced by Willis Kent
Starring
  • Owen Gorin
  • Thelma Daniels
  • Florence Turner
  • Florence Dudley
Narrated by Willis Kent (credited as presenter)
Cinematography Ernest Laszlo
Edited by Edith Wakeling
Production
company
Willis Kent Productions
Distributed by "State Rights"
Release dates
  • December 7, 1928 (1928-12-07)
Running time
 64 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Pace That Kills is a 1928 American silent exploitation film directed by Norton S. Parker and William O'Connor. The film told the story of two young people, who get involved with a drug dealer and become addicted to opium and cocaine. The plot also dealt with amorality and prostitution.[1] Similar to other movies of the genre, the final film was redonne as a film of the same name in 1935 in a sound or "talkie" film format. Footage from The Pace That Kills was incorporated in the later film.[2]

Plot

Eddie Bradley (Owen Gorin), a young farmboy leaves for the big city to get a job and find his sister, Grace (Florence Dudley). Eddie finds work in a department store and meets Fanny O'Rell (Virginia Roye), a city girl who introduces him to narcotics, and he falls into the clutches of drug dealers.

Now an addict, Eddie loses his job. He finally finds Grace but she has also become an addict and a prostitute to pay for his habit.

Both of them get involved with drug dealers and become opium/cocaine addicts, financially dependent on their dealers and in need. Grace is jailed and Eddie is hospitalized, where, after months of agony, he is cured of his habit and allowed to return home to his family and his childhood sweetheart (Thelma Daniels).

Cast

  • as Eddie Bradley
  • Thelma Daniels as Mary Jane, Eddie's Sweetheart
  • Florence Turner as Mrs. Bradley
  • Florence Dudley as Grace Bradley
  • Harry Todd as Uncle Caleb
  • Arnold Dallas as "Handsome Nick"
  • Virginia Roye as Fanny O'Reilly

Production

The Pace That Kills was typical of the other films that Willis Kent produced during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s that were a string of low-budget westerns and exploitation films, thinly disguised as cautionary tales.[2]

Reception

The Pace That Kills was released and distributed via "State Rights", where local sales agents would then sell rights to individual theaters. The theater operators could play the film as often as they desired in an attempt to make as much profit as possible.[3] The film was redone in 1935 as a sound film with the same title, and then re-issued in 1937 as The Cocaine Fiends.[4]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Cripps 1996, p. 77.
  2. 1 2 "Detail: 'The Pace That Kills'." AFI. Retrieved: May 18, 2016.
  3. ↑ Hall and Neale 2010, p. 24.
  4. ↑ "Detail: 'The Pace That Kills'." AFI. Retrieved: May 18, 2016.

Bibliography

  • Cripps, Thomas. Hollywood's High Noon: Moviemaking and Society Before Television. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. ISBN 978-0-8018-5315-9.
  • Hall, Sheldon and Stephen Neale, Epics, Spectacles, and Blockbusters: A Hollywood History. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-8143-3008-1.
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