Director:
Monta BellWriter:
Carey WilsonCinematographer:
Ira MorganProduction Company:
Cosmopolitan Productions
The 7 Mar 1925 Moving Picture World announced that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M-G-M) had purchased film rights to the successful 1924 Broadway play, Merry Wives of Gotham, written by Laurence Eyre. According to the 8 Mar 1925 FD, M-G-M would co-produce the picture with Cosmopolitan Productions, owned by William Randolph Hearst, as a vehicle for Hearst’s paramour, Marion Davies. As part of the deal, Davies would receive a percentage of the film’s profits, as well as her salary, and the picture would be distributed by M-G-M. The 28 Mar 1925 Exhibitors Trade Review reported that Marion Davies would receive a $10,000 per week salary from M-G-M to star in two pictures, including The Merry Wives of Gotham.
The 9 May 1925 Moving Picture World stated that production was expected to begin at the end of that month at the M-G-M studios in Culver City, CA. Monta Bell was signed as the director, as reported in the 23 May 1925 Motion Picture News.
Noting the title change to Lights of Old New York, the 6 Jun 1925 Motion Picture News announced that principal photography would begin within the next few days. However, on 13 Jun 1925, Exhibitors Trade Review indicated that Bell was currently casting the picture.
The 18 Jul 1925 Motion Picture News listed the final title change to Lights of Old Broadway.
According to the 8 Aug 1925 Moving Picture World, seventeen and nineteen-year-old sisters, Lenore and Virginia Bushman, had been cast in small roles in the film.
Hearst and Davies were reportedly unhappy ...
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The 7 Mar 1925 Moving Picture World announced that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M-G-M) had purchased film rights to the successful 1924 Broadway play, Merry Wives of Gotham, written by Laurence Eyre. According to the 8 Mar 1925 FD, M-G-M would co-produce the picture with Cosmopolitan Productions, owned by William Randolph Hearst, as a vehicle for Hearst’s paramour, Marion Davies. As part of the deal, Davies would receive a percentage of the film’s profits, as well as her salary, and the picture would be distributed by M-G-M. The 28 Mar 1925 Exhibitors Trade Review reported that Marion Davies would receive a $10,000 per week salary from M-G-M to star in two pictures, including The Merry Wives of Gotham.
The 9 May 1925 Moving Picture World stated that production was expected to begin at the end of that month at the M-G-M studios in Culver City, CA. Monta Bell was signed as the director, as reported in the 23 May 1925 Motion Picture News.
Noting the title change to Lights of Old New York, the 6 Jun 1925 Motion Picture News announced that principal photography would begin within the next few days. However, on 13 Jun 1925, Exhibitors Trade Review indicated that Bell was currently casting the picture.
The 18 Jul 1925 Motion Picture News listed the final title change to Lights of Old Broadway.
According to the 8 Aug 1925 Moving Picture World, seventeen and nineteen-year-old sisters, Lenore and Virginia Bushman, had been cast in small roles in the film.
Hearst and Davies were reportedly unhappy with “the rapidity of the making” of the picture, which completed principal photography after four weeks, and M-G-M ordered fifty retakes to be made to their satisfaction by Marshall Neilan, as announced in the 26 Aug 1925 Var.
The 17 Oct 1925 Motion Picture News reported that the film’s premiere would be held on 31 Oct 1925 at the Loew's State Theatre in Los Angeles.
The 4 Nov 1925 Var review deemed Lights of Old Broadway “a corking picture,” and the 8 Nov 1925 FD review called the picture “delightful,” “first rate,” and a “charming romantic story.”
Lights of Old Broadway was fully restored by Film Foundation, an organization founded in 1990 by director Martin Scorsese.
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Lights of Old New York
The Merry Wives of Gotham
New York opening: 1 November 1925
release: 18 October or 8 November 1925
Fely and Anne are twins orphaned when their mother dies en route from Ireland to America. Fely is adopted by the O'Tandys, who live in New York's Shantytown, and Anne is adopted by the wealthy De Rhondos. Fely grows up without knowing her sister and becomes a dancer in Tony Pastor's theater. Dirk De Rhondo, Anne's stepbrother, is attracted to Fely, and after protecting her during the great Orangemen's riot falls in love with her. She consents to his proposal but later retracts when Dirk's father dispossesses her family. Fely's father, however, becomes wealthy when his investment in Edison's incandescent light pays off, but Dirk's father is ruined. Fely saves De Rhondo's bank from a run by making a large deposit, thus winning over Dirk's family and paving the way for their ... + −
Fely and Anne are twins orphaned when their mother dies en route from Ireland to America. Fely is adopted by the O'Tandys, who live in New York's Shantytown, and Anne is adopted by the wealthy De Rhondos. Fely grows up without knowing her sister and becomes a dancer in Tony Pastor's theater. Dirk De Rhondo, Anne's stepbrother, is attracted to Fely, and after protecting her during the great Orangemen's riot falls in love with her. She consents to his proposal but later retracts when Dirk's father dispossesses her family. Fely's father, however, becomes wealthy when his investment in Edison's incandescent light pays off, but Dirk's father is ruined. Fely saves De Rhondo's bank from a run by making a large deposit, thus winning over Dirk's family and paving the way for their marriage. + −
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