Lights Out

Crooks Ruth Stonehouse and Walter McGrail meet on a westbound train, where they spot Theodore von Eltz guarding his locked bag very carefully. They get it open and discover it is full of movie scenarios. Von Eltz is a Hollywood screenwriter who has never met a real crook, so he offers them a chance to collaborate on his next crime drama. Miss Stonehouse has just taken part in a robbery of an Austin bank, but the leader of the gang, Ben Deeley took all the money and fled to Brazil. Deciding that if they make him the villain, he'll return to the US -- where they think he left most of the loot -- and try to kill the screenwriter. They accept, and their plan succeeds; Deeley shows up just as producer Max Asher is polishing off the last chapter of the serial, intending to kill von Eltz. Naturally, people keep confusing him for the actor who's playing him in the movie.

It's a pretty slow start to this crime comedy. It takes almost half an hour to establish the characters. It picks up in the last ten minutes and turns into an amusing movie by the end.

This movie was thought lost for decades. Then Gosfilmfond returned it to the Library of Congress thinking it was another title. The restoration by Joe Harvat makes it almost pristine, with handsome photography by William Marshall, and a typically good and jazzy score by David Drazin. It's a worthwhile addition to any sizable collection of silent films.