Traffic in Souls

A huge controversy in its day due to its salacious subject matter, Traffic in Souls is a creaky yet fascinating forefather of movie exploitation. One of the earliest feature-length Hollywood films ever made, director George Loane Tucker filmed his project away from the prying eyes of the producers with the knowledge that he would be shut down immediately in they caught a whiff of what he was actually up to. Tackling the unspeakable subject of white slavery, the film is of course incredibly tame by today's standards, but it's no surprise that it went on to become a box-office smash thanks to the inevitable media outcry.

The story follows a variety of characters who are introduced individually with title cards akin to reading a programme at the theatre. The main players include police officer Burke (Matt Moore), the archetypal humble hero engaged to the beautiful Mary Barton (Jane Gail); high society-type and head of the Citizen's League Willaim Trubus (William Welsh); and Mary's sister Lorna (Ethel Grandin), who is hustled by pimp Bill Bradshaw (William Cavanaugh) into joining his brothel. Trubus is at the head of the prostitute ring, and along with his go-between (Howard Crampton), a small gang of heavies and thugs, and a nifty, stolen invention that works like an early wire-tap, makes a fortune in kidnapping and selling women for sex.

Although the subject matter is controversial, the action depicted on screen is certainly not. The film spends a long time showing us the inner workings of the prostitute ring, from the bottom to the very top, which gives the film a clinical, procedural feel, although it keeps its characters at a distance. There are no scenes that even suggest what these women are exposed to, so we get to witness them crying in an empty room a lot. But this is captivating stuff at times, not only tapping into its audience's desire to see something forbidden, but helping define cinematic narrative as a whole. Some flashy techniques, such as stop-motion and camera glides, prove that people were developing these styles long before D.W. Griffith. It's certainly primitive, but demonstrates a remarkable maturity for its age, with even the actors dumping the wide-eyed overacting so popular in silent cinema for something all the more subtle.

The movie that put little Universal Studios on the movie-making map thanks to its lurid storyline of nice girls who work in sweet shops being abducted off the streets and forced into prostitution. Director George Loane Tucker keeps it moving at a cracking pace, and shows some sophistication in the editing of its opening stages as various girls fall into the hands of the unscrupulous white traders. The plot wanders off into the realms of fantasy at times, and the writing is lazy - the father of an abducted girl just happens to have invented a listening device that is key to foiling the villains, for example. But, despite being trashy and exploitative, Traffic in Souls is a fun watch that holds an important place in film history.

Traffic in Souls (1913)

** (out of 4)

White slavery was a big issue especially in big cities like New York City where immigrants were coming and often found themselves employed as prostitutes or even worse they were kidnapped into the business. The story is pretty simple as a pair of sisters are torn apart when one is forced into prostitution by an evil ring of men who often just take women as they step off the boats to America. The woman's boyfriend and sister begin a search for her, which leads to the crackdown on the illegal activities. In 1913 this was a pretty controversial movie but it was also the first feature that Universal would release and needless to say it would end up making a killing at the box office. Today the film is sold as being the first exploitation movie but I think that's an unfair label because in 1913 this was meant to be a serious film tackling a serious topic. Those coming to it expecting some sort of sleaze are probably going to be disappointed because what we've basically got is a "message" film not too much unlike the countless films made by D.W. Griffith from 1910-13. The only real difference is that the subject matter here is certainly a tad bit darker than the happy-go-lucky films of Griffith. With that said, overall I think this film is quite boring and in all honesty not much of anything happens throughout the running time. I think the best moments in the movie are some of the action pieces with the highlight being a sequence at the half-way mark where the good cop gets suspicious and enters the "Swedish Employment" building and soon has the fight the pimps and try to save the women. Another good sequence happens as a couple Swedish sisters step off a boat and we're treated to a scene where a cop fixes the arrest of their brother so that they can be kidnapped. The rest of the film contains pretty much slow moving action that really just stales out the running time. At 84-minutes this here was one of the longest running movies from this era but I think a good ten or fifteen-minutes of edited footage probably would have helped the film move a lot better. The performances leave a lot to be desired and there's really no drama to speak of. I think the majority of people going into this thing are going to be disappointed so in the end it's basically just for those film buffs who might be interested in this era or sub-genre. TRAFFIC IN SOULS isn't a masterpiece and it's not even a good film but it deserves its place in history but like so many of these movies the final result isn't all that impressive.

This may be the earliest American feature film that can be shown today without embarrassment; the technique is primitive, but it still holds your interest. Coincidence plays a huge role in the plot, but there's a genuine sense of danger, and the hypocrisy of the villain is a nice touch that should appeal to modern viewers. The camera doesn't move (the camera rarely did in 1913), but brisk editing helps keep the film lively, and Tucker directs with imagination. If you have any interest at all in silent movies, this one is worth a look.

TRAFFIC IN SOULS (1913) is one of the first feature films to really define what feature films would become aesthetically. It depicts the story of several women who are lured into a house of ill repute, as well as the unmasking of a powerful figure who pulls the strings who is not all that he seems…

SCRIPT: The script of TRAFFIC IN SOULS juggles multiple narrative threads at a time when most movies were short features that only told one story. It handles the separate yet related stories quite successfully. One flaw I did notice is that the brothel doesn't have any clients – but there may have been some reason for doing so, so as not to offend the sensibilities of 1913 audiences. In any case, the story is fairly realistic and must have been shocking for its day. There are nice little details, too – like the police officer and the girl asking the window cleaner to look away while they kiss briefly, the shopgirl who gets fired and sticks her tongue out at her boss, among other things. A bit melodramatic at times, and with a little padding, but not too much. The story is told with brisk efficiency and the film moves along at a nice pace. It is actually quite suspenseful as well. There's an intriguing technological element as well, with a kind of telegraph pen that writes remotely and a phonograph that records conversations. SCORE: 8/10.

ACTING: The acting here is exceptionally naturalistic, at a time when many "feature" films were little more than stage plays with overly emphatic acting. Particular standouts are Jane Gail as Mary Barton, William Welsh as the "philanthropist" Trubus, as Ethel Grandin as Lorna Barton. There's very little hamming it up in this film, and the realistic, restrained performances help to give a documentary feel to the proceedings. SCORE: 9/10

CINEMATOGRAPHY/PRODUCTION: TRAFFIC IN SOULS shows a quite advanced sense of editing for its day, although some of it is a bit choppy (which was confirmed by a contemporary review). There is not a lot of camera movement in the movie, but the briskly paced editing keeps the movie from being too static (again, unlike other features of the time). We are treated to some unusual camera angles and tracking shots at various points of the film. There aren't really any tight close-ups, and this keeps the movie feeling a bit remote over the course of its run time. By far the most remarkable feature of TRAFFIC IN SOULS is its liberal use of outdoor location shooting, which gives it a remarkable realism that is still striking today. Although other features a few years later (including one I don't want to name) would use more advanced features like iris shots and tinting, TRAFFIC IN SOULS is still pretty advanced for its time. SCORE: 9/10

SUMMARY: TRAFFIC IN SOULS deserves more recognition as being a movie that helped set the standard for feature films, even before BIRTH OF A NATION. Its story is quite complex, but fast paced and engrossing. The acting is refreshingly and remarkably naturalistic. Its cinematography and editing are well executed, helping to pave the way for feature films to break away from the stage and come into their own as an art form in their own right. SCORE: 9/10