Tenderloin. Sputtering, squealing, the first night audience squeaked in their seats. They were looking, listening, to Warner's new talking cinema.
They saw Dolores Costello as the pure dancing girl asleep at midnight. Entered the villain demanding the stolen money. With hand to throat, she vows innocence.
The audience then heard this gamey dialogue:
"All rightyou're not bad to look at, and my night shall not be wasted."
"Not thatnot thatsurely you have a sister."
Director Curtiz had opened this picture with such simple symbolism as a skinny cat sniffing garbage pails, following with a tale whose luridity dated back to the Black Crook, famed thriller. This...