The Czar of Broadway

1930 film

May 25, 1930 (1930-05-25)

Running time

79 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

The Czar of Broadway is a 1930 American pre-Code crime film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, directed by William James Craft and starring John Wray, Betty Compson, John Harron and Claud Allister.^[1]

Plot

Jay Grant is a journalist who prioritizes friendship over his career, offering a critique of the journalism industry. Hired by a managing editor, Grant's assignment is to unveil the illicit activities of Morton Bradstreet, a powerful underworld figure who dominates a significant part of the city's nightlife and has considerable influence over the media. Adopting the disguise of an innocent countryman, Grant gets close to Bradstreet. However, when Bradstreet discovers Grant's true intentions, he orders one of his subordinates to eliminate him. Before this can happen, Bradstreet and his associate are taken down by a competing gang. Owing to their formed bond, Grant chooses not to publish a revealing article about the mobster, leading to his resignation.^[2]

Cast

John Wray as Morton Bradstreet
Betty Compson as Connie Cotton
John Harron as Jay Grant the reporter
Claud Allister as Francis
Wilbur Mack as Harry Foster
King Baggot a Dane Harper
Edmund Breese as McNab
Gino Corrado as El Dorado Club Headwaiter
William B. Davidson as Club Manager

Preservation status

This film is preserved in the collection of the Library of Congress.^[3]

References

^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The Czar of Broadway, afi.com; accessed August 10, 2015.
^ Langman, Larry (2009). The Media in the Movies. p. 69.
^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at the Library of Congress (1978), p.39