Traffic in Souls
| Traffic in Souls | |
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Theatrical poster
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| Directed by | George Loane Tucker |
| Produced by | Walter MacNamara Jack Cohn (uncredited) |
| Written by | Walter MacNamara (scenario) |
| Story by | George Loane Tucker |
| Starring |
Jane Gail Ethel Grandin William H. Turner Matt Moore |
| Music by | Philip Carli (1994 release) |
| Cinematography | Henry Alder Leach |
| Edited by | Jack Cohn (uncredited) |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Universal Film Manufacturing Company |
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Release date
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Running time
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88 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
| Budget | $5700 |
Traffic in Souls (also released as While New York Sleeps) is a 1913 American silent crime drama film focusing on forced prostitution (white slavery) in the United States. Directed by George Loane Tucker and starring Jane Gail, Ethel Grandin, William H. Turner, and Matt Moore, Traffic in Souls is an early example of the narrative style in American films. The film consists of six reels which was longer than most American film of the era.
A copy of Traffic in Souls is preserved at the Library of Congress and the Film Preservation Associates. In 2006, the film was added to the National Film Registry for preservation in the Library of Congress because it "presaged the Hollywood narrative film" and drew attention through its riveting depiction of the methods used to entrap young women into prostitution.
The storyline concerns two young Swedish women immigrants who are approached by men soliciting for white slavery under the guise of a legitimate work offer. In the scenes filmed at Battery Park, after the women are transported there from Ellis Island, real immigrants can be seen in the background.
The entire film takes place over the course of three days and consists of a prologue; the main narrative in which one of the sisters is kidnapped by a pimp and the other sister and her boyfriend rush to rescue her in time and the pimp is killed; and an epilogue in which the viewer finds out the consequences from a trashed news article. The film concludes with a joke ending, an ending to a thriller that at the time was not the cliché it has become now.
Traffic in Souls was based on a story by the film's director George Loane Tucker. The scenario was written by Walter MacNamara who also served as producer with Jack Cohn. Executive producers include King Baggot, Herbert Brenon, William Robert Daly, and Carl Laemmle.
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