Thunderbolt (1929 film)
Thunderbolt is a 1929 American PreCode protonoir film which tells the story of a criminal, facing execution, who wants to kill the man in the next cell for being in love with his girlfriend. It stars George Bancroft, Fay Wray, Richard Arlen, Tully Marshall and Eugenie Besserer.
Thunderbolt Jim Lang, wanted on robbery and murder charges, ventures out with his girl, Ritzy, to a Harlem nightclub, where she informs him that she is going straight. During a raid on the club, Thunderbolt escapes. His gang shadows Ritzy and reports that she is living with Mrs. Morgan, whose son, Bob, a bank clerk, is in love with Ritzy. Fearing for Bobs safety, Ritzy engineers a police trap for Thunderbolt he escapes but is later captured, tried, and sentenced to be executed at Sing Sing. From the death house, he successfully plots to frame Bob in a bank robbery and killing. Bob is placed in the facing cell, and guards frustrate Thunderbolts attempts to get to his rival. When Ritzy marries Bob in the death house, Thunderbolt confesses his part in Bobs conviction. He plots to kill the boy on the night of his execution, but instead at the last minute his hand falls on Bobs shoulder in a gesture of friendship.A pressbook for this film calls it a story of a hardfighting man who lives outside the law in the hidden places of the Negro district. Quoting director Josef von Sternberg on casting for the Harlem scenes, the pressbook continues, we were fortunate that Los Angeles has a miniature Harlem of its own in its Central Avenue district. A thorough search gave us scores of Negroes who have really lived in Harlem. Harlem, which extends from 125th to 140th streets, New York, brings heartbeats of southern plantations to metropolitan civilization. Sensationseeking Broadwayites make these cafs possible, coming to dance shouldertoshoulder with habitues of this black metropolis to the beat of staccato jazz. ........
Source: Wikipedia
