''Behind City Lights'' is a 1945 American

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by John English and written by Richard Weil and Gertrude Walker. The film stars

Lynne Roberts Lynne Roberts, also credited as Mary Hart, born Theda May Roberts (November 22, 1922 – April 1, 1978) was an American film actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She appeared exclusively in what were referred to as B-movies. Early ...

, Peter Cookson, Jerome Cowan, Esther Dale, William Terry and Victor Kilian. The film was released on September 10, 1945, by

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

Plot

Small-town girl Jean Lowell is about to wed farmer Ben Coleman, but secretly longs for big-city lights and a more exciting life. A car crash outside the church causes a commotion, and the injured party, a New Yorker by the name of Lance Marlow, is instantly smitten with Jean. The wedding is called off after Ben senses that Jean is distracted. Lance and his partner Perry Borden continue on to New York City, and before long Jean convinces herself that she should follow. She finds the men and goes with them to a nightclub, where Perry makes fun of her small-town ways and, unbeknownst to her, steals a valuable necklace. Lance and Perry are thieves. Lance intends to quit so that he and Jean can begin a new life, but she takes a gift from him to a jeweler and discovers it is stolen. Things go from bad to worse when Lance is killed. A distraught Jean takes a job working at a diner, but regains happiness when Ben turns up and invites her to return where she belongs.

Cast

as Jean Lowell * Peter Cookson as Lance Marlow * Jerome Cowan as Perry Borden * Esther Dale as Sarah Lowell *William Terry as Ben Coleman * Victor Kilian as Daniel Lowell * Moroni Olsen as Curtis Holbrook * William Forrest as Detective Peterson * Emmett Vogan as Jones *Joseph J. Greene as Gabriel 'Gab' Carson *

Frank J. Scannell Francis J. Scannell (May 7, 1903 – November 29, 1989) was an American film and television actor. He appeared in over 100 films and television programs, including six appearances in the American western television series ''The Life and Legend o ...

as Charles Matthews * Tom London as Andrew Coleman *

George M. Carleton George M. Carleton (October 28, 1885 – September 23, 1950) was an American character actor of the 1940s. He was a stage actor who began a brief career, during which he appeared in over 100 films, including features, film shorts, and film ...

as Doctor Blodgett * Bud Geary as Fred Haskins *Jeanne Staff as Night Club Singer

References

External links

* 1945 films American crime films 1945 crime films Republic Pictures films Films directed by John English American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{1940s-crime-film-stub