Uncensored secrets and sinister vice scandals? Sounded good to us, so we screened a copy of Slaves in Bondage, which is an envelope pushing 1930s crime drama featuring fast women, tough guys, heavy drinking, and late nights folded into a story about big city sex trafficking, or white slavery, as it was usually referred to back in the day. Specifically, the story follows the efforts of an organized crime game to install beautiful Lona Andre in one of their brothels. Head gangster Wheeler Oakman takes a special interest in Andre, but she starts to get wise and begins to turn the tables on him and his henchmen. The movie pretends to be a cautionary tale, but really it’s an excuse to give squares a glimpse of raucous clubs and backstage dressing rooms. It’s fairly racy, with women in lingerie, dialogue hinting at premarital sex, several sexy dance numbers, and an infamous scene where two negligee clad women roll around on a bed and smack each other’s asses. We loved it. The acting, direction, and editing are clunky as hell, but the film is significant and worth a gander. It premiered in the U.S. today in 1937.
