Traffic in Souls (Silent)

A gang of white slavers is kidnapping young girls right off the boat at Ellis Island and forcing them to become prostitutes. Officer Matt Burke has been relentlessly pursuing evidence that will lead him to the ringleader of the sophisticated operation. When a family friend is abducted at a phony employment agency, Burke is determined to rescue the girl, and crack the syndicate of evil once and for all.

One of the first exploitation films, director George Loane Tucker's Traffic In Souls caused a sensation upon its release in 1913. Lavishly produced for a then unheard of $25,000, some of the posters boasted "6 reels, 700 scenes, 600 players!" Shot in and around Manhattan, the interiors and location photography provide a fascinating look at turn-of-the-century New York, while the gangsters employ the latest technology including Dictaphones and a telegraph-pen.

• silent