In the amorphous era of the late 19th century, Miss Davies plays two twins separated at birth. One is adopted by a hoity-toity family, while the other goes to a shanty life in the part of Manhattan that is now Sutton Place. This version of Miss Davies works in the chorus at Tony Pastor's theater. There she meets Conrad Nagel, who happens to be her twin's step-brother; they fall in love. But his father objects to her because she is a show girl, and a Catholic Irish one at that, while her father objects because He's a rowdydow, and it helps the plot.

It's another in the string of historical showpieces that Hearst produced for Miss Davies, with a battle between the forces of progress, as exemplified by Conrad Nagel, and the regressive forces by his father, played by Frank Currier. There's a lot of Oirish slapstick going on, with Miss Davies' dad, Charles McHugh, doing all his thinking with a brick in his hand.

Given that Miss Davies plays two roles, twins separated by birth, there might have been a parallel story for her sister, who is now Nagel's sister, but nothing is made of it.... although Nagel falling in love with a girl who looks exactly like his stepsister is likely to raise some eyebrows.

It's certainly not one of Miss Davies' better vehicles, but it's clearly aimed at a 1920s audience. Which is hardly surprising given when it was made.

It has been over 80 years since CITIZEN KANE did its hatchet job on the reputation of actress Marion Davies but thanks to releases like LIGHTS OF OLD BROADWAY, 21st century movie buffs now have the opportunity to see her at her best. The character of Susan Alexander Kane was long thought to have been based on Marion Davies who was the real life mistress and companion to newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst whom Orson Welles depicted as Charles Foster Kane. In that movie she is portrayed as a naive and untalented singer forced into projects she is incapable of doing. The real life Davies wasn't a singer but a dancer as well as a talented comedienne and actress who could perform dramatic roles as well.

The rehabilitation of her reputation began in the 1990s with the appearance on TCM of a number of her late 1920s and early 1930s movies like THE PATSY and SHOW PEOPLE as well as the documentary THE TRUE STORY OF MARION DAVIES. Most of them are now available on home video in quality editions. This new Kino Blu-ray is the best offering so far. It provides an ideal introduction to Davies as it contains a quality transfer including color tints, hand stenciling, and two strip-Technicolor in some scenes. There is also a quality background score provided by silent film specialist Robert Israel composed primarily of traditional Irish tunes that were popular at the turn of the 20th century.

The source material was a 1920s play called THE MERRY WIVES OF GOTHAM. The setting is 1882 New York City just before the city switched from gas to electric light. Davies plays two roles as the plot concerns twin sisters separated at birth. One goes to an upper crust NYC family while the other winds up with a poor Irish immigrant couple. When the son of the rich family falls for the poor Irish girl, class complications ensue but it all works in the end. As the rich twin Davies has little to do but she positively shines as Fely the Irish one including a marvelous scene where she dances an Irish jig. However the classic Irish stereotypes of hard drinking and brawling will not set well with some people today.

Although given an historic backdrop with characters such as Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Edison, LIGHTS is essentially a knockabout comedy with elements of romance. It isn't a great movie by any means but it has no pretensions of being one. It is simply a vehicle to showcase the talents of Marion Davies and in that regard it succeeds admirably. The film was a huge hit in 1925 but like so many of Davies' movies it was unfairly forgotten after the release of CITIZEN KANE. Now it's back in a high quality restoration from The Library of Congress and The UCLA Film and Television Archive. If you've never seen Marion Davies before then this Kino Blu-ray of LIGHTS is an ideal place to start. It will leave you wanting more...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.