Editing Lewis Milestone (section)

=== ''New York Nights'' (1929) ===

Milestone's first sound production ''[[New York Nights (film)|New York Nights]]'' proved inauspicious. The film was a vehicle for silent screen icon [[Norma Talmadge]]—whose spouse was producer [[Joseph Schenck]]. Milestone attempted to accommodate [[United Artists]]' desire to blend the "show-biz" and gangster genres in an adaptation of "the justly forgotten" Broadway production ''Tin Pan Alley''.<ref name="Millichap">Millichap, 1981 pp. 34&ndash;35: Millichap notes that "for some reason" Milestone was credited for the film and that Tin Pan Alley was "justly forgotten".</ref> According to Chanham, ''New York Nights'' "gave little indication of Milestone's ability in adapting to sound techniques".<ref>Canham, 1974 p. 75: Milestone's "first talkie, ''New York Lights'' (1929){{nbsp}}... a highly dramatic gangster film, scripted by [[Jules Furthman]] and photographed by [[Ray June]], but it gave little indication of Milestone's ability in adapting to sound techniques."</ref> According to film historian Joseph Millichap:

{{blockquote | In several ways ''New York Nights'' is best considered with Milestone's silent efforts, as it seems an obviously unimportant transitional piece. Like many early sound films it is shot from a few camera settings, and it is full of static scenes in which the cast is all too obviously speaking into hidden microphones. Milestone was so displeased with the final cut that he asked to have his name removed from the credits&nbsp;... the film is not worth considering as Milestone's first sound work.<ref name="Millichap" />}}