SLAVES IN BONDAGE (1937) Lona Andre, Donald Reed & Wheeler Oakman | Drama, Crime, Exploitation | B&W

Slaves in Bondage is a 1937 American crime drama film directed by Elmer Clifton and starring Lona Andre, Donald Reed, and Wheeler Oakman.

SYNOPSIS
The film tells the tale of how naive country girls are lured to the big city with the promise of employment only to be abducted and forced to work as prostitutes in decadent, high-class brothels.

Berrywood Roadhouse is a den of iniquity outside of town. Crooks use a beauty shop to recruit floozies into vice. The crooks target Dona Lee, who works at the beauty salon and is pursued by reporter wannabe Phillip as their next victim.

CAST & CREW
Lona Andre as Dona Lee
Donald Reed as Phillip Miller
Wheeler Oakman as Jim Murray
Florence Dudley as Belle Harris
John Merton as Nick Costello
Richard Cramer as Dutch Hendricks
William Royle as Newspaper City Editor
Edward Peil Sr. as Detective Captain
Louise Small as Mary Lou Smith
Matty Roubert as Good-Looking Freddie
Suzanna Kim as Fan Dancer

Directed by Elmer Clifton
Written by Robert Dillon
Produced by J.D. Kendis
Cinematography Edward Linden
Edited by Earl Turner
Distributed by Jay-Dee-Kay Productions
Release date 25 July 1937
Running time 70 minutes
Country United States
Language English

NOTES
Slaves in Bondage is a low-budget, independently produced exploitation film presented as a cautionary tale about the evils of white slavery prostitution rings operating in larger cities in the United States. To avoid local censorship issues, the film's dialogue does not use the words brothel or prostitution.

The film is typical of the many exploitation film features of its time that claimed to warn the public about various kinds of shocking sin and depravity corrupting today's society. In reality, these films were cynical, profit-motivated vehicles that wallowed in lurid, taboo subjects such as drug abuse, promiscuous sex, venereal disease, polygamy, child marriages, etc.