Night World (1932)

Set in a swanky nightclub owned by an affable racketeer (Boris Karloff). In the course of a single evening, he is double crossed by his unfaithful wife (Dorothy Revier), an alcoholic socialite (Lew Ayres) finds romance with a hard boiled chorus girl (Mae Clarke), the black doorman (Clarence Muse) fears for his wife's life as she clings to life in a hospital and a beat cop (Robert Emmet O'Connor) foils trigger happy mobsters. Directed by Hobart Henley (BAD SISTER). An odd but satisfying pre-code drama with no real plot to speak of, just a group of disparate people getting through the night. For some it means romance, for others betrayal and tragedy (six characters die by the finale). It's an early precursor to those Altman films like NASHVILLE and SHORT CUTS where a group of diverse characters' lives run parallel and eventually fate connects their destiny. Unusual for its era in that an African American character isn't condescended to but is an equal part of the human web. With George Raft, Hedda Hopper, Russell Hopton, Dorothy Peterson and Louise Beavers.