...Night After Night (1932)

Gangsters, gun molls, a society girl, and a prim and proper political science professor encompass the surprisingly sweet and Runyon-esque story of the speakeasy at 55 Ninth Avenue in Night After Night. Mae West, in her film debut, sets the screen ablaze in the type of performance not previously seen by the movie-going public. Interestingly, this is one of the few films where West interacts with other actresses as a pal rather than a rival so those scenes (professor Alison Skipworth sharing a bed with West, for example), the...ah hem...relationship between George Raft and Roscoe Karns, and the quick shot of two lesbians passing a joint are the ones to watch for in this pre-code sizzler.