Starlight
by Jeff Siamon

It’s the end of the 1920s. Silent movies are on the way out. Now all the studios are scrambling for finances to make the new “talkies.” Sol Sydney, the owner of Sierra Studios in Hollywood, and a small time bootlegger, needs to start making talkies instead of the serials the studio has always made.
xxxIn a casual conversation with one of his gangster friends, he mentions he needs money to finish his current production: The Mad Sheik. (All his moves start with The Mad …) That conversation gets relayed to Chicago Charlie, of the Chicago mob. He sends his representative, Louis the Lip, to offer Sol money for a piece of the studio. Only with his offer, there’s no turning it down. As part of this offer, Louis wants the studio’s two stars, Rudy Belasco and Lanya Little, to sign an exclusive contract. As far as Louis the Lip is concerned, no contract is going to get Sol dumped into L.A. River.
xxxBut there are complications. Louis’ girl friend, Velma, is a look-a-like for Mable, the wife of an out of work accountant, Arnold. And he is a look-a-like for Rudy. Velma is planning on making her own deal with Sol, and in the process, telling Chicago Charlie that Louis intends to knock him off. Then added to that, there is Sara, an aging actress, who is violently in love with Rudy. And Manny, Louis’s bodyguard, who has a thing for Velma.