White Slavery
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Michael Steel
Joseph Brenner
Alan Smiler
Michael Steel
Michael Steel
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Freelance motion picture cameraman Michael "Mike" Steel introduces evidence of white slavery, through which innocent young girls are lured into prostitution. On a brief visit to Tangier, Morocco, while working in Spain, Steel determines that he must expose the procurement of women, "the hottest thing on the racketeer's list," in order to stop the practice. After completing his work in Spain, Steel returns to Tangier and, posing as a man interested in procuring young girls, secretly shoots footage of the cafes, alleys and basements in which the business of the white slavery racket is conducted. After Steel observes a variety of activities and interacts with the young women and their captors, the Tangier police intervene. At first the police suspect Steel of being involved with the gang but eventually thank him for the footage he shot. In the end, Steel is able to affect the escape of five young Spanish girls, who were sent home to Spain, but ponders the sad fate of other similar girls and poses the challenge "We must stop this racket if we can."
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although no exact release date has been located for this film, according to information in the NYSA, in 1957 it was approved, with eliminations, for distribution in New York State, under the title The White Slave Racket. According to a continuity deposited with the NYSA, the film's subtitle was "The Story of Girls in Trouble," and it was shot in Tangier in 1956 "with the permission of Michael Steel Exploit Film S. A." The continuity lists a 1956 copyright statement for Exploit Film and states that it was "prepared from the actual confiscated footage for Motion Picture release."
Although NYSA files list Alan Smiler as the film editor, the The Exhibitor review, the only one located for the film, noted that White Slavery was photographed and edited by Michael Steel. It is likely that Smiler and Steel are the same person. According to modern sources, both are alter egos of exploitation film producer Barry Mahon. The name Smiler was also used on Mahon's 1960 film Cuban Rebel Girls and his 1961 release Rocket Attack, U.S.A..
Plot information in a continuity deposited in NYSA indicates that "Steel" narrated the film in the first person, calling himself a freelance movie photographer. The The Exhibitor review added that, aside from the narration and background music, the film was silent.
