Rendevous at Midnight
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1935 |
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Police try to solve the murder of an ex-commissioner. Based on the play the Silver Fox
Cast:
Ralph
Bellamy .... Bob Edmonds
Valerie
Hobson .... Sandra Rogers
Catherine
Doucet .... Fernande
Irene
Ware .... Myra
Helen
Jerome Eddy .... Emmy
Kathlyn
Williams .... Angela
Vivien
Oakland .... Lillian Haskins
Purnell
Pratt .... Mayor
William
P. Carleton .... Judge
Arthur
Vinton .... Myles Crawford
Edgar
Kennedy .... Mahoney
William
Arnold .... Ryan
Gail
Arnold .... Carlotta
Katherine
Williams .... Annette
William
Ruel .... Schultz
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Valerie Babette Louise Hobson was born on 14 April 1917 in Larne, County Antrim, Ireland, the daughter British Army officer. Valerie barely begun her studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts when, at 16, she was discovered an was signed to a Hollywood contract by Universal pictures, where for a frustrating 12 months she served as a Fay Wray substitute in roles calling for wide-eyed terror. From this experience, she is best known to horror fans for her roles in WereWolf of London (1935), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Rendezvous at Midnight (1935) and the Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935). Valerie was never happy in Scream Queen parts. She soon returned to England where she was offered leading roles that displayed her many charms and talent. Returning to the British film industry in 1936, Hobson developed into one of the most popular and versatile leading ladies in the business. She was a delightful "Nora Charles" type in the 1938 murder mystery This Man is News (1938), and was both sexy and resourceful opposite Conrad Veidt in a brace of espionage thrillers, The Spy in Black (1939) and Contraband (1940). Hobson was seen at her best in her postwar films, notably as the demure lady love of homicidal Dennis Price in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), the selfish mother of John Howard Davies in The Rocking Horse Winner (1950), and the screwball "professional guest" in the "Ways and Means" episode of the Noel Coward omnibus Tonight at 8:30 (1952). In 1946, Hobson offered an exquisite performance as Estella in David Lean's adaptation of Dickens' Great Expectations; ironically, she had played a smaller role in the 1934 Universal version of the same Dickens novel, but her part had wound up on the cutting room floor. Previously wed to producer Anthony Havelock-Allen, Hobson retired from films in 1954 to marry future British Minister of War John Profumo. She stood by her husband,, after he was involved in the Christine Keeler scandal in the 60s. He was forced to resign as Engl
Born: June 20, 1875 in Richmond, Virginia, Died: June 24, 1958 in New York, New York. American supporting and character actress Catherine Doucet occasionally appeared in Hollywood films during the '30s and '40s. Before becoming an actress at age 30, Doucet (born Catherine Green in Richmond, VA) was a school teacher. She made her acting debut on stage and appeared many times on Broadway and in stock theater. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Irene Ahlberg was born November 6, 1910 in Pelham, NY Sge was crowned Miss America of 1926. The lovely auburn-haired Irene Ware signed a contract with Fox in 1932. She appeared in a variety of roles including Rendezvous at Midnight (1935), but is best remembered as the imperiled heroines of Chandu the Magician (1934) and The Raven (1935), both starring Bela Lugosi. Ware was also the leading lady of such programmers as The Dark Hour (1936) and Federal Agent (1936). Irene died on March 11, 1993 in Santa Ana, California.
A major star of the early silent era, blonde Kathlyn Williams is best-remembered for playing Cherry Malotte in the first, and by all accounts best, screen version of Rex Beach's The Spoilers (1914) and for starring in the seminal action serial The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913). The first chapterplay with holdover action, Adventures was but one in a number of melodramas teaming the apparently fearless actress with the Selig Polyscope Company's famous stable of wild animals (the nucleus for what would later become the Los Angeles Zoo). A professional actress since childhood, Williams had been a member of the famous Belasco Stock Company and had appeared with Willard Mack prior to making her screen debut for D.W. Griffith at the old Biograph studios in 1909. She didn't remain for long with Biograph, however, defecting to the Chicago-based Selig Polyscope Company in June 1910. Relocated to Los Angeles, Williams went on to become Selig's top female star and, following the 1913 release of The Adventures of Kathlyn, one of the nation's great screen icons. At one point, Williams had both a waltz and a clothing line named after her and she proved her worth to the company once again by exhibiting a hitherto uncharted thespian talent as the free-spirited dancehall girl Cherry Malotte in The Spoilers. William Farnum and Thomas Santschi may have had their much-publicized brawl but Williams added her own unique brand of frontier gusto to the proceedings. Williams remained with Selig until the company's declining days, when she left to star for various Paramount companies, with the era's great matinee idol Wallace Reid as her frequent co-star. By the 1920s, however, she had visibly aged, causing speculation that she may well have been much older that her publicized age. She gracefully accepted supporting roles throughout the decade and can be seen in such Roaring Twenties classics as Our Dancing Daughters (1928), in which she plays Anita Page's society mother. Socially prominent, she retired after only a handful of talkies, including a brief stint as Warner Baxter's sister-in-law in Daddy Long Legs (1931). There were talks of comebacks but none emerged and she suffered the loss of a leg in a car accident in 1949, spending her remaining years bound to a wheelchair. Williams, whose death in 1960 was ascribed to a massive heart attack, often reminisced that the dangers she faced in her early silent action melodramas were due more to natural causes than injuries inflicted by her numerous animal co-stars. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
