A Midnight Bell

A Midnight Bell is a 1921 American silent comedy film. The film was directed and produced by its star, Charles Ray. His brother, Albert, is thought to have co-directed some scenes. The film is believed to be lost.[1]

A Midnight Bell
Film still originally published in the Exhibitors Herald in July 1921.
Directed byCharles Ray
Produced byCharles Ray
Written byRichard Andres (adaptation)
Based onA Midnight Bell
by Charles Hale Hoyt (play)
StarringCharles Ray
Doris Pawn
Donald MacDonald
Van Dyke Brooke
CinematographyGeorge Rizard
Edited byHarry Decker
Distributed byAssociated First National Pictures
Release date
  • August 1921 (1921-08)
Running time
6,140 ft. / 6 reels/ 66 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The film is based on a play by the same name written by Charles Hale Hoyt that premiered on Broadway in 1889 with Maude Adams in a leading role and starred Eugene Canfield as Martin Tripp.[2][1]

Director Charles Ray went on to lose his entire fortune in 1923 when he produced The Courtship of Miles Standish, which was a terrible flop at the box office. He later died in 1943 from a severe tooth infection.[3]

Plot summary

Martin Tripp (Charles Ray) is a traveling salesman who turns a struggling small-town store into a successful business. He becomes involved in a mystery involving an old church that is supposed to be haunted. Tripp is challenged to spend a night in the old building. A group of criminals, pretending to manifest supernatural phenomena, are exposed by Tripp in the end.[1][4]

Cast

References
  1. Soister, John T. American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913-1929. McFarland. p. 389. Web. Accessed June 24, 2015
  2. Internet Broadway Database
  3. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 241.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  4. A Midnight Bell at TCM.com


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