''Curtain at Eight'' is a 1933 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...

directed by E. Mason Hopper and starring

C. Aubrey Smith Sir Charles Aubrey Smith (21 July 1863 – 20 December 1948) was an English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937) ...

Dorothy Mackaill Dorothy Mackaill (March 4, 1903 – August 12, 1990) was a British-American actress, most active during the silent-film era and into the pre-Code era of the early 1930s. Early life Born in Sculcoates, Kingston upon Hull in 1903 (although she ...

and

Paul Cavanagh William Grigs Atkinson (8 December 1888 – 15 March 1964), known professionally as Paul Cavanagh, was an English film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1928 and 1959. Life and career Cavanagh was born in Felling, ...

.Pitts p.224

Plot summary

Wylie Thornton is the star of "Isle of Romance" at the Edwin Booth Theater. He is two-timing his wife, Alma Thornton, as well as Lola Cresmer, her sister Anice Cresmer, and Doris Manning, three actresses in the play. Thornton has been nice to Geraldine, the chimpanzee, and she has a crush on the handsome man. Geraldine has figured out how to open and close her wheeled cage, numbered "7", which is in the Property Room of the theater. Mack, the property master, does not like that, or her, and mistreats the "monk". In the Property Room, Geraldine gets her hands on a .32 caliber unrifled revolver and in handling the gun, accidentally fires it. Roaming the dressing rooms, Geraldine takes a photograph of Thornton from his room back to her cage. Upset by Thornton's two-timing, Anice Cresmer, who plays "Tonga" in "Isle of Romance", takes her own life; she is found by her sister Lola. Wylie Thornton has gambling debts and in a row with his wife, Alma, gets called a "cackling boudoir rooster" and a "flannel mouth Romeo". Alma takes his money and then gives Wylie forty dollars while making him owe her seventy five dollars. Wylie Thornton is leaving for a bigger engagement in New York and a farewell party is held for him. He gets a birthday cake with thirty four candles; Mack, who was putting in the candles, says "that ham is forty four if he's a day". Geraldine, on the loose again, has evaded the property master and climbs up into the flies of the theater. In preparation for the presentation of the cake, the lighting on stage is turned off and the lit cake is brought out, to everyone's delight. Thornton blows out the candles. In the darkness, a shot rings out and is followed by screams like those that a chimpanzee would make. When the lights come back on, Thornton is found dead. This precipitates the arrival of the young and quick to jump to conclusions Captain Marty Gallagher, the Captain of Detectives, whose catch phrase is "It's in the bag!". Mooney, the newspaper reporter, calls him "'Arrest 'em in a hurry' Gallagher". Another detective, the older and methodical Jim Handley, labeled by Gallagher as the "new dick from the D.A.'s office", is also on the case. Mooney tags along with Gallagher and occasionally gives him some tips. While Gallagher is getting everyone locked up, Handley finds the revolver in a drop hanging from the flies. Alma Thornton is found shot in her apartment. In the operating room, Handley is told that in her delirium, Alma has been saying "lovely". That leads him to question Loveley Holmes about the Thornton's and the gambling debts. Handley returns to the theater to find a crowd outside the Property Room. He goes in and finds the room in disorder and Geraldine on the loose. Firing a shot, he orders her to get back into her cage, to which she complies. Handley then finds the prop master in the room, dead. Gallagher arrives and quickly wraps up the case. As Handley is leaving the theater, he meets Lola. He tells her that he would have done the same thing if that was his sister, meaning that he would have shot Thornton just as she had. He tells her that she does not have to worry, as Gallagher proved it was the chimpanzee that shot Wylie Thornton and that Lovely Holmes will be charged with shooting Alma Thornton.

Cast

as Jim Hanvey – Detective *

as Lola Cresmer *

as Wylie Thornton – Actor * Sam Hardy as Martin Gallagher – Captain of Detectives *

Marion Shilling Marion Helen Schilling (December 3, 1910 – November 6, 2004) was an American stage and film actress. She was one of the most famous " B" leading ladies of the 1930s. Biography Marion Helen Schilling was born in Denver, Colorado in 1910. Her ...

as Anice Cresmer *

Russell Hopton Harry Russell Hopton (February 18, 1900 – April 7, 1945) was an American film actor and director. Biography Hopton was born in New York City, New York. He appeared in 110 films between 1926 and 1945, often playing streetwise characters f ...

as Terry Mooney – Reporter *

Natalie Moorhead Natalie Moorhead (born Nathalian Morehead, July 27, 1901 – October 6, 1992) was an American film and stage actress of the 1920s and 1930s. She was known for distinctive platinum blond hair. Early years Moorehead grew up in Pittsburgh. ...

as Alma Jenkins Thornton *

Hale Hamilton Hale Rice Hamilton (February 28, 1880 – May 19, 1942) was an American actor, writer and producer. Biography Hamilton was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1880. (His birth year is sometimes listed as either 1879 or 1883.) Hamilton's Broadway debut w ...

as Major Manning *

Ruthelma Stevens Ruthelma Stevens (1903–1984) was an American film actress.Solomon p.357 Filmography References Bibliography * Solomon, Aubrey. ''The Fox Film Corporation, 1915-1935: A History and Filmography''. McFarland, 2011. External links * 190 ...

as Doris Manning *

Arthur Hoyt Arthur Hoyt (March 19, 1874 – January 4, 1953) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 275 films in his 34-year film career, about a third of them silent films. Career Born in Georgetown, Colorado, in 1874, Hoyt mad ...

as Watkins – Night Watchman *

Dot Farley Dorothea "Dot" Farley (February 6, 1881 – May 2, 1971) was an American film actress who appeared in 280 motion pictures between 1910 and 1950. She was also known as Dorothy Farley. Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dorothea Farley was t ...

as Ella – Party Guest *

Jack Mulhall John Joseph Francis Mulhall (October 7, 1887 – June 1, 1979) was an American film actor beginning in the silent film era who successfully transitioned to sound films, appearing in over 430 films in a career spanning 50 years. Early years Mu ...

as Carey Weldon

References

Bibliography

* Pitts, Michael R. ''Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies, with a Filmography for Each''. McFarland & Company, 2005.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtain at Eight 1933 films American mystery films 1930s English-language films Films based on American novels American black-and-white films Films directed by E. Mason Hopper Majestic Pictures films 1933 mystery films 1930s American films