''Before Morning'' is a 1933 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

crime drama directed by

Arthur Hoerl Arthur Hoerl (December 17, 1891 – February 6, 1968) was an American screenwriter and film director. Hoerl was born in New York, son of Louis Hoerl, a German immigrant silver polisher, and Teresa Hoerl. Arthur completed three years of hig ...

, and starring Leo Carrillo, Lora Baxter, and

Taylor Holmes Taylor Holmes (May 16, 1878 – January 29, 1959) was an American actor who appeared in over 100 Broadway theatre, Broadway plays in his five-decade career. However, he is probably best remembered for his screen performances, which he began on ...

. The film was adapted for the screen by Arthur Hoerl, from the 1933

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

play of the same name by Edward and Edna Riley.

Plot

Actress Elsie Manning is engaged to Horace Baker, but has also been in a romantic relationship with James Nichols who has named her as the beneficiary in his will. Not knowing about her engagement, Nichols asks his wife for a divorce and is refused. Nichols dies in Manning's apartment after she tells him she's engaged to Baker. When Baker arrives on the scene, he agrees to help her dispose of the body by having Nichols moved to a sanitarium. The owner, Dr. Gruelle, tells them Nichols was murdered by poison and attempts to extort money from Manning for his statement that the death was of natural causes. Gruelle tries the same scam on the widow of Nichols, who eventually agrees when the poison is found in her purse. It is revealed that Gruelle is in reality Police Inspector Maitland, intent on solving the murder.

Cast

* Leo Carrillo – Dr. Gruelle/Mr. Maitland *Lora Baxter as Elsie Manning *

as Leo Bergman *Blaine Cordner as Horace Baker * Louise Prussing as Mrs. Nichols *

Russell Hicks Edward Russell Hicks (June 4, 1895 – June 1, 1957) was an American film character actor. Hicks was born in 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the ...

as James Nichols *

Louis Jean Heydt Louis Jean Heydt (April 17, 1903 – January 29, 1960) was an American character actor in film, television, and theatre, most frequently seen in hapless, ineffectual, or fall-guy roles. Early life Heydt was born in 1903 (not 1905, as many so ...

as Neil Kennedy *Jules Epailly as Ben Ayoub *Constance Bertrand as Diane *Terry Carroll as Doris *

Victor Kilian Victor Arthur Kilian (March 6, 1891 – March 11, 1979) was an American actor who was Hollywood blacklist, blacklisted by the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s. Early life, career, and homicide Born in J ...

as House Detective (uncredited)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Before Morning 1933 films 1933 crime drama films 1930s mystery drama films 1933 romantic drama films American crime drama films American independent films American mystery drama films American romantic drama films American black-and-white films American films based on plays Films set in New York City 1930s independent films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films English-language independent films English-language crime drama films English-language romantic drama films English-language mystery drama films