All Night

This article is about the 1918 film. For other uses, see All Night (disambiguation).
All Night

Ad from the 1922 release
Directed by Paul Powell
Written by Fred Myton (scenario)
Story by Edgar Franklin
Starring Carmel Myers
Rudolpho di Valentina
Charles Dorian
Mary Warren
William Dyer
Production
company
Bluebird Photoplays
Distributed by Bluebird Photoplays
Release dates
  • November 30, 1918
Running time
 57 mins.
Country United States
Language Silent (English intertitles)

All Night is a 1918 American silent comedy-drama film starring Carmel Myers and Rudolph Valentino (credited as Rudolpho di Valentina), directed by Paul Powell and released by Universal Pictures under the name Bluebird Photoplays.[1]

A print of the film still survives and was released to DVD by Grapevine Video in 2005.[2][3]

Plot

Richard Thayer, a shy, unassuming man (Valentino), is in love with a sheltered young woman, Elizabeth ("Beth") Lane (Myers). While the feelings are mutual and Richard wishes to propose, he can never find a moment to speak to Beth alone—she is constantly surrounded by admirers and her overprotective father (Wadsworth Harris).

Richard explains his predicament to his friends, young married couple William and Maude Harcourt (Charles Dorian and Mary Warren). They agree to help by hosting Richard and Beth at a private dinner at their home. Beth's father agrees to let her dine with the Harcourts, but insists that she keep to an 11:00 curfew.

The evening of the dinner William Harcourt receives a telegram from a prospective business associate, Bradford (William Dyer), informing him that he is arriving that night for a surprise visit. The announcement throws the Harcourts into a panic. William has recently mortgaged his home and life savings to buy a copper mine; he is counting on a $1-million investment from Bradford to save his business and house. He does not have any servants to welcome the millionaire, having fired them earlier in the day in a fit of rage.

Working together, the four friends devise a plan: Richard and Beth will pose as the Harcourts; the real Harcourts will play the servants because they are familiar with the layout of their house. The scheme initially works, but things quickly deteriorate when Bradford, an eccentric, overbearing man, starts flirting with Maude Harcourt and insisting that Richard and Beth turn in for the night. The situation worsens when Beth misses her curfew and her father shows up at the Harcourt home to look for her. Eventually, everything is solved, but not before Col. Lane is locked in the pantry, Richard falls out a window and William is tossed out of his own house.

Cast

Production

All Night is one of Valentino's earliest films, and one of the only ones in which he plays a comedic role. In contrast to the screen persona of "The Great Lover", his character of Richard Thayer is shy and insecure. For this film, Valentino performed several scenes of physical comedy and pratfalls, including falling from a window into a barrel of water.

References

  1. ↑ White Munden, Kenneth, ed. (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog Of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1921-1930, Part 1. University of California Press. p. 14. ISBN 0-520-20969-9.
  2. ↑ "2005 Grapevine Video DVD edition". silentera.com. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  3. ↑ Progressive Silent Film: All Night at silentera.com

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to All Night.