1952 British film
Meet Me Tonight is a 1952 omnibus British comedy film adapted from three one act plays by Noël Coward: Red Peppers, Fumed Oak and Ways and Means; which are part of his Tonight at 8.30 play cycle.[1] The film was released as Tonight at 8:30 in the U.S.[2] It was directed by Anthony Pelissier and starred Valerie Hobson, Nigel Patrick, Stanley Holloway, Ted Ray and Jack Warner.[3]
It earned billings of £97,000.[4]
Plot
In "The Red Peppers", a husband and wife song and dance team (Kay Walsh, Ted Ray) bicker with each other, another performer (Martita Hunt), and the theatre manager (Frank Pettingell). In "Fumed Oak", a middle-aged man (Stanley Holloway) finally has enough of his wife, daughter, and mother-in-law (Betty Ann Davies, Dorothy Gordon, and Mary Merrall respectively). Having saved enough money secretly, he announces to his stunned family that he is leaving, never to see them again. In the final segment, "Ways and Means", a husband (Nigel Patrick) and his wife (Valerie Hobson) wonder what they will do now that he has gambled away their money, leaving little to pay their debts, especially to Olive (Jessie Royce Landis). They pawn their last few valuable possessions, hoping to win enough in the casino. However, Olive takes the seat the husband was waiting for and proceeds to win a great deal of money. When she gets up, he takes his rightful place and loses all he has. That night, the couple awake to find Olive's chauffeur, Murdoch (Jack Warner), trying to steal from them. After laughing at him (since they have nothing worth the effort), the wife proposes he rob from his employer and split the money with them. Murdoch takes Olive's winnings, but double crosses the couple, only to end up caught by the police.
Production
Producer Tony Havelock Allen later recalled:
That was just to have something to do, more or less. Noél was rather unkind about that but he made what I think was a valid point: he said that the point of the ‘Red Peppers’ segment was to spend an evening seeing Noél Coward and Gertie Lawrence not playing Noél Coward and Gertie Lawrence, that is the fun; that the moment you do one of these little plays for real, they don’t exist. It was directed by Fay Compton’s son, Anthony Pelissier, who had many different talents but none of them big enough to make a real impact. Look at The Rocking Horse Winner — he certainly had talent but he never got enough chances. He was a difficult man but, then, so was the man who made Kind Hearts and Coronets, yet that didn’t stop him from being a great director.[5]
Critical reception
The New York Times wrote, "Tonight at 8:30 is, in short, a varied entertainment, short on excitement but funny and trenchant enough for many tastes."[6]
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