Meet Me Tonight


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. The film was released as Tonight at 8:30 in the U.S. It was directed by Anthony Pelissier and starred Valerie Hobson, Nigel Patrick, Stanley Holloway, Ted Ray and Jack Warner.
It earned billings of £97,000.

Plot

In "The Red Peppers", a husband and wife song and dance team bicker with each other, another performer, and the theatre manager. In "Fumed Oak", a middle-aged man finally has enough of his wife, daughter, and mother-in-law. 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 and his wife wonder what they will do now that he has gambled away their money, leaving little to pay their debts, especially to Olive. 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, trying to steal from them. After laughing at him, 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.

Cast

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."