| A Midnight Bell | |
| Director: | Charles Ray |
| Producer: | Charles Ray |
| Starring: | Charles Ray Doris Pawn Donald MacDonald Van Dyke Brooke |
| Cinematography: | George Rizard |
| Editing: | Harry L. Decker |
| Distributor: | Associated First National Pictures |
| Runtime: | 6,140 ft. / 6 reels/ 66 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | Silent (English intertitles) |
A Midnight Bell is a 1921 American silent comedy film. The film was directed and produced by its star, Charles Ray. His brother, Albert, is thought to have co-directed some scenes. The film is believed to be lost.[1]
The film is based on a play by the same name written by Charles Hale Hoyt that premiered on Broadway in 1889 with Maude Adams in a leading role and starred Eugene Canfield as Martin Tripp.[2] [1]
Director Charles Ray went on to lose his entire fortune in 1923 when he produced The Courtship of Miles Standish, which was a terrible flop at the box office. He later died in 1943 from a severe tooth infection.[3]
Martin Tripp is a traveling salesman who turns a struggling small-town store into a successful business. He becomes involved in a mystery involving an old church that is supposed to be haunted. Tripp is challenged to spend a night in the old building. A group of criminals, pretending to manifest supernatural phenomena, are exposed by Tripp in the end.[1] [4]