One Exciting Night (1922)

A young orphan girl, courted by an unpleasant older wealthy man who has a hold over her adoptive mother, falls in love with a young stranger at a party. Odd noises begin to be heard as a ... See full summary »

Director:

D.W. Griffith

Writer:

D.W. Griffith

Stars:

Carol Dempster, Henry Hull, Porter Strong

Cast

Cast overview:
Carol Dempster	...	Agnes Harrington
Henry Hull	...	John Fairfax
Porter Strong	...	Romeo Washington
Morgan Wallace	...	J. Wilson Rockmaine
Charles Croker-King	...	The Neighbor (as C.H. Croker-King)
Margaret Dale	...	Mrs. Harrington
Frank Sheridan	...	Detective
Frank Wunderlee	...	Samuel Jones
Grace Griswold	...	Auntie Fairfax
Irma Harrison	...	The Maid
Herbert Sutch	...	Clary Johnson
Percy Carr	...	The Butler
Charles Emmett Mack	...	A Guest (as Charles E. Mack)

Storyline

A young orphan girl, courted by an unpleasant older wealthy man who has a hold over her adoptive mother, falls in love with a young stranger at a party. Odd noises begin to be heard as a group of bootleggers clandestinely try to get away with their hidden loot. One of them is killed and the young man is suspected of being the killer.

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Plot Keywords:

old dark house | spoof

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Genres:

Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

2 October 1922 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Haunted Grande

Filming Locations:

Westchester, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$267,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

D.W. Griffith Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was reportedly inspired by the huge success of the Mary Roberts Rinehart / Avery Hopwood play "The Bat".

User Reviews

Weaker Griffith

One Exciting Night (1922)

** (out of 4)

D.W. Griffith's only venture into the "old dark house/mystery" genre is a rather strange film that also mixes in comedy but in the end it just doesn't work. A baby is born in Africa and sixteen years later she is about to gain control of an estate, although she doesn't know this. Soon someone shows up on the scene committing murders but who is it? On the whole this is a very average film due in large part to its incredible running time, which nearly reaches two and a half hours. The final hour of the film contains about twelve different endings where you think the film is over but it keeps going on and on and on. Henry Hull delivers a good performance but the rest of the cast is rather lame. The biggest highlight is a hurricane at the end of the film, which contains some of the greatest special effects of its time. There's a moment when a servant takes shelter by a house only to have the house tear apart and fly away while the actor is standing there.