Rent Meet Me Tonight (1952)
3.2 of 5 from 50 ratings
1h 20min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
A wealth of British talent enlivens this Noël Coward omnibus of three slices of life told with his trademark blend of incisive wit and affectionate observation. From music hall mayhem to suburban suffering and a romp on the Riviera, each playlet features a top-notch cast whose exuberant performances bring the everyday situations to life. In the first of the playlets, Ted Ray and Kay Walsh are a washed up musical hall act who have had one rinse too many! In the second, Stanley Holloway is a hen pecked husband who has the last laugh on his loathsome family. In the third, based in the South of France, Nigel Patrick and Valerie Hobson star as a couple who are hoping that Jack Warner is the answer to their gambling problems!! - Actors:
- Ted Ray, Kay Walsh, Martita Hunt, Bill Fraser, Frank Pettingell, Toke Townley, Ian Wilson, Stanley Holloway, Betty Ann Davies, Mary Merrall, Dorothy Gordon, Valerie Hobson, Nigel Patrick, Jack Warner, Jessie Royce Landis, Michael Trubshawe, Yvonne Furneaux, Mary Jerrold, Paul Beradi, Jacques Cey
- Directors:
- Anthony Pelissier
- Producers:
- Anthony Havelock-Allan
- Writers:
- Noël Coward, George Barraud
- Aka:
- Tonight at 8:30
- Studio:
- Strawberry Media
- Genres:
- Classics, Comedy, Music & Musicals
- Collections:
- Getting to Know..., Glynis & Angela: Ninetysomething Marvels
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Reviews (1) of Meet Me Tonight
Coward anthology. - Meet Me Tonight review by Steve
After WWII, anthology films became big box office in the UK, like those from W. Somerset Maugham stories, Quartet, Trio and Encore. Soon such episodes would become the province of television. Meet Me Tonight is one of these packages of short films, adapted from three one act plays by Noël Coward. But in Technicolor, which tv couldn't reproduce.
And British tv in the early fifties would have struggled to match this ensemble of stars and old pros. The stories are linked by the conflict of married couples. Kay Walsh and Ted Ray are a couple of music hall troopers with a song and dance act who only cease fighting with each other when there is someone to gang up on. Leading to the demolition of the theatre.
The middle section is effective, but uncomfortable. Stanley Holloway has a midlife crisis and leaves his burdensome family. We can believe his life is hell, but his bullying revenge is awkward. Most of the budget was spent on the last and best story, with Valerie Hobson and Nigel Patrick happily cast as a couple of bankrupt sophisticates on the French Riviera.
They are sensational at delivering Coward's screwball banter. And there is some nice location footage of Monaco spliced into the bickering. The best two plays are very funny and great entertainment. Ray and Walsh get a couple of Noël's comic songs to perform. There's the writer's usual snobbery and preoccupation with class to contend with. But it's well worth it.
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