''One Hour Before Dawn'' (aka ''Behind Red Curtains'') is a 1920 silent film mystery directed by Henry King, written by Fred Myton and starring

H. B. Warner Henry Byron Warner (born Henry Byron Lickfold, 26 October 1876 – 21 December 1958) was an English film and theatre actor. He was popular during the silent era and played Jesus Christ in '' The King of Kings''. In later years, he successfu ...

, Frank Leigh and

Anna Q. Nilsson Anna Quirentia Nilsson (March 30, 1888 – February 11, 1974) was a Swedish-American actress who achieved success in American silent movies. Early life Nilsson was born in Ystad, Sweden in 1888. Her middle name Quirentia is derived from her ...

. It was produced by Jesse D. Hampton and released by

Pathé Exchange Pathé Exchange, commonly known as Pathé, was an American film production and distribution company, largely of Hollywood's silent era. Known for its groundbreaking newsreel and wide array of shorts, it grew out of the American division of the ...

. Anna Q. Nilsson emigrated to Hollywood from Sweden in 1910 to become a silent film actress, but failed to make the transition to talkies. She made a total of 200 films., almost 50 of them sound. She never completely recovered from a fall from her horse at the beginning of the 30s, but was always in demand for smaller parts, among them Sunset Boulevard and Seven brides for seven brides, her last in 1954. When she died in 1974 several American television stations interrupted their programme to show clips from her films

Plot

When a hypnotist named Norman Osgood mesmerizes a man named Harrison Kirke without his consent, Kirke threatens to kill him. Afraid for his life, Osgood hypnotizes another man named George Clayton and tells him he must murder Mr. Kirke one hour before the arrival of the dawn. Kirke is found murdered the next day, and Clayton starts to believe he was the murderer. He is exonerated in the end, however, when the identity of the real murderer is discovered.

Cast

Frank Leigh Frank Leigh (18 April 1876 – 9 May 1948) was a British stage and film actor.Goble p. 232 Biography Born in London in 1876, Leigh settled in Hollywood and became a leading man during the silent era. Following the introduction of sound, his ro ...

- Norman Osgood *Howard Davies - Harrison Kirke *

- George Clayton *

- Ellen Aldrich *

Augustus Phillips Augustus Phillips (August 1, 1874 – September 29, 1944), was an American actor. He appeared in 134 films between 1910 and 1921. After 11 years of performing in stock theater, vision problems led Phillips to begin acting in films for the ...

- Bob Manning *

Adele Farrington Adele Farrington (1867 – 19 December 1936) was an American actress of the silent film era. Biography Born Anna King in Brooklyn, New York, Farrington was a stage actress before appearing in 74 films between 1914 and 1926. She was a relatively ...

- Mrs. Montague *

Lillian Rich Lillian Rose Rich Woodland, more commonly known as Lillian Rich (1 January 1900 – 5 January 1954) was an English-born actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1919 and 1940. Biography Rich was born in Herne ...

- Dorothy *Dorothy Hagan - Mrs. Copeland * Thomas Guise - Judge Copeland *

Ralph McCullough Ralph McCullough (1895–1943) was an American film actor of the silent era who occasionally played male leads as well as more numerous supporting roles. Later in his career he mostly appeared in smaller, often uncredited, roles in the sound era. ...

- Fred Aldrich *

Edmund Burns Edmund Burns (September 27, 1892 – April 2, 1980 ) was an American actor. He was best known for his films of the silent 1920s, particularly ''The Princess from Hoboken'' (1927), '' Made for Love'' (1926), and ''After the Fog'' (1929), althoug ...

- Arthur *

Wilton Taylor Wilton Taylor (1869 – January 24, 1925) was an American stage and silent screen actor. He usually played gruff men of authority like wardens, judges or the police commissioner in Tod Browning's '' Outside the Law'' (1920). Of some other su ...

- Inspector Steele

Preservation status

*A print exists at Bois d'Arcy in France.

References

External links

* * 1920 films American silent feature films Films directed by Henry King American black-and-white films 1920 mystery films American mystery films Pathé Exchange films 1920s American films Silent mystery films Films based on novels {{silent-film-stub