One Exciting Night (1922 American Gothic Silent Mystery film)

One Exciting Night is a 1922 American Gothic silent mystery film directed by D. W. Griffith.

The plot revolves around a series of murders on a wealthy estate and the attempts of the cast to uncover the murderer's identity. The success of both the Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood play The Bat (1920), as well as the 1922 stage play The Cat and the Canary, led Griffith to write and produce his own variation on the theme.

At the time of this film, Henry Hull was starring on Broadway in the stage version of John Willard's The Cat and the Canary.

Plot
Agnes Harrington's uncle separates her from her family in Africa when her wealthy father passes away, so that he won't have to share his brother's fortune with the child. Years later on his deathbed, he sees to it that Agnes is restored to her rightful place in society, cutting his own son John Fairfax out of the chain of inheritance in the process. John, Agnes and a number of other people gather at a social event at the famous Fairfax Estate, unaware that it is being used by a gang of bootleggers, and that a hidden treasure is concealed somewhere on the grounds. To make matters worse, a creepy madman is stalking the grounds, and one by one people start turning up dead.

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

Production
One Exciting Night saw an underwhelming response at test screenings. Director D. W. Griffith decided that the problem was that the film lacked the spectacular climax audiences had come to expect from his films, so he reassembled the cast and shot a new ending involving a terrifying storm, using a combination of real hurricane footage which he had shot earlier, and studio footage filmed with special effects.

Directed by D. W. Griffith
Written by D. W. Griffith
(as Irene Sinclair)
Produced by D. W. Griffith
Starring Carol Dempster
Henry Hull
Morgan Wallace
Margaret Dale
Porter Strong
Cinematography Irving B. Ruby
Hendrik Sartov [fr]
Production company: D.W. Griffith Productions
Distributed by: United Artists
Release date: October 2, 1922
Running time 128 minutes
Country United States
Language Silent (English intertitles)
Budget $362,000
Box office $1,150,000[1]