Before Morning

Elsie Manning is the toast of New York, starring in a hit play that has taken Broadway by storm. In the midst of this success, she impulsively agrees to marry Horace Baker, a choice that would put an end to her career. On the eve of the wedding, the actress is visited by her former lover, James Nichols, who desperately attempts to make Elsie reconsider her decision. The argument is too much for the older man's heart, however, and Nichols dies suddenly in the starlet's boudoir. Fearing the ensuing scandal will jeopardize her marriage to Horace, Elsie calls in an underworld surgeon, Doctor Gruelle, to dispose of the body. But the sinister doctor's silence comes at a cost...

Before Morning offers a rare villainous turn for Leo Carrillo, who would one day be known to millions of children as Pancho in The Cisco Kid film series and its television spin-off (1950-1956). Taylor Holmes would later be a supporting player in classics such as Kiss of Death (1947), Joan of Arc (1948) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Director Arthur Hoerl also scripted the cult favorite Reefer Madness (1936) and the first big screen live-action adaptation of Superman (1948). Before Morning was based on a popular Broadway play, whose racy subject matter made it perfect for pre-Code Hollywood. Louise Pressing, Louis Jean Heydt, and Jules Epailly had all previously appeared in the stage version.

• drama