Mademoiselle Midnight (1924)

• Director
  • Robert Z. Leonard
• Writers
  • Carl Harbaugh
  • John Russell
• Stars
  • Mae Murray
  • John St. Polis
  • Paul Weigel

  This melodrama was the first collaborative effort between MGM and the husband-wife/director-actress team Robert Z. Leonard and Mae Murray. Murray has two roles, in the prologue as Renee de Gontran, who scandalized the court of Napoleon III and who was banished to Mexico by the Empress Eugenie (Clarissa Selwynne), and throughout the rest of the film as her granddaughter, Renee de Quiros, who has inherited her grandmother's zest for adventure. This quirk, however, only shows itself between the hours of midnight and one in the morning. Young Renee's father, Don Pedro de Quiros (Robert Edeson), is a loyalist who is being courted by diplomat Owen Burke (Monte Blue). Not only does Renee draw the attention of Burke, but also that of the bandit Joao (Robert McKim). Renee's uncle, Don Jose de Quiros (Nick De Ruiz), is in league with the bandit. After Joao kills Don Pedro, Don Jose promises him Renee's hand. Burke's life is in danger, so Renee consents to the wedding, but escapes with the help of her cousin Carlos (Johnny Arthur). When she marries Burke, she is released from the spell of her grandmother. Murray and Leonard's marriage didn't last, but they both stayed with MGM -- Murray until after her marriage to Russian Prince David M'Divani, and Leonard until 1955.