Moonlight Masquerade
Cast & Crew
John H. Auer
Dennis O'keefe
Jane Frazee
Betty Kean
Eddie Foy Jr.
Erno Verebes
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Estranged business partners John Bennett, Sr. and Robert Forrester are panic-stricken on the twenty-first birthday of Victoria, Forrester's daughter. Years earlier, the two men signed a contract setting aside a third of their company for their oldest children, providing that they marry within thirty days of the daughter turning twenty-one. If they do not marry, however, which ever family refused the marriage would lose its share of the firm to the other family. Bennett begs his son John, who has never met Vicki, not to refuse the marriage, so that they will not lose their controlling interest. John then points out that the Forresters will lose all interest in the firm if he can get Vicki to refuse him, which he thinks will be easy to do because of her reputation as a nobility-chasing snob. Meanwhile, Vicki and her father are making plans on how to get playboy John to back out of the deal. Vicki hires dancer Mikki Marquette to impersonate her, in the hope that Mikki's screwball nature will disorient John. Because the contract states that the wedding must take place in Havana, Vicki and Mikki must first board a train to Miami, then sail to Cuba. Also aboard the train is John, who falls for the charade that Mikki is Vicki. John, who is also traveling under a false name, quickly becomes enamoured of the real Vicki, who resents his numerous insinuations about the character of Miss Forrester. Upon arriving at their Miami hotel, John meets fortune hunter Lord Percy Ticklederry, whom he "sics" on Mikki. After John offers to pay Percy to romance Mikki, whom Percy genuinely likes, John reveals his real identity to Vicki. Vicki is dismayed at the news, for she is falling in love with John, and determines to teach him a lesson. The two couples travel on to Havana, and the women, who have not yet revealed their identities, let the men pursue them. Percy tires of the game, however, and confesses to Mikki that he is not an English lord, just a regular guy from Brooklyn. Vicki persuades Mikki to continue the charade though, until finally, John plans to propose to Mikki, whom he believes will turn him down because she loves Percy. John then intends to propose to Vicki, whom he loves, but Mikki surprises him by accepting his proposal. Upset that he will lose Vicki, John decides to forego the contract, and sends Mikki a letter stating that he will forfeit his interest in the firm. Meanwhile, Forrester and Bennett have patched up their differences and torn up their contract, and they notify John, who learns Vicki and Mikki's true identities, but is informed that Vicki is engaged to a Count Eric Nordvig. Upset that John is resigned to her marrying Eric, Vicki tears up the note he sent and joins Eric at the Miami hotel. Percy and Mikki, now married, are already there, and when Vicki breaks her engagement to Eric upon learning that he was only after her fortune, he forms a dancing act with the newlyweds for the hotel's nightclub. While watching their performance, Vicki is surprised by John, and the couple embrace.
Director
John H. Auer
Cast
Dennis O'keefe
Jane Frazee
Betty Kean
Eddie Foy Jr.
Erno Verebes
Franklin Pangborn
Paul Harvey
Jed Prouty
Tommye Adams
The Three Chocolateers:
Esvan Mosby
Al Gibson
Duke Gibson
Iris Adrian
Jack Norton
Wilson Benge
Fred Santley
José Perez
Frank Ferguson
Sarah Edwards
Spec O'donnell
Jack Rice
Johnny Arthur
Ira "buck" Woods
Eddie Kane
William Newell
Kay Deslys
Anne Jeffreys
David Street
Morton Scott
Dewey Robinson
Italia De Nubila
Bob Mascagno
Henry Roquemore
Crew
John Alton
John H. Auer
John H. Auer
Nick Castle
Cy Feuer
Mort Greene
Russell Kimball
Lawrence Kimble
Harry Knight
Edward Mann
Adele Palmer
Harry Revel
Gene Rose
Murray Seldeen
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were Moonstruck and Tahiti Honey. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, Craig Stevens was originally set to play "John Bennett, Jr." Although Stevens is listed in Hollywood Reporter production charts, he does not appear in the completed picture.
