Author Allan Ellenberger, who's currently working on a biography of Miriam Hopkins, discusses several of the films screened at Cinecon 2008, the 44th edition of the Labor Day weekend festival of rare (mostly) American films:
"Cinecon 44 is now history. From August 28 through September 1, film fans gathered at the Egyptian Theater in downtown Hollywood to enjoy more than 35 classic films. Some of the highlights included Damon and Pythias (1914); Ruth Roland in The Devil's Bait (1917), and The Menace (1934) with Bette Davis.
…
"And probably my favorite film was The Ninth Guest (1934), a Columbia who-dunit starring Donald Cook, Genevieve Tobin and a cast of recognizable charactor [sic] actors. The plot is similar to Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians, but was adapted from a novel by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning. Eight people are invited to a penthouse party by an anonymous host only to discover that they are locked in with fellow guests whom they loathe. The host introduces himself through a radio hook-up as 'the ninth guest' and announces that each guest will die before the night is over. However, as the program notes stated, the real star of the film is the Arte Moderne set. Catch this one if you get the chance."
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Allan's post also includes several photographs of attending celebrities, among them Celeste Holm, Marsha Hunt, Betty Garrett, and former child stars Jane Withers and Sybil Jason.
And as a bonus, Allan solves The Case of the Mysterious Gloria Holden Birth Date.
But who the heck was Gloria Holden, you ask. Well, Holden may not have had the most illustrious of film careers, but she did make a mark for herself in Hollywood history by playing the title role in Lambert Hillyer's 1936 cult classic Dracula's Daughter. Her second most important film role was that of Alexandrine Zola, Emile Zola's wife, in William Dieterle's 1937 Academy Award-winning biopic The Life of Emile Zola.
Great to hear that people like Celeste Holm, Marsha Hunt and Betty Garrett are still out and about.