Tonight at 8:30 1942, with a screenplay by Claudine West, Hans Rameau and George Froeschel. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard. The film starred Norma Shearer and Melvyn Douglas, and also featured Florence Shirley, Lee Bowman and Lenore J. Coffee. Coward adapted "Still Life" for the screen as "Brief Encounter" in 1945. The film was remade in 1974 starring Richard Burton and Sophia Loren. In May 2009, Houston Grand Opera premiered an opera in two acts based on "Brief Encounter", with music by André Previn from a libretto by John Caird. For a 1952 film "Meet Me Tonight", directed by Anthony Pelissier,
Noël Coward vanity and drug abuse among the upper classes. Its notoriety and fiery performances attracted large audiences, justifying a move from a small suburban theatre to a larger one in the West End. Coward, still having trouble finding producers, raised the money to produce the play himself. During the run of "The Vortex", Coward met Jack Wilson, an American stockbroker (later a director and producer), who became his business manager and lover. Wilson used his position to steal from Coward, but the playwright was in love and accepted both the larceny and Wilson's heavy drinking. The success of "The Vortex" in