Early to Bed (1936 film)  Early to Bed is a 1936 American comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod, written by Arthur Kober, Lucien Littlefield, S. J. Perelman and Chandler Sprague, and starring Mary Boland, Charlie Ruggles, George Barbier, Gail Patrick, Robert McWade and Lucien Littlefield. It was released on June 25, 1936, by Paramount Pictures. Chester Beatty (Ruggles) and Tessie Weeks (Boland) have been engaged for 5 years and going together for 15 years before that. Chester is reluctant to burden Tessie with marriage because of his secret problem. He is a sleepwalker. When Tessie finally does rope Chester into marriage, he can't get time off from his boss of 26 years, Mr. Frisbee (McWade). To resolve the problem, Chester sets out to impress his boss by securing a big sales contract of glass eyes. He takes Tessie and follows the rich doll company owner Horace B. Stanton (Barbier) to a lakeside resort and befriends him. However, his sleep-walking make him a prime suspect in a thievery/murder case.