Yield to the Night
Yield to the Night (also titled Blonde Sinner) is a 1956 British crime drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Diana Dors.[3] The film is based on the novel of the same title published in 1954 by Joan Henry.[4] The storyline bears a superficial and coincidental resemblance to the Ruth Ellis case, which had occurred the previous year but subsequent to the release of Henry's novel. The film received much positive critical attention, particularly for the unexpectedly skilled acting of Dors, who had previously been cast solely as a British version of the typical "blonde bombshell".[5] The movie was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.[6]
| Yield to the Night | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster to the US release of Yield to the Night (1956) | |
| Directed by | J. Lee Thompson |
| Produced by | Kenneth Harper |
| Written by | John Cresswell Joan Henry |
| Starring | Diana Dors |
| Music by | Ray Martin |
| Cinematography | Gilbert Taylor |
| Edited by | Richard Best |
| Distributed by | Associated British-Pathé |
Release date | 14 June 1956 (World Premiere, London)[1] 18 November 1956 (US) |
Running time | 99 mins. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | £174,911[2] |
Premise
Mary Hilton (Diana Dors) has been convicted of murder and sentenced to hang, and she spends her last weeks in the condemned cell in a British women's prison. While there she remembers the events in her life leading up to the murder.
Cast
- Diana Dors – Mary Hilton
- Yvonne Mitchell – Matron Hilda MacFarlane
- Michael Craig – Jim Lancaster
- Marie Ney – Prison Governess
- Geoffrey Keen – Prison Chaplain
- Liam Redmond – Prison Doctor
- Olga Lindo – Senior Matron Hill
- Joan Miller – Matron Barker
- Marjorie Rhodes – Matron Brandon
- Molly Urquhart – Matron Mason
- Mary Mackenzie – Matron Maxwell (as Mary MacKenzie)
- Harry Locke – Fred Hilton
- Michael Ripper – Roy, bar good-timer
- Joyce Blair – Doris, storeclerk-friend
- Charles Clay – Bob
- Athene Seyler – Miss Bligh
- Mona Washbourne – Mrs. Thomas, landlady
- Alec Finter – Mr. Thomas, landlord (as Alex Finter)
- Mercia Shaw – Lucy
- Marianne Stone – New Matron Richardson
- Charles Lloyd-Pack – Mary's Lawyer
- Dandy Nichols – Mrs. Price
- John Charlesworth – Alan Price
Production
Diana Dors says that Thompson's wife wrote the story and script during the filming of The Weak and the Wicked. Dors said it "wasn’t about Ruth Ellis at all. Everybody thinks it was but the script was written two years before Ruth Ellis committed the murder. It’s a fascinating syndrome that all this was put down on paper before it happened."[7]
Dors said this "was the first time I ever had a chance to play such a part. I was very thankful to Lee J. Thompson for having faith in me. Until then everybody thought I was just a joke, and certainly not an actress to be taken seriously, even though I knew within myself I was capable of playing other roles. The big problem was trying to convince other people.”[7]
References
- "Yield to the Night". Art & Hue. 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
- Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p510
- "Yield to the Night (1956)". BFI.
- Williams, Melanie (30 June 2006). "Diana Dors: An angry young woman". The Independent. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- "BFI Screenonline: Yield to the Night (1956)".
- "Festival de Cannes: Yield to the Night". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
- Williams, Tony (2000). "Diana Dors". Psychotronic Video. No. 32. p. 50.