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| gross = £174,911<ref>Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television'', Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p510</ref>
| gross = £174,911<ref>Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television'', Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p510</ref>
}}
}}
'''''Yield to the Night''''' (also titled '''''Blonde Sinner''''') is a 1956 British [[Police procedural|crime drama]] film directed by [[J. Lee Thompson]] and starring [[Diana Dors]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6bb56d8d|title=Yield to the Night (1956)|work=BFI}}</ref> The film is based on the novel of the same title published in 1954 by [[Joan Henry]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Melanie|title=Diana Dors: An angry young woman
'''''Yield to the Night''''' (also titled '''''Blonde Sinner''''' in the US) is a 1956 British [[Police procedural|crime drama]] film directed by [[J. Lee Thompson]] and starring [[Diana Dors]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6bb56d8d|title=Yield to the Night (1956)|work=BFI}}</ref> The film is based on the novel of the same title published in 1954 by [[Joan Henry]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Melanie|title=Diana Dors: An angry young woman
|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/diana-dors-an-angry-young-woman-405988.html|work=[[The Independent]]|date=30 June 2006|accessdate=1 November 2010}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/521583/|title=BFI Screenonline: Yield to the Night (1956)|publisher=}}</ref> The movie was nominated for the [[Palme d'Or]] at the 1956 [[Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3652/year/1956.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Yield to the Night |accessdate=2009-02-07|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref>
|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/diana-dors-an-angry-young-woman-405988.html|work=[[The Independent]]|date=30 June 2006|accessdate=1 November 2010}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/521583/|title=BFI Screenonline: Yield to the Night (1956)|publisher=}}</ref> The movie was nominated for the [[Palme d'Or]] at the 1956 [[Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3652/year/1956.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Yield to the Night |accessdate=2009-02-07|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref>


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==Production==
==Production==
The film was based on a book by [[Joan Henry]], a writer and former debutante who had gone to prison. Henry wrote a memoir about her experiences which was filmed as ''[[The Weak and the Wicked]]'', directed by [[J. Lee Thompson]] and starring [[Diana Dors]]. Thompson married Henry and they decided to collaborate on another movie. Thompson was anti-capital punishment and wanted to do a story about a man in a death cell. Henry said he could not write about a man but might be able to do it about a woman. "So he really gave me the idea, and then I showed him a plan," she said. The novel of ''Yield to the Night'' was published in 1954.<ref name="tcm">[http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/1386201%7C0/Yield-to-the-Night.html Yield to the Night] at [[TCMDB]]</ref>
⚫
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."<ref name="video"/>
⚫
The storyline bore some similarities to the [[Ruth Ellis]] case but Henry 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."<ref name="video"/>

Thompson later said "For capital punishment you must take somebody who deserves to die, and then feel sorry for them and say this is wrong. We did that in Yield to the Night: we made it a ruthless, premeditated murder."<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/diana-dors-an-angry-young-woman-6096758.html|title=Diana Dors: An Angry Young Woman|date=30 June 2006}}</ref>


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.”<ref name="video">{{cite magazine|magazine=Psychotronic Video|number=32|date=2000|url=https://archive.org/details/Psychotronic_Video_32/page/n52/mode/1up?q=%22diana+dors%22|page=50|title=Diana Dors|first=Tony|last=Williams}}</ref>
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.”<ref name="video">{{cite magazine|magazine=Psychotronic Video|number=32|date=2000|url=https://archive.org/details/Psychotronic_Video_32/page/n52/mode/1up?q=%22diana+dors%22|page=50|title=Diana Dors|first=Tony|last=Williams}}</ref>
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''Variety'' called it "a grim form of entertainment."<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety203-1956-06/page/n217/mode/1up?q=+%22joan+henry%22 Review of film] at Variety</ref>
''Variety'' called it "a grim form of entertainment."<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety203-1956-06/page/n217/mode/1up?q=+%22joan+henry%22 Review of film] at Variety</ref>


The movie was Britain's entry to the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.
==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
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* {{IMDb title|0049019}}
* {{IMDb title|0049019}}
* {{amg movie|id=117934}}
* {{amg movie|id=117934}}
*[https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6bb56d8d Yield to the Night] at BFI

*[https://letterboxd.com/film/yield-to-the-night/ Yield to the Night] at Letterbox DVD
*[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/521583/index.html Yield to the Night] at BFI Screenonline
{{J. Lee Thompson}}
{{J. Lee Thompson}}


Revision as of 11:19, 15 August 2020

Yield to the Night
Theatrical poster to the US release of Yield to the Night (1956)
Directed byJ. Lee Thompson
Written byJohn Cresswell
Joan Henry
Produced byKenneth Harper
StarringDiana Dors
CinematographyGilbert Taylor
Edited byRichard Best
Music byRay Martin
Distributed byAssociated British-Pathé
Release dates
14 June 1956 (World Premiere, London)[1]
18 November 1956 (US)
Running time
99 mins.
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office£174,911[2]

Yield to the Night (also titled Blonde Sinner in the US) 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]

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

Production

The film was based on a book by Joan Henry, a writer and former debutante who had gone to prison. Henry wrote a memoir about her experiences which was filmed as The Weak and the Wicked, directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Diana Dors. Thompson married Henry and they decided to collaborate on another movie. Thompson was anti-capital punishment and wanted to do a story about a man in a death cell. Henry said he could not write about a man but might be able to do it about a woman. "So he really gave me the idea, and then I showed him a plan," she said. The novel of Yield to the Night was published in 1954.[7]

The storyline bore some similarities to the Ruth Ellis case but Henry 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."[8]

Thompson later said "For capital punishment you must take somebody who deserves to die, and then feel sorry for them and say this is wrong. We did that in Yield to the Night: we made it a ruthless, premeditated murder."[9]

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.”[8]

Reception

Variety called it "a grim form of entertainment."[10]

The movie was Britain's entry to the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.

References

  1. ^ "Yield to the Night". Art & Hue. 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  2. ^ Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p510
  3. ^ "Yield to the Night (1956)". BFI.
  4. ^ Williams, Melanie (30 June 2006). "Diana Dors: An angry young woman". The Independent. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  5. ^ "BFI Screenonline: Yield to the Night (1956)".
  6. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Yield to the Night". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
  7. ^ Yield to the Night at TCMDB
  8. ^ a b Williams, Tony (2000). "Diana Dors". Psychotronic Video. No. 32. p. 50.
  9. ^ "Diana Dors: An Angry Young Woman". The Independent. 30 June 2006.
  10. ^ Review of film at Variety

External links


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