''Night Into Morning'' is a 1951 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Fletcher Markle Fletcher Markle (March 27, 1921 – May 23, 1991) was a Canadian actor, screenwriter, television producer and Film director, director. Markle began a radio career in Canada, then worked in radio, film and television in the United States. Early y ...

and starring

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. He is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's ''The Lost Weekend'' (1945), which wo ...

, John Hodiak and

Nancy Davis Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress who was the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in ...

Plot

Everything is going very well for college professor Phillip Ainley, who has a loving wife and son and an offer to teach at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

. But his world turns upside-down when Katherine Mead, his secretary, rushes to tell him that there's been a deadly explosion at the professor's home. His wife and child are killed. Ainley, devastated, becomes morose and turns to drink, causing Mead, a war widow, and best friend Tom Lawry, her betrothed, to consider these telltale signs that the professor could be suicidal. A popular athlete on campus has failed an exam and might not graduate, so his girlfriend Dottie appeals to the professor to give him a second chance. A drunken Ainley tells her remaining unmarried might spare them both future heartbreak. He then crashes a car, terrifying the girl and resulting in his arrest. Character witnesses convince the judge to place Ainley on probation. The professor permits the athlete to take a second exam, then gives him a passing grade. Ainley gets his affairs in order and goes to a hotel, where he plans to take his life. Only a last-minute intervention by Mead saves him, the widow reminding Ainley that she found a new love and new life, just as her first true love would have wanted.

Cast

as Phillip Ainley * John Hodiak as Tom Lawry *

as Katherine Mead *

Lewis Stone Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 – September 12, 1953) was an American film actor. He spent 29 years as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was best known for his portrayal of Judge James Hardy in the studio's popular '' Andy ...

as Dr. Horace Snyder * Jean Hagen as Girl Next Door * Rosemary De Camp as Annie Ainley *

Dawn Addams Victoria Dawn Addams (21 September 1930 – 7 May 1985) was a British actress, particularly in Hollywood motion pictures of the 1950s and on British television in the 1960s and 1970s. She became a princess in 1954 (until 1971). Early years Ad ...

as Dotty Phelps *Jonathan Cott as Chuck Holderson *

Celia Lovsky Celia Lovsky (born Cäcilia Josefina Lvovsky, February 21, 1897 – October 12, 1979) was an Austrian-American actress. On the original ''Star Trek'' she played the Vulcan matriarch T'Pau, and on ''The Twilight Zone'' she played the aged d ...

as Mrs. Niemoller * Gordon Gebert as Russ Kirby * Harry Antrim as Mr. Andersen * Katherine Warren as Mrs. Andersen * Mary Lawrence as Waitress * Herb Vigran as Bartender *

Otto Waldis Otto Waldis (born Otto Glucksmann-Blum, May 20, 1901 – March 25, 1974) was an Austrian-American character actor in films and television from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was also billed as Otto Blum. Years in Germany Waldis was born Otto ...

as Dr. Franz Niemoller * John Maxwell as Dr. Huntington *John Jeffery as Timmy Ainley

Reception

According to MGM records, the movie earned $556,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $263,000 in other markets, resulting in a loss to the studio of $312,000.

References

External links

* * * 1951 films 1951 romantic drama films 1950s American films 1950s English-language films American black-and-white films American romantic drama films English-language romantic drama films Films about alcoholism Films directed by Fletcher Markle Films scored by Carmen Dragon Films set in universities and colleges Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films {{romantic-drama-film-stub