To me, this movie is perfection.

Nice effects though.

How sad is this?

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

YIELD TO THE NIGHT is a watchable little British film noir with a depressing storyline. If you ever wondered whether blonde bombshell Diana Dors could really act, then look no further than here: she gives a very convincing turn as a down-on-her-luck woman who ruthless murders a rival in the opening sequence. The rest of the narrative takes place in real-time as Dors counts down the days to her impending death in prison, interspersed with flashbacks showing how she got into the mess in the first place. Truth be told, I found this all a bit depressing and lifeless (no pun intended), although J. Lee Thompson's direction is good - it's odd to think he ended up shooting Hollywood action pictures with Charles Bronson some 30 years later. The strong supporting cast includes Geoffrey Keen, a great Michael Ripper, and a loathsome Michael Craig.

True "Blonde bombshells" of a starring nature come along only once or twice in a decade, and the number from, say, 1930 to 1960 is not all that many: Jean Harlow, Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe, Diana Dors, Jayne Mansfield, Kim Novak, and that about does it. Of these, Harlow died too young and as an actress was memorable mainly in comedy, Turner turned into a very good actress as the years passed, Monroe was greatly loved but her true acting talent beyond her natural charisma was not really all that great, and Novak was passable. Mansfield was Mansfield. Diana Dors, however, despite her 'blonde bombshell' reputation and being probably the least beautiful of that group (one could hardly call her even very pretty) was a very legitimate actress, out of RADA, and gave excellent acting performances right from the start of her film career. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to notice at the time, which may have been her own fault for letting that reputation get out of hand.This is the very best I have seen her, and her outing here as the doomed murderess is about as good a lead female performance as any to be seen in English films of the 1950s. It is truly amazing that both her performance and this film are not better known. Maybe the Hollywood-made I WANT TO LIVE of two years later ended up stealing this film's thunder, as they both cover the imprisonment and pending death of the protagonist. But only a portion of Susan Hayward's performance takes place inside prison walls, whereas in this film, outside the opening and some flashbacks, the entire story takes place in less than 20 days in a holding cell, perhaps 20 x 25 feet in size, and goes outside it only when the prisoner is allowed out for exercise in a high-walled yard. That there are always two warders taking shifts in the holding cell with Dors, tending to her every need but also imposing a strict regimen upon her, somehow adds to the total claustrophobia of the film, and it is irrepressibly morbid from beginning to end. But it is also terrific! Although the major burden falls on Dors, every performance in the film save one is exceptional, that one being Michael Craig's as her suicidal boyfriend. Craig is a good actor, but he was the wrong choice here, as he simply never really seems like the kind of guy who could be brought to suicide by unrequited love. Lawrence Harvey might have been perfect for it. But the great Yvonne Mitchell, as the youngest warder, is superb. It seems as though, from beginning to end, she has but one expression, which never changes, on her face, yet we see the feelings she is hiding underneath at every moment, and ultimately learn that those feelings are not confined to only the prisoner's situation.Some reviews have mentioned this film as an indictment of capital punishment, but I don't see it that way, and only once in the entire film is anything said in that direction: One of the warders says that we mustn't forget the person Dors murdered, and another one answers that "...another death will not bring her back". Unlike in the Hayward film, we know right from the beginning that Dors is guilty of this crime, and although to the very end she never repents the murder, we still feel sympathy for her (I felt a lot more for her than for the Hayward character), surely a reaction engendered by the excellent screenplay, Dors' superb performance, and J. Lee Thompson's inventive direction. Given the budget and the acting talent on view here, I do not see how this film could have possibly been any better, and it should prove a major discovery to anyone now seeing it for the first time.

Although the plot is a bit thin and the obvious similarities between this film and the hanging of Ruth Ellis the year previously (the main difference being that Ruth Ellis shot her boyfriend and the character played by Diana Dors shot her boyfriends lover after he committed suicide), the acting from Diana Dors is without fault, she puts her heart and soul into the part and outshines the other actors who appear, almost to the point that, beside her they appear somewhat wooden and contrived. The direction is well executed (no pun intended) and the photography is superb. The final outcome of the film is inevitable, but the portrayal of a woman clinging to a forlorn hope of getting a reprieve and the acceptance of her fate when it is denied, is made so realistic and believable by Diana Dors that it elevates this film into one of the great British films of all time.

Found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, a young woman lives out her last days under the watchful eyes of a small group of prison wardens.From its edgy opening sequence as the camera furtively tracks Dors' determined and resolute steps towards the killing, to the devastating final image of a smouldering cigarette we suspect will still be burning after the executioner has pulled his leaver, Yield To The Night is an extraordinary exploration of the reasons and repercussions surrounding a premeditated murder in mid-fifties Britain. At its heart is a performance which, over 50 years later still resonates with depth and naturalism. Even as we have witnessed her coldly and repeatedly shoot another woman to death, under the expert direction of J. Lee Thompson, Dors enables us to feel sorrow for the killer Mary Hilton and even if we can't condone the deliberate taking of her victim's life, we can at least realise that Hilton is also somehow a victim of circumstance. Dors doesn't put a foot wrong from beginning to end and the fact that she didn't receive domestic and international award nominations for her performance is in my opinion as puzzling as it is unforgivable, especially when one considers what were the celebrated performances of the time (Virginia McKenna, Audrey Hepburn and Dorothy Alison were BAFTA nominated that year). Could it be that the British and subsequently Amercian studio systems were unwilling to accept Dors as the intelligent and talented actress she so obviously was? Certainly the marketing and promotion of Yield To The Night in the US supports this premise - retitled Blonde Sinner, with lurid posters ridiculously emphasising Dors' sex symbol qualities and carrying the ludicrous and tacky tag-line "The Man-By-Man Story of a Lost Soul".Flaws? Yes - as written, Jim Lancaster, whilst handsome and initially charming just doesn't allow the viewer to believe he could be the reason for Mary's actions. Undoubtedly less to do with Michael Craig's performance than with the character being undeveloped in general. However, overall Yield To The Night is a powerful film that will linger long after the final credits have rolled, and now it is finally available in DVD should become essential viewing for all British cinema fans.