Night Court (1932)

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke

Writers:

Charles Beahan (play)
Lenore J. Coffee (writer)

Release Date:

4 June 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Its Frankness Will Thrill You---Its Truth Hold You Breathless---

Plot:

Judge Moffett is as crooked as they come and the Board of Judicial Corruption is after him. So he hides out in the poor part of town...

Plot Keywords:

Judge | Confession | Baby | Robbery | Social Worker

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Phillips Holmes	...	Mike Thomas
Walter Huston	...	Judge Andrew J. Moffett
Anita Page	...	Mary Thomas
Lewis Stone	...	Judge William 'Will' Osgood
Mary Carlisle	...	Elizabeth Osgood
John Miljan	...	Henry Crawford
Jean Hersholt	...	Herman (janitor)
Tully Marshall	...	Grogan
Noel Francis	...	Miss Lillian 'Lil' Baker

Also Known As:

Justice for Sale (UK)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1932) | USA:Approved

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Soundtrack:

Happy Days Are Here Again

Corruption exposed!

Night Court was a slight, but interesting, entry in the pre-code genre of social commentary or expose´ films of the early 1930s…I would say the same group that included the seminal `Public Enemy'. What made this film a joy to watch was not the revelatory peek of criminal machinations pervading the lower levels of the NYC justice system, but the relationship between the cabbie and his wife, unfettered by Production Code standards in effect just a few years later. The scenes of Mike and Mary and their baby in the one bedroom flat they shared were charming, and Anita Page evoked a warmth and naturalism uncommon in those days when the talkie was only 3 years old. No wonder she's still working 70 years later! Walter Huston was downright despicable, and his speeches to his night court denizens about maintaining law and order were rather chilling considering the depth of his criminal manipulations of the justice system. And the setting up of Mary Thomas as a prostitute to discredit her was an eye-opener and quite frank. The film moved along at a good clip, facilitated in no small measure I'm sure by the breezy direction of `One-Take' Woody Van Dyke who had a reputation for bringing a film ahead of schedule and under budget. Perhaps it is for this reason that scenes play out naturalistically, with the actors given what appears to be some latitude with the dialogue and action in order to move things along. Some occasional hammy acting doesn't really detract from the pre-code forthrightness of the picture.