Girls in the Night (1953)

Director:

Jack Arnold

Writer:

Ray Buffum (original screenplay)

Release Date:

15 January 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

The Shock Story of the Big City's Delinquent Daughters!

Plot:

A family's efforts to move out of a slum area into a better neighborhood is hampered when their son is accused of the murder of a local blind beggar.

Plot Keywords:

Beggar | Killing | Tenement | Murder | New York City

Cast

Joyce Holden	...	Georgia Cordray
Glenda Farrell	...	Alice Haynes
Harvey Lembeck	...	Chuck Haynes
Patricia Hardy	...	Hannah Haynes
Tommy Farrell	...	Frankie (as Tommie Farrell)
Paul E. Burns	...	'Blind' Fred Minosa
Jaclynne Greene	...	Vera Schroeder
Anthony Ross	...	Charlie Hayes
Susan Odin	...	Hilda Haynes
Emile Meyer	...	Police Officer Kovacs (as Emile G. Meyer)
Alan Dexter	...	Police Lt. Meyers
Frank Richards	...	Bartender Danny
Charles Cane	...	McGinty
John Eldredge	...	Judge
Valerie Jackson	...	Angela Schultz - contestant

Also Known As:

Life After Dark (UK)

Runtime:

83 min | West Germany:78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:(Banned) (1953) | USA:Approved (PCA #16267) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

On screen co-stars Glenda Farrell and Tommy Farrell were mother and son.

Movie Connections:

Follows City Across the River (1949)

A Sleeper

This is one of those films that few people have ever heard of. It is a shame, because GIRLS IN THE NIGHT, while not a masterpiece, is certainly an entertaining and well-made little film. Actually a film noir, GIRLS IN THE NIGHT tells the story of a young would-be hood, Chuck (Harvey Lembeck,) who is wrongly accused of robbery, and, if memory serves, also murder. Lembeck, (long before he became the comic biker "Erich Von Zipper" in those Beach Party movies) puts in a fine dramatic performance. The film is stolen, however, by Jaclynne Greene as Vera, a character in love with Chuck. Vera is nicknamed "Ugly" and photographed in harsh lighting to emphasize her street toughness. A good look at Greene, however, shows that she is far from ugly. She gives a credible, sensitive portrait of a wildly misunderstood woman

One more thing: The title of this film is misleading. From the name of the film one would think that this would be a cheaply-made story about B-girls. It is not. Rather, it is a tale of desperation, a tale of frustration about young people trapped in an environment that simply will not let them go