Night People (1954)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Nunnally Johnson

Writers:

Jed Harris (story)
Nunnally Johnson (writer)

Release Date:

14 May 1954 (Sweden)

Genre:

Adventure

Tagline:

You have never really seen Gregory Peck until you see him in "Night People".

Plot:

Post WWII yarn about a young GI abducted by the Soviets in West Berlin and hauled off to the East. His...

Plot Keywords:

Father | Colonel | Soviet | West Berlin | Negotiation

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	Col. Steve Van Dyke
Broderick Crawford	...	Charles Leatherby
Anita Björk	...	'Hoffy' Hoffmeir aka Stamm
Rita Gam	...	Ricky Cates
Walter Abel	...	Maj. R.A. Foster, MD
Buddy Ebsen	...	Sgt. Eddie McColloch
Max Showalter	...	Frederick S. Hobart (as Casey Adams)
Jill Esmond	...	Frau Schindler aka Rachel Cameron
Peter van Eyck	...	Sergei 'Petey' Petrochine
Marianne Koch	...	Kathy Gerhardt
Ted Avery	...	Cpl. John 'Johnny' Leatherby
Hugh McDermott	...	Maj. Burns
Paul Carpenter	...	Eddie Whitby
John Horsley	...	Lt. Col. Stanways
Lionel Murton	...	Norman Lakeland

Runtime:

93 min | USA:94 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:(Banned) (1954) | USA:Approved (PCA #16696, General Audience) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Studios, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Their uniforms indicate both Van Dyke and Eddie were combat veterans of World War II. Van Dyke served in Italy with the 5th Army and earned the 2nd highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross, plus a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Eddie fought with the 4th Infantry Division in France and won both the Silver Star and Bronze Star for valor.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Corporal Leatherby kisses his girlfriend good night at the beginning of the film, he says, "Good night, Annie." Her name is Kathy.

Soundtrack:

The Stars and Stripes Forever

good cast in cold war drama

Gregory Peck plays a U.S. Army Provost caught up in exchanging a married couple wanted by Russians for a captured American soldier in "Night People," set in post-war Berlin. By today's standards, this film is on the talky side, with not much action. Although the script was nominated for an Oscar, it's problematic - the denouement was much too simple, for one thing.

Broderick Crawford is the father of the captured soldier, and he does an excellent job. Rita Gam is Ricky, Peck's beautiful and feisty secretary. There are several TV faces as well: Buddy Ebsen, Walter Abel, and Max Showalter. Anita Bjork is "Hoffy," a woman who works for Peck yet may be playing both ends.

But the film is really Peck's, who does a fantastic job creating an interesting, tough, passionate, decisive, and funny character. He's instantly both likable and admirable.