''Night Editor'' is a 1946
B-movie film noir directed by
Henry Levin and based on a popular radio program of the same name. The script for the film was based on a previous radio program episode "Inside Story."
[.]
The movie was to be the first in a series of films featuring stories about the graveyard-shift police beat reporters at a fictional newspaper, the ''New York Star'', but no other ''Night Editor'' films were made.
Sony Pictures released it in the boxed set ''Bad Girls of Film Noir: Volume II'' along with ''
Women's Prison'', ''
One Girl's Confession
''One Girl's Confession'' is a 1953 low-budget film noir released by Columbia Pictures. The movie stars Cleo Moore and was written, produced, and directed by Hugo Haas who also plays a supporting part in the film.
This film was released on DVD ...
'' and ''
Over-Exposed''.
Plot
Crane Stewart (Charles D. Brown), the editor of the ''New York Star,'' while playing poker with his friends, tells a story about a cop involved in a murder investigation.
In flashback, the editor tells the tale of police lieutenant Tony Cochrane (
William Gargan
William Dennis Gargan (July 17, 1905February 17, 1979) was an American film, television and radio actor. He was the 5th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1967, and in 1941, was nominated for the Academy Award for Be ...
), a family man who cheats on his wife with socialite ''femme fatale'' Jill Merrill (
Janis Carter
Janis Carter (born Janis Elinore Dremann, October 10, 1913 – July 30, 1994) was an American stage and film actress who performed throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s. During the mid-1950s, she began working regularly on television, co-ho ...
). Cochrane and the woman, who is also cheating on her husband, witness a man bludgeoning his girlfriend to death with a tire iron while the couple is parked at "lovers lane" by the beach.
The two can't report the crime without revealing their cheating, a dilemma which eventually leads to bigger troubles. Meanwhile, Cochrane must investigate the killing but is not able to tell anyone he witnessed the crime.
Cast
*
William Gargan
William Dennis Gargan (July 17, 1905February 17, 1979) was an American film, television and radio actor. He was the 5th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1967, and in 1941, was nominated for the Academy Award for Be ...
as Lt. Tony Cochrane
*
Janis Carter
Janis Carter (born Janis Elinore Dremann, October 10, 1913 – July 30, 1994) was an American stage and film actress who performed throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s. During the mid-1950s, she began working regularly on television, co-ho ...
as Jill Merrill
*
Jeff Donnell as Martha Cochrane
* Coulter Irwin as Johnny
* Roy Gordon as Benjamin Merrill
*
Charles D. Brown
Charles D. Brown (July 1, 1887 – November 25, 1948) was an American stage and film actor.
Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Brown wrote and directed a single short film in 1914. As an actor, he appeared in more than 100 films, stretching fro ...
as Crane Stewart
*
Paul E. Burns as Police Lt. Ole Strom
*
Harry Shamnon as Police Capt. Lawrence
*
Frank Wilcox
Frank Reppy Wilcox (March 13, 1907 – March 3, 1974) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films and television series, as well as Broadway plays.
Background
Wilcox was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Roger V. Wilcox. He was born in De Soto ...
as Douglas Loring
*
Robert Kellard
Robert Kellard, aka Robert Stevens (April 23, 1915 – January 13, 1981), was an American actor who appeared in over 60 films between 1937 and 1951.
Early years
Kellard was born Robert Dorsey Kellard April 23, 1915, in Los Angeles, California. H ...
as Doc Cochrane (as Robert Stevens)
Radio program
The radio program the film was based upon ran from 1934 until 1948.
Sponsored by Edwards Coffee, this featured
Hal Burdick (1893–1978) as the "night editor". Burdick would receive readers’ requests for stories, in a "
letter to the editor
A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through conventional mail ...
" format, which he would relate to the listeners. Burdick played all characters in the program. The stories varied greatly including tales of war, adventure, crime, and an occasional ghost story. The radio series was adapted for ''
Night Editor'', a short-lived TV series on the
DuMont Television Network in 1954, also hosted by Burdick.
See also
*
List of American films of 1946
References
External links
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{{Henry Levin
1946 films
1946 crime drama films
American crime drama films
American radio dramas
American black-and-white films
Columbia Pictures films
Film noir
Films about journalists
Films directed by Henry Levin
Films set in the 1930s
Films set in the 1940s
American police detective films
1940s English-language films
1940s American films