''Night Into Morning'' is a 1951 American drama film starring

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985. He is remembered for his Academy Award and Cannes Film Festival Award-winning ...

John Hodiak John Hodiak ( ; April 16, 1914 – October 19, 1955) was an American actor who worked in radio, stage and film. Early life Hodiak was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Anna (Pogorzelec) and Walter Hodiak. He was of Ukrainian and ...

and

Nancy Davis Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in New ...

Plot

Everything is going very well for college professor Phillip Ainley (

), who has a loving wife and son and an offer to teach at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

. But his world turns upside-down when Katherine Mead (

), his secretary, rushes to tell him that there's been a deadly explosion at the professor's home. His wife and child are killed. Ainley, devastated, becomes morose and turns to drink, causing Mead, a war widow, and best friend Tom Lawry (

), her betrothed, to consider these telltale signs that the professor could be suicidal. A popular athlete on campus has failed an exam and might not graduate, so his girlfriend Dottie (

Dawn Addams Victoria Dawn Addams (21 September 1930 – 7 May 1985) was a British actress, particularly in Hollywood motion pictures of the 1950s and on British television in the 1960s and 1970s. She became a princess in 1954 (until 1971). Early years Ad ...

) appeals to the professor to give him a second chance. A drunken Ainley tells her remaining unmarried might spare them both future heartbreak. He then crashes a car, terrifying the girl and resulting in his arrest. Character witnesses convince the judge to place Ainley on probation. The professor permits the athlete to take a second exam, then gives him a passing grade. Ainley gets his affairs in order and goes to a hotel, where he plans to take his life. Only a last-minute intervention by Mead saves him, the widow reminding Ainley that she found a new love and new life, just as her first true love would have wanted.

Cast

as Phillip Ainley *

as Tom Lawry *

as Katherine Mead *

Lewis Stone Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 – September 12, 1953) was an American film actor. He spent 29 years as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was best known for his portrayal of Judge James Hardy in the studio's popular '' Andy ...

as Dr. Horace Snyder *

Jean Hagen Jean Hagen (born Jean Shirley Verhagen; August 3, 1923 – August 29, 1977) was an American actress best known for her role as Lina Lamont in ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting ...

as Girl Next Door *

Rosemary De Camp Rosemary Shirley DeCamp (November 14, 1910 – February 20, 2001) was an American radio, film, and television actress. Life and career Early life Rosemary Shirley DeCamp was born in Prescott, Yavapai, Arizona on November 14, 1910 to William ...

as Annie Ainley *

as Dotty Phelps *Jonathan Cott as Chuck Holderson *

Celia Lovsky Celia Lovsky (born Cäcilia Josefina Lvovsky, February 21, 1897 – October 12, 1979) was an Austrian-American actress. She was born in Vienna,Gordon Gebert Gordon Alan Gebert (born October 17, 1941) is an American former child actor, architect, and professor predominantly known for playing Janet Leigh's son in '' Holiday Affair'' and for smaller roles. In adulthood, he trained as an architect and has ...

as Russ Kirby *

Harry Antrim Harry Antrim (August 27, 1884 – January 18, 1967) was an American stage, film and television actor. Biography Antrim was born on August 27, 1884, in Chicago, Illinois. By 1906, he was working in vaudeville. During the early 1930s, he moved to ...

as Mr. Andersen * Katharine Warren as Mrs. Andersen * Mary Lawrence as Waitress *

Herb Vigran Herbert Vigran (June 5, 1910 – November 29, 1986) was an American character actor in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1980s. Over his 50-year career, he made over 350 television and film appearances. Early years Vigran was a native of Cin ...

as Bartender *

Otto Waldis Otto Waldis (born Otto Glucksmann-Blum, May 20, 1901 – March 25, 1974) was an Austrian-American character actor in films and television from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was also billed as Otto Blum. Years in Germany Waldis was born Otto ...

as Dr. Franz Niemoller * John Maxwell as Dr. Huntington *John Jeffery as Timmy Ainley

Reception

According to MGM records the movie earned $556,000 in the US and Canada and $263,000 elsewhere, making a loss to the studio of $312,000.

References

External links

*
''Night Into Morning''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...

* * 1951 films 1951 romantic drama films American black-and-white films American romantic drama films Films about alcoholism Films scored by Carmen Dragon Films set in universities and colleges Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Fletcher Markle 1950s American films {{romantic-drama-film-stub