Yield to the Night — Yield to the Night(Blu Ray)
As Part of Studiocanal’s British Vintage Classics series here’s a Blu-Ray release of Yield to the Night- a grimly stark, and powerfully acted 1950s crime drama which was seen as being partially based on the case of Ruth Ellis, who was the last woman to be hanged in the UK. The film features Diana Dors in its lead role, really giving the performance of her career- with the surrounding film dealing with regret, hope, and of course the big question of capital punishment. The 2020 Blu-Ray features a bold ‘n’ crisp scan of the black-white stock, with a selection of extras.
From the year 1956, just a year after Ellis was hung, Yield to the Night (aka Blonde Sinner) was directed by Bristol-born J. Lee Thompson. Between the 1950s and the late 1980s, he helmed a total of forty-four feature lengths- these went from Cat and mouse crime drama Murder Without Crime (1950), vengeful prisoner thriller Cape Fear (1962) ominous pagan ritual mystery/ horror Eye of the Devil (1966), slasher meets cop thriller 10 to Midnight (1983), and Chuck Norris led action adventure Firewalker(1986). Yield to the Night runs at just over the hour and forty-minute mark, and while some of the pacing is a little out in places- it’s an impactful, and thought-provoking film which grows in power as it progresses.
The film is told as a mix of flashbacks/ present as Mary Hilton (Diana Dors) is on suicide watch after being convicted of murder and awaiting the decision on her death sentence. In the flashbacks, we find out how the blonde, if rather naïve Hilton meets and gets besotted by Jim (Michael Craig) a charming-if-bed hopping nightclub pianist. She becomes so enamoured with him, that she leaves her husband- making herself homeless, as he won’t let her live with him. As her obsession grows, and tragedy strikes she decides to gun down one of Jim’s lovers- and this is how she lends up in the slammer.
The prison-based part of the film sees the once glamorous Mary get worn down by prison life. She spends her days in a constantly lit cell, where a selection of female prison staff stay with her 24/7 on suicide watch. And as you can imagine this part of the film is decidedly bleak
Dors really puts her all into the role- moving from vapid-if-looking for real love young woman, tough trying not to care prison, through an emotional wreck, and a pale/shock numbed figure. Craig is good enough as the seemingly self-focused and bed-hopping pianist, with some impressive supporting roles from those who look after Hilton in her final days.
To start with the more polite and well-spoken treatment of Hilton seems a little off, but you have to put this into context when the film was released, and of course, the more mannered way those on British death row might have been treated, especially when the public/ political faith was in waning in capital punishment in the late 1950s. It’s certainly a film you need to hang in there with, letting its back story knit together and the true impact of Mary's situation hit home. It’s certainly a thought-provoking and at times harrowing film, with the Black and white stock enhancing the starkness of the cell she calls home.
Moving onto this region B disc, it features a new scan of the film- this is wonderful well realized, featuring a great balance between the black and white, with even shadow detail and depth too. On the extras side, we get two new to this disc extras- first, we have a get a thirteen-and-a-half-minute on-screen interview with actor Michael Craig who is now ninety-three. He starts off by giving an overview of his early career, moving on to discuss how he got a part in the film, its themes, and working with Ms Dors. Next, we have a near twenty-eight-minute appreciation of the picture by film historian and author Melaine Williams- she starts off discussing the book the film was based on 1954’s Yield The Night by Joan Henry, and confirms that in reality it wasn't based on the Ruth Ellis case, and it was just coincidence/ timing. Moving on she talks about the film's themes, the public's building distaste for capital punishment during the late 50s. Dor’s selection for the role, and much more. Both extras are certainly worth a play and do add to the film's impact.
On the archive side, we have a 1956 press junket/ interview with Dors (3.48), and footage of the film's premiere (2.42). And a behind-the-scenes still gallery.
Yield to the Night is certainly an important and effective film, and its study of what it means to await one's own death is powerful and troubling. So, it’s more than understandable that this film is part of the Vintage Classic series- which has just celebrated its one-hundredth release- to find out more about this film, and the other classic British films in this series drop by here.