Night Into Morning is a 1951 American drama film directed by Fletcher Markle and starring Ray Milland, John Hodiak and Nancy Davis.
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. 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 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
Ray Milland as Phillip Ainley John Hodiak as Tom Lawry Nancy Davis as Katherine Mead Lewis Stone as Dr. Horace Snyder Jean Hagen as Girl Next Door Rosemary De Camp as Annie Ainley Dawn Addams as Dotty Phelps Jonathan Cott as Chuck Holderson Celia Lovsky as Mrs. Niemoller Gordon Gebert as Russ Kirby Harry Antrim as Mr. Andersen Katherine Warren as Mrs. Andersen Mary Lawrence as Waitress Herb Vigran as Bartender Otto Waldis as Dr. Franz Niemoller John Maxwell as Dr. Huntington John Jeffery as Timmy Ainley
+Uncredited (in order of appearance)Robert FoulkPolice officer preventing Ainley from rushing into burning houseWheaton ChambersCleric delivering eulogy at funeral of Ainley's wife and sonMatt MooreProfessor Joe Goodman in faculty loungeJohn EldredgeProfessor in faculty loungeWhit BissellSalesman assisting Ainley in picking gravestones for his wife and sonMargaret BertWoman choosing her lunch in the college cafeteriaFrank McGrathAngry driver at accident sceneHoward M. MitchellGuard in jail where Ainley is held for drunk drivingPercy HeltonPhilosophical drunk in jail cell with AinleyRichard HaleJudge lecturing Ainley after his arrest for drunk drivingTorben MeyerButcherMario SilettiTony the barber who tells Ainley that he also spent time in jail in the old countryChristopher KnopfPhotography store clerk from whom Ainley picks up developed photosWilton GraffAttorney explaining to Ainley the details of setting up last will
Release According to MGM records, the movie earned $556,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $263,000 in other markets, resulting in a loss to the studio of $312,000.
Reception Critical response Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "One of the darkest experiences that the human spirit can be forced to endure—that is, the death of a loved one and the adjustment subsequent thereto—is considered with decent compassion and simple dramatic clarity in Night Into Morning, a Metro picture which opened at Loew's State on Saturday."
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