Movie Screening & Discussion - Yield to the Night

Join Marcus Renna in the Scott Room for a screening and discussion of the 1956 British crime drama Yield to the Night. Directed by J. Lee Thompson, written by John Cresswell and Joan Henry, and starring Diana Dors, Yvonne Mitchell, and Michael Craig, Yield to the Night (titled as Blonde Sinner in its American theatrical run) is based on the 1954 novel of the same name, also written by Henry.

Mary Hilton (Dors) has been convicted of murder and sentenced to hang, and she spends her last weeks in the condemned cell in a British women's prison. While there she remembers the events in her life leading up to the murder.

Bearing a coincidental similarity to the Ruth Ellis case - the last women to be executed in the United Kingdom - Yield to the Night is noted as a convincing and skillful, albeit grim, drama that makes a plea against capital punishment and demonstrates that, far from simply being a pretty face, Dors was a subtle, effective actress.

A true to life look at the anguish and boredom of a life condemned in prison, featuring details observed from Joan Henry's own time in prison.