Yield to the Night

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acsdoug D @acsdoug 05/05/2024 Most of the movie is rather standard - and a bit boring - melodramatic fare. However, once the story settles down into the killer's life in prison the film gets much more interesting. And of course, Diana Dors is very nice to look at. See more 12/13/2018 Yield to the Night finds the character of Mary Price Hilton shoot her boyfriend's lover and then spending her time in prison awaiting her execution by hanging. Her story is told in flashback during this stay. On the 7th day God created Diana Dors. From her TV appearances on The Two Ronnies (playing the head of a female army who wish to take over and make all men subservient) through to her appearance in the Adam and the Ants video for Prince Charming and Ms Dors was a regular part of my childhood. I then discovered the TV series of Queenie's Castle from the 70's (filmed here in Leeds) which fully exuded Dors' abilities as a great actress. Yield to the Night was the only worthwhile foray into film for Diana with subsequent vehicles being a complete waste of her talents. This film is amazing. The flashback sequences which show how a sultry goddess could be driven to murder are fully rounded, believable and achingly painful. As are the sequences in which she is in captivity. Check out the internal monologues we're privileged to partake in and how she is far from a blonde bimbo. These observations about her plight and her fate are reminiscent of Travis Bickle's musings in Taxi Driver. A strong case is made for the brutality of capital punishment in a 'civilised' society and how wrong it is. Thankfully since the film's release and now this has been rectified. You will think of this film when someone comments 'They should bring back hanging' in response to a news story.  See more 07/28/2013 An underrated British crime drama that slightly resembles the real life case of Ruth Ellis, and shows Diana Dors was more than just a 'blonde bombshell' - she really could act too. See more 09/22/2010 A film easy to forget. See more 07/27/2010 "...for the night is already at hand and it is best to yield to the night" See more 06/18/2009 No, this isn't a glitzy vehicle for glamourpuss Dors, instead it's a very sobering and stark criticism of capital punishment as a shopgirl waits out the final days of her life before she gets executed for a crime of passion. Based almost entirely in her prison cell, it's surprisingly effective thanks to a gutsy performance from Dors and a strong clinical approach to the subject from director Thompson. Solid and interesting story of a woman on death row (or whatever we used to call it in this country when we still had such a thing). The film is split into two parts; half of it as the prisoner waits for death or a reprieve, half in flashback which explains how 'Hilton' came to murder a woman. For my money the prison scenes are successful and several of them are very touching whereas the flashback scenes paint the main character as unsatisfyingly wet - right up to the moment where she murders her rival. Still, overall the film is enjoyable and affecting and also gives some insight into a time which seems so far removed and different although in reality of course it is not that long ago. I particularly enjoyed the stunted emotions of Hilton's visitors in prison who are unable to express how they really feel. Diana Dors... Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe back in the day, plays a blinder! See more Read all reviews

Yield to the Night

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