Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Diana Dors -The Actress, 24 Jan 2008
Diana Dors was famous, world famous, as one of the 1950's Blonde Bombshells, she blazed through the decade in a series of tabloid headlines and magazine covers then in 1956 she made Yield to the Night. This one movie, more than any other, has confirmed her status as an Actress of merit. She plays Mary Hilton, a women waiting to hanged for her crime. It is bleak viewing, the routine of the condemned cell can't be anything else but Dors' fine performance will keep you enthralled. A series of flashbacks lifts the mood and reveals the series of events that led to her crime, for the love of her man. Special mention must also go to Yvonne Mitchell for her role as the sympathetic prison guard.
This is without doubt a British Classic and deserves a place in your film collection.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece, 17 Nov 2008
This must surely be one of the best British films of the 1950s, if not of all time. Often mistakenly described as either the story of, or based on the story of Ruth Ellis, "Yield to the Night" was already in production when Mrs Ellis shot her lover. This powerful film never preaches or moralises at it's audience. It's strength is in it's depiction of a human being in extraordinary circumstances facing up to both the past and the ever shortening future.
Diana Dors' performance must have been a revelation to a public who knew and adored her as a glamorous star who retained her girl next door quality. Her portrayal of Mary Hilton is astonishing for any actress, let alone one predominantly known for light comedies. The use of flashbacks to Mary's life before her crime opens the way for Miss Dors to vividly depict the change in her character, thus making the prison scenes even more affecting. In these scenes she shows her absolute command of film acting by carrying whole scenes acting purely with her eyes. The scene with the Governess and the letter is almost painful to watch thanks to this ability. The contrast between Mary's deceptively still moments and the accompanying voice over of her anguished thoughts is riveting.
As other reviewers have said, special mention has to go to that unsung great of British cinema, Yvonne Mitchell. Her gentle prison guard who cautiously befriends Mary is a delicate counterpoint to the bleak regime. Her character is an emotional prisoner, almost ironically condemned by domestic circumstances to a life with little purpose or meaning. Apart from the prison visitor, a delightful performance from the wonderful Athene Sayler, she is just about the only genuinely unselfish person in Mary's life.
Michael Craig is brilliant as the pathetically weak willed young man who draws Mary into a doomed relationship. When watched in relation to "Payroll", this shows what a superbly versatile actor he was. Dandy Nicholls is also note perfect as Mary's self pitying mother who manages to make herself the victim of the tragedy in her brief scenes.
The photography is excellent, sharply contrasting the prison environment with the optimistic mood of paost war, post rationing Britain shown in the flashbacks. The prison regime is indeed bleak and full of casual cruelties, from guards chatting as though Mary isn't there, through the brightly lit nights which deprive her of sleep, to the terrible door at the foot of her bed. But ultimately this is a moving and rewarding movie that explores the human spirit in a way that is rarely seen, and hardly ever as well as this.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
UK Goddess, 30 Aug 2008
I am from Argentina, and i have always heard of this blonde bombshell, but have never seen any of her films as a young girl. This was the first one and i fell in love with her.
All my friends from the uk almost shed a tear when they talk about her, so i was curious...
I saw her in a horror film as a mature lady, but never as beautiful and great, like in this movie. I am happy i did. keep transfering her movies into dvd. They are her legacy for younger generations and for people from other countries who did not have the chance to see her on film, but melt seing her publicity pictures as a goddess.
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