Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

bkoganbing Although Night Into Morning gets a bit overwrought at times in most of it Ray Milland hits the right note as the college English professor just overwhelmed with the tragic accidental deaths of his wife Rosemary DeCamp and his young son in a furnace explosion in their house. The pain gets so bad that Professor Milland has many a lost weekend because of it.Helping him through the crisis are fellow faculty member John Hodiak and department secretary Nancy Davis try to keep Milland grounded. Davis is a war widow and she held on to the memory of a husband killed in the Pacific for quite a bit, she's come to terms and hopes Milland does the same. Hodiak and Davis are an item, but Hodiak is afraid that Davis just might be going a bit overboard in her concern, that she's falling for Milland and putting their relationship in danger.Lewis Stone has a small role as chair of the English department. I was surprised he was not used more, possibly a Judge Hardy moment with all three of the leads. Jean Hagen has a small memorable role as a cheery woman in the next apartment who has a most interesting scene with Milland. Can't say more, you have to see it.Those stages of grief we go through, Milland just can't let himself go. But when he does you know it will work out.Leads and supporting cast bring home a winner in Night Into Morning, a textbook study in grief.

mrb1980 Ray Milland was a very versatile leading man from the 1930s to the 1980s, winning an Academy Award for his performance in 1945 as an alcoholic in "The Lost Weekend". Here in "Night Into Morning" (1950), his character reacts to personal tragedy by hitting the bottle again.Milland plays Phillip Ainley, a distinguished university English professor. After his wife and son die in a house fire, Milland understandably falls apart emotionally and begins to stay in a cheap hotel and drink heavily. His university co-workers Tom Lawry (John Hodiak) and war widow Katherine (Nancy Davis) worry about him but are unable to get him to snap out of his depression. He has a brief meeting with an alluring neighbor (Jean Hagen) in the hotel but spends most of his time getting drunk in the hotel lounge. After a drunk-driving accident and a humiliating court appearance, Ainley decides to commit suicide before Katherine arrives to tell him he has much to live for. The film ends with Ainley conducting his final English class of the semester before a classroom of adoring students.The film is pretty pedestrian but does provide insights into the situation a person faces when he has lost about everything. The tragic and accidental loss of a spouse and a son is shown to have a devastating effect on Ainley. Besides the opening fire and Ainley's contemplated suicide, the film ambles with very little plot, just meandering from one vignette to another. It does have the novelty of starring future first lady Nancy Davis plus John Hodiak, whose career was sadly cut short when he passed away at age 41. Jean Hagen is wonderful as Ainley's pretty and lonely neighbor—it's too bad her part is so minor. Whit Bissell even appears as a dignified gravestone salesman who knows all about "Vermont Granite" monuments. "Night Into Morning" is a minor film, but it is worth a look for the cast and the tragic story.

lrldoit When I first saw this with my wife, she said that Dore Shary liked to produce films to enlighten. This one should be released immediately on commercial video. A college professor (Ray Milland) loses his wife (Rosemary DeCamp) and son in a fire.He gradually starts to come apart at the seams. His actions: insomnia, drinking, mood swings, are realistically shown. Along the way, we see Nancy Davis' character, and learn that she went through the same thing. This movie contains so much, that one must watch it many times to absorb it all. How Miss Davis' character moves from attempted suicide to happiness is a story in itself.Her fiancée, as he described himself "A thick-headed Swede" is handled perfectly. Just in time, the professor is saved from committing suicide. He then moves in with his friends. The movie ends with him telling his students to "go with God". There is no happy ending. The worst may be over, though there will be many rough times ahead. At least now our protagonist knows what he is facing.WHAT A MOVIE.

JoeKarlosi Ray Milland reprises his drunken "Lost Weekend" routine in this typical drama about a professor who mourns the accidental death of his wife and 10-year-old boy, and then instead of adequately grieving over the loss, takes to drowning his sorrows in the bottle and becomes an alcoholic. His two best friends who care about him constantly try to set him on the straight and narrow path. I found this to be pretty standard with predictable results, with a stagnant plot that really doesn't go anywhere. What set this above average and worth one look is the good performance from Milland as well as a young Nancy Davis (Reagan) as one of the thoughtful friends who's devoted to him and can relate, having lost a spouse herself. **1/2 out of ****