William Gargan

Janis Carter

Jeff Donnell

Coulter Irwin

Charles D. Brown

Paul E. Burns

Harry Shannon

Frank Wilcox

Robert Kellard

Roy Gordon

Anthony Caruso

Harry Tyler

Johnny Calkins

Eddy Chandler

Michael Chapin

Frank Dae

Jack Davis

Vernon Dent

Jack Frack

Betty Hill

William Kahn

Edward Keane

Robert Emmett Keane

Donald Kerr

Murray Leonard

Jimmy Lloyd

Lou Lubin

Cy Malis

Herman Marks

Charles Marsh

Frank McLure

Frank O'Connor

Joe Palma

Ronnie Ralph

Wally Rose

Larry Steers

John Tyrrell

Emmett Vogan

Charles Wagenheim

Douglas Wood

Burnett Guffey

Henry Levin

Richard Fantl

Scott Littleton

Hal Burdick

Harold Jacob Smith

Ted Richmond

James Crowe

Robert Peterson

Russell Malmgren

Mischa Bakaleinikoff

Philip Tannura

Lambert E. Day

Vera Mikol

Ivan Volkman

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

Ned Scott

Edwin Wetzel

Gert Andersen

Crime

Drama

Night Editor

Columbia Pictures

United States of America

You are worse than blood poisoning!

Night Editor is directed by Henry Levin and adapted to screenplay by Hal Smith from the radio program of the same name - by Hal Burdick - and the short story, Inside Story, written by Scott Littleton. It stars William Gargan, Janis Carter, Jeff Donnell, Coulter Irwin and Charles D. Brown. Cinematography is by Burnett Guffey and Philip Tannura, and music is credited to Mischa Bakaleinikoff, though it's believed that Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco did the work.

"You are just no good for me. We both add up to zero"

A raging "B" pic out of Columbia? Absolutely! This is something of a film noir lovers delight. There is no getting away from the fact it has one of those endings that has proved to be divisive, so how it stacks up for first time viewers now may make or break your opinion of it...

Story finds copper Tony Cochrane (Gargan) having a love affair with viper like Jill Merrill (Carter), this in spite of the fact he has a gorgeous loving wife and a son who worships him. During one of the illicit couple's love trysts they witness a violent murder, and fearing scandal Cochrane fails to uphold the law. From such decisions does life often spiral out of control...

Okies. So we got hot and sweaty scenes, flashbacks, wet streets lit by lamps, alleyways, barely lighted rooms - particularly the station offices - symbolic and metaphorical sequences (oh my those crashing waves), but it's the barbed dialogue, the blend of sex and violence, and a femme fatale of considerable greatness, that ultimately makes this soar.

Personally I hate the ending, but as stated before, I do know noir lovers who find it cheeky and enjoyable. Yet even with my irritation at the finale - and of Carter's hair style (which pushes Phyllis Dietrichson for most unflattering look), there's just so much good here for noir lovers not to enjoy greatly. 7.5/10

English