IMDb RATING
7.1/10
1.3K
YOUR RATING
Simmons is magnetic as Charlotte, her lovely, delicate face reflecting the inner turmoil of a woman battling for sanity after she walks out of a mental institution.Simmons is magnetic as Charlotte, her lovely, delicate face reflecting the inner turmoil of a woman battling for sanity after she walks out of a mental institution.Simmons is magnetic as Charlotte, her lovely, delicate face reflecting the inner turmoil of a woman battling for sanity after she walks out of a mental institution.
- Awards
- 4 nominations
Stephen Dunne
- Hamilton Gregory
- (as Steve Dunne)
Walter Bacon
- Professor Dennison
- (uncredited)
Fred C. Blau Jr.
- Male Patient
- (uncredited)
Gail Bonney
- Mental Hospital Clerk
- (uncredited)
Evelyn Clarke
- Receptionist
- (uncredited)
Lillian Culver
- Mrs. Franklin
- (uncredited)
Susan Davis
- Saleslady
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSince this was a film by Warner Brothers, much of the soundtrack was stock and is the same as used in their 1942 film Now, Voyager (1942).
- GoofsArnold drives Charlotte home from the hospital in a snowstorm, when plenty of snow already covers the ground. At the film's conclusion, it's New Year's Eve and Charlotte mentions that she's been home for 3 months, which means that the snowstorm happened at the end of September.
Featured review
A tad old-fashioned but worth seeing.
This cross between 'a women's picture' and a semi-serious study of mental illness isn't as well known as it ought to be. Maybe if it had been made ten or fifteen years earlier it might have been something of a classic since we're firmly in Bette Davis/Miriam Hopkins territory here. Jean Simmons, (wonderful, but then she was always wonderful), is the woman who comes home after a year in a mental hospital. Home is where she lives with hubbie Dan O'Herlihy, step-sister Rhonda Fleming, step-mother Mabel Albertson and handsome lodger Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and it isn't too long before the reason for her initial breakdown becomes all too clear.
At two and a quarter hours it's a little on the long side but director Mervyn LeRoy certainly demonstrates just why he was considered a consumate jobbing director in his handling of old-hat material and all the performances are first-rate, (Simmons was robbed of a Best Actress Oscar nomination), and its small-town New England setting is at least unusual. However, by 1958 this was a very old-fashioned film and no amount of professionalism in front of or behind the camera was going to turn this into box-office gold. A pity, as it's really rather good.
At two and a quarter hours it's a little on the long side but director Mervyn LeRoy certainly demonstrates just why he was considered a consumate jobbing director in his handling of old-hat material and all the performances are first-rate, (Simmons was robbed of a Best Actress Oscar nomination), and its small-town New England setting is at least unusual. However, by 1958 this was a very old-fashioned film and no amount of professionalism in front of or behind the camera was going to turn this into box-office gold. A pity, as it's really rather good.
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- MOscarbradley
- May 31, 2020
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Bevor die Nacht anbricht
- Filming locations
- Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA(Interior scenes and exterior scene filmed at 2 Union St. "The Layfayette House")
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,390,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 16 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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