Women in the Night

Sadly, this is an overly convoluted tale that could have done rather more had William Rowland kept his cast focused. As it is, it's a fairly preposterous tale of some die-hard Nazis who may have a secret cosmic ray in the Oriental theatre of War. Determined to keep it from their Japanese allies who have just been victim to the Nagasaki A-bomb, much of the action takes place in a bordello, of sorts, where women have been drafted in from Shanghai University to "entertain" the Japanese officers and who are now bent on vengeance - or at least most of them are. Is there a traitor amongst them? Meantime, one of the German officers might be a spy too? There are far too many sub-plots, the writing is rambling and the performances are nothing much to write home about.

This piece of cheapo, post war Nazi & 'Nip' bashing must hold some sort of record for the most on screen verbiage before the first spoken line of dialogue in motion picture history.

First we have a scrolling prologue (four screens full) - Followed by an establishing shot of the 'Bureau of Records', followed by a stock footage interior, and a zoom in on a drawer labelled "Case Histories Crimes Against Women", a tilt down to another drawer: "Confidential". A hand pulls open the drawer and starts to flip through the files giving us a chance to read their titles and some of the contents: (three shots showing eleven separate bits of paper to read). The last piece of paper is turned over to reveal a still photo of some women and a German soldier. Lap dissolve to stock footage of somewhere labelled: "Shanghai". Dissolve to yet another on-screen, full-screen message: "In the Final Days of the war...blah blah blah". Cut to another filing drawer, a hand pulls out yet another typewritten card to read: "Crimes against Hospital Nurses Location: Shanghai". Lap dissolve to a sign "University Hospital"... Dear god! I'm loosing the will to live here... Another dissolve to a sign saying "Nurses Quarters", another dissolve to a crucifix. The entire audience spells out 'I N R I' to themselves they are, by now, so used to reading anything that's on the screen.

In all it's four and a half minutes! before anyone says anything meaningful - and then it's to read out a list of the character's names as they step forward one by one. Heaven help us! Not more establishing!

There are seven writers credited with the script on this; I guess none of them had an eraser.

It took me a while to figure out that this movie is set in Shanghai, some time during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The German military establishment (!) masquerading as a hospital is working on a "Cosmic Death Ray", which they are supposed to share with Japan, but do not wish to. They have also arrested half a dozen women of all nations, who are intended to act as dates for high-ranking officials.... when they are not killing German and Japanese officers as part of the Underground.

This mess was directed in Mexico by William Rowland, and it is a mess. Intended to leer at the Production Code, it has some pretty women dressed in elegant evening gowns, one pair of women who seem to be engaged in a Lesbian relationship, and several Chinese-American actors, like Richard Loo and Philip Ahn, who made a living during the War playing despicable Japanese officers, still playing those roles. The only explanation for this production is that it sat around for three years, was minimally revised, and produced in a hurry. That may be an explanation, but it's no excuse.

Les Adams's lengthy summary of this production and its plot would suggest he has seen the film.I beg to differ on a few minor points: The hostesses are not all Anglos though there is one from Angleterre. The U.S.,Mexico,France,China and maybe Australia are also represented. The secret wife of William Henry is not Tala Birell, but Virginia Christine. Tala Birell ,the "Shanghai Mata Hari", received top-billing performing superior to the part. The production was filmed over a thirty day period at the Playa Ensenada Hotel in Mexico utilizing some very attractive interior decor. There are a few outdoor scene but they are minor. The plot is not so sordid but the lesbian relationship between the character's played by Jeans Brooks and Bernadene Hayes is clearly indicated. My 16mm print of this film,formerly owned by William K.Everson, is retitled CAPTURED.Film Classics sold off the rights to the film within two years. WOMEN IN THE NIGHT is a great favortte of Elliot Lavine, esteemed San Francisco programmer,formerly with the Roxie Cinema. He has show the film several times at the Roxie and at the Los Angeles Film School. Surviving cast member Iris Flores (Ride the Pink Horse), who played the Mexican hostess, attended the Los Angeles screening with her extended family several years ago, and I understand it was a warmly enjoyed event.

Everything is lousy about this production except the story. The direction is despicable, the actors can't act, the result of the editing is a mutilation, and the happy ending is a joke. However, most of the ladies are quite good and convincing enough, and it's their film. It's their story this film is here to tell, and it's a great story involving many stories. Not only are several of these girls brave freedom fighters who don't hesitate to wage their lives when there is no other choice, but there are a number of great tragedies hinted by their stories, the most important of which is the mother who finds her daughter.

Forget about the Japanese and German officers, they are all caricatures, and you can see that the actors themselves don't believe in the almost ludicrous roles they are playing. This is a women's drama, and that's all that matters.

Also the music is very well made and gives at least a gilded frame to something that could have been an engaging masterpiece, if the direction and the male actors had been better.

The fact is, that there were rests of German officer cliques stranded in China (here Shanghai) and elsewhere after the surrender of Germany and before the Japanese final surrender who still believed in their absurd Reich, many escaped alive out of Germany and immediately started planning for the next Reich, - of course, they did not succeed, as they also fail in this film, but their plans and visions were enough alive to keep cliques like this active to the last.

Pity that such a good story should be made such a bad film of, but then at least you can take care of and mind what's memorable in it, and it is never wrong to point out the women's cause.