Girls in the Night

It's the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and everyone wants out. Anthony Ross and Glenda Farrell have been trying to raise their children, and hope his new job will let them move to idyllic Astoria. Their daughter, Patricia Hardy, has just won a local beauty contest, and gotten some new clothes. She and her boyfriend don't see any clear route. Harvey Lembeck robs a blind man's hoard.... and he turns up dead.

Director Jack Arnold is best remembered for directing Universal sci-fi films in the late 1950s, still remarkable for their symbolic subtext. In this film, about growing up in an ugly, trash-filled neighborhood, fearful lest you become trash yourself, there's no need for subtext. It's all there on the surface.

This is one of those films that few people have ever heard of. It is a shame, because GIRLS IN THE NIGHT, while not a masterpiece, is certainly an entertaining and well-made little film. Actually a film noir, GIRLS IN THE NIGHT tells the story of a young would-be hood, Chuck (Harvey Lembeck,) who is wrongly accused of robbery, and, if memory serves, also murder. Lembeck, (long before he became the comic biker "Erich Von Zipper" in those Beach Party movies) puts in a fine dramatic performance. The film is stolen, however, by Jaclynne Greene as Vera, a character in love with Chuck. Vera is nicknamed "Ugly" and photographed in harsh lighting to emphasize her street toughness. A good look at Greene, however, shows that she is far from ugly. She gives a credible, sensitive portrait of a wildly misunderstood woman

One more thing: The title of this film is misleading. From the name of the film one would think that this would be a cheaply-made story about B-girls. It is not. Rather, it is a tale of desperation, a tale of frustration about young people trapped in an environment that simply will not let them go

I saw this so called "B" film on the same bill as City Across the River in the early 1950's and I enjoyed both films. I liked the performances of the players particularly that of promising newcomer Jaclynne Greene who played the part of Vera. She really chewed up the scenery as a plain Jane (they called her "Ugly") and she was fond of one of the thugs. Of course they get into trouble when a murder takes place. Although the plot is thin it is fun watching these players ramble through the darkly lit city streets in what I consider a camp classic. I often wonder what happend to Jaclynne Greene and her career? I also wish that this Universal-International film was on video as I would like to see it again.