Women in the Night

Although Germany surrendered a few months earlier a group of Nazis have ensconced themselves in Shanghai and are working on a "cosmic ray gun" which is supposedly a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb that was just dropped on Nagasaki. At first they had planned to give the Japanese their documents but realizing that Japan could not hold out much longer they have decided to stall for time in order to eventually return to Germany with it and start World War III. However, needing to make sure their stall tactics work they seize several Caucasian women who attend Shanghai University and force them to work as "hostesses" for German and Japanese officers. Essentially then, this is a film that bears some resemblance to a "Women-in-Prison" (WIP) picture but being produced in 1948 it skillfully avoids some of the risqué scenes generally found in movies of this type--preferring a more subtle approach instead. Unfortunately, it pretends to be based on historical events and then completely turns history on its head. Likewise, having certain women representing a specific country was a bit too corny in my opinion. But then again, this movie was produced in 1948 and playing up to patriotism was typical for this time. In any case, other than "Li Leng" (Frances Chung) there weren't really any characters who seemed to stand out. In short, while as a WIP film it may have been ahead of its time, it still wasn't that solid and I rate it as slightly below average.

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.

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.

I think it highlights crimes against all humanity by focusing on one central topic yet the horror lies within the tale in its seedy undercurrent that we are all animals, so whilst the man watches, we know this is wrong but there is always that looming animal side that pesters as desire... yes , we are human but the paradox is by placating our animal basic human instincts we clash against humanity trying to justify an inhumane decision by adjusting the moral compass here and now there, but in the end...?

But here I felt a choking oppression from every angle of this film. The bad guys, the good guys, war is just so consuming, it takes everything whilst leaving nothing, its as though the hitherto human characters forthwith lose all their humanity somewhere along the terrible journey that is war time.

I don't think the salt of the earth , people who want to farm, feed their families, write a poem, enjoy nature a bit can ever ever understand war and all its attendant manifold corroborating threads to any capacity. It is virtually impossible, I think artists have come close , but I don't think anyone has really touched or grasped the concept of the few at the top that benefit from its universal concomitant atrocities.