Yield to the Night (15)

★★★✭ "This stunning but grim British classic makes a good case for the abolition of capital punishment, released barely a year after nightclub hostess Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be hanged in Britain, following the fatal shooting of her lover. While the storyline bears a close resemblance to that infamous case, it is actually based on Joan Henry's gripping novel from a year earlier." ~ Manchester Theatres.

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In 1956 Diana Dors continued her productive collaboration with director J. Lee Thompson, this was their fourth film together, with the lead role in Yield to the Night. Here, she stars as Mary Hilton, a convicted murderer who reflects on her life whilst in her prison cell.

Based on a novel by Joan Henry, as was The Weak and the Wicked (1954, J. Lee Thompson), the film showcases Dors’ acting skills, revealing a performer able to offer so much more than the ‘blonde bombshell’ she had been previously typecast as. Today, the film is seen as something of a British classic.

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★★★★★ "An unforgettable death-row drama starring Diana Dors. Harrowing prison scenes transfigure this gripping 1956 story of a woman awaiting execution for murder, written just before the hanging of Ruth Ellis." ~ The Guardian.