Vigil in the Night *** (1940, Carole Lombard, Anne Shirley, Brian Aherne) – Classic Movie Review 6,742

The 1940 romantic drama film Vigil in the Night stars screen comedienne Carole Lombard, who is outstanding in a serious role as Anne Lee, a devoted young nurse in an English hospital.

Director George Stevens’s 1940 romantic drama film Vigil in the Night stars screen comedienne Carole Lombard, who is outstanding in a serious role as Anne Lee, a devoted young nurse in an English hospital who takes the blame for her nurse sister Lucy (Anne Shirley) when a boy dies as a result of negligence.

Anne is fired but gets a new job at a poorly equipped country hospital, where she falls for doctor Robert Prescott (Brian Aherne). Then a diphtheria epidemic breaks out. Will Dr Prescott come to Anne’s rescue?

Stevens’s sombre and downbeat but engrossing and excellent hospital drama soap opera (with a screenplay by Fred Guiol, P J Wolfson and Rowland Leigh adapted from the 1939 serialised novel Vigil in the Night by A J Cronin) is made in America by RKO, but gets the details of UK hospital life and the British backgrounds right.

Also in the cast are Julien Mitchell, Robert Coote, Brenda Forbes, Peter Cushing, Ethel Griffies, Rhys Williams, Rita Page, Doris Lloyd, Emily Fitzroy and Rafaella Ottiano.

Vigil in the Night is directed by George Stevens, runs 96 minutes (with the Turner library print at 102 minutes), is made and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, is written by Fred Guiol, P J Wolfson and Rowland Leigh, based on the 1939 serialised novel Vigil in the Night by A J Cronin, is shot in black and white by Robert de Grasse, is produced by George Stevens, and is scored by Alfred Newman, with Art Direction by Van Nest Polglase.

Shooting was delayed for several weeks when Lombard was admitted to hospital after a miscarriage, though it was reported as an appendectomy.

Lombard confidently shows her prowess as a serious actress, outside her comfort zone, and she hoped Vigil in the Night would bring her an Oscar but it was not to be.

Lombard made only three more films before her air crash death in 1942, aged 33 – They Knew What They Wanted, Mr & Mrs Smith and To Be or Not to Be. She was returning from a war bond tour aboard TWA Flight 3, which crashed on Mount Potosi, Nevada,

Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) is most renowned for her screwball comedy roles.

Vigil in the Night.

The cast are Carole Lombard as Anne Lee, Brian Aherne as Dr Robert Prescott, Anne Shirley as Lucy Lee, Julien Mitchell as Matthew Bowley, Robert Coote as Dr Caley, Brenda Forbes as Nora Dunn, Rita Page as Glennie, Peter Cushing as Joe Shand, Ethel Griffies as Matron East, Doris Lloyd as Mrs. Martha Bowley, Emily Fitzroy as Sister Gilson, Donnie Dunagan as Tommy, Rhys Williams, and Rafaella Ottiano.

The 40 sound films of Carole Lombard

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6,742

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An advertisement for Vigil in the Night (1940), which Lombard hoped would bring her an Oscar.