Everything is going very well for college professor Phillip Ainley, who has a loving wife and son and an offer to teach at Yale. But his world turns upside-down when Katherine Mead, his secretary, rushes to tell him that there's been a deadly explosion at the professor's home.
His wife and child are killed. Ainley, devastated, becomes morose and turns to drink, causing Mead, a war widow, and best friend Tom Lawry, her betrothed, to consider these telltale signs that the professor could be suicidal.
A popular athlete on campus has failed an exam and might not graduate, so his girlfriend Dottie appeals to the professor to give him a second chance. A drunken Ainley tells her remaining unmarried might spare them both future heartbreak. He then crashes a car, terrifying the girl and resulting in his arrest.
Character witnesses convince the judge to place Ainley on probation. The professor permits the athlete to take a second exam, then gives him a passing grade. Ainley gets his affairs in order and goes to a hotel, where he plans to take his life. Only a last-minute intervention by Mead saves him, the widow reminding Ainley that she found a new love and new life, just as her first true love would have wanted.
Attorney explaining to Ainley the details of setting up last will
Release
According to MGM records, the movie earned $556,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $263,000 in other markets, resulting in a loss to the studio of $312,000.[1]
Reception
Critical response
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "One of the darkest experiences that the human spirit can be forced to endure—that is, the death of a loved one and the adjustment subsequent thereto—is considered with decent compassion and simple dramatic clarity in Night Into Morning, a Metro picture which opened at Loew's State on Saturday."[2]
References
123The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
