Night People (1954 film)
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| Night People | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Nunnally Johnson |
| Produced by | Nunnally Johnson |
| Written by | Nunnally Johnson Jed Harris (story) Tom Reed W.R. Burnett (uncredited) |
| Starring | Gregory Peck Broderick Crawford Anita Björk Rita Gam Walter Abel Buddy Ebsen |
| Music by | Cyril J. Mockridge |
| Cinematography | Charles G. Clarke |
| Editing by | Dorothy Spencer |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation |
| Release date(s) | March 12, 1954 |
| Running time | 93 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Night People is a 1954 motion picture, starring Gregory Peck, Broderick Crawford, Anita Bjork and Buddy Ebsen, and directed by Nunnally Johnson. It was co-written by Jed Harris, a noted theatrical producer.
The movie is set in Berlin during the years following World War II. Peck plays an army intelligence officer. In the movie, a young soldier is kidnapped, and Peck's job is to find him. At the time this movie was made, Berlin was a divided city but was not divided by the Berlin Wall.
Night People was filmed on location in Berlin.
[edit] Plot summary
The movie begins with the kidnapping of a young American soldier in West Berlin, which was then occupied by the four Allied powers. Gregory Peck plays Col. Steve Van Dyke, the American officer assigned to investigate the kidnapping. He learns that the soldier has been kidnapped by East German agents, who want to trade him for an elderly man and woman living in West Berlin.
The father of the soldier Charles Leatherby, a politically influential industrialist from Ohio played by Crawford, arrives in Berlin to press the military to find his son. He immediately clashes with Peck.
The movie describes how Leatherby begins to understand the complications involved, as the plot twists and turns continue through the end. Van Dyke at one point considers submitting to the demands and trading the elderly couple for the soldier. He provides Crawford with this stark choice, which underlines the moral haziness of the milieu captured in the movie.
Van Dyke negotiates for release of the soldier by an attractive German lady, "Hoffy," played by Bjork, with whom Peck has been engaged in a love affair. During the movie Hoffy's loyalty comes under question. The possible revival of the relationship causes jealousy on the part of Van Dyke's secretary, played by Rita Gam.
[edit] Awards
Jed Harris and Tom Reed were nominated for an Academy Award for best writing, motion picture story.
