Yield to the Night (1956)

This is a super vehicle for Diana Dors as the imprisoned "Mary". We know right from the start that she gunned down "Lucy" outside her mews cottage, and that her appeal has failed. Death row looms as she sits in her cell, accompanied at all times by two prison officers, awaiting a reprieve that may, or may not, come. Whilst she waits, we wait - and we learn a little about just what drove her to commit this cold-blooded crime. You see, she fell in love with the rather weak "Jim" (Michael Craig) and when she discovered that he was in love with someone else, she struggled to cope. Always hoping that he would choose her. When tragedy strikes, her course of revenge is set and... Most of the backstory is delivered to us as dreams; when she is awake and killing time in her room she begins to befriend "MacFarlane" (Yvonne Mitchell) - a outwardly hard-nosed woman but one in whom "Mary" begins to realise she can trust as she wrestles with her conscience, and visits from her estranged husband, her mother and her younger brother - all of whom she would rather not see. J. Lee Thompson starts this off simply and then allows Miss Dors to show us how to deliver a strong, characterful, performance. This is well paced, perhaps a little over-scored but a well delivered drama that proves compelling to watch and shows this star had plenty of serious actor strings to her bow. Well worth a watch, this film.