Night into Morning

Night Into Morning is a 1951 American drama film directed by Fletcher Markle and starring Ray Milland, John Hodiak and Nancy Davis.

Plot
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.

Cast

 * Ray Milland as Phillip Ainley
 * John Hodiak as Tom Lawry
 * Nancy Davis as Katherine Mead
 * Lewis Stone as Dr. Horace Snyder
 * Jean Hagen as Girl Next Door
 * Rosemary De Camp as Annie Ainley
 * Dawn Addams as Dotty Phelps
 * Jonathan Cott as Chuck Holderson
 * Celia Lovsky as Mrs. Niemoller
 * Gordon Gebert as Russ Kirby
 * Harry Antrim as Mr. Andersen
 * Katharine Warren as Mrs. Andersen
 * Mary Lawrence as Waitress
 * Herb Vigran as Bartender
 * Otto Waldis as Dr. Franz Niemoller
 * John Maxwell as Dr. Huntington
 * John Jeffery as Timmy Ainley

Reception
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.