Night Editor
- For the 1954 DuMont TV series, see Night Editor (TV series).
| Night Editor | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Henry Levin |
| Screenplay by | Hal Smith |
| Produced by | Ted Richmond |
| Starring | William Gargan Janis Carter |
| Cinematography | Burnett Guffey Philip Tannura |
| Edited by | Richard Fantl |
| Music by | Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 68 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Night Editor is a 1946 B-movie film noir directed by Henry Levin and based on a popular radio program of the same name. The script for the film was based on a previous radio program episode "Inside Story."[1]
The movie was to be the first in a series of films featuring stories about the graveyard-shift police beat reporters at a fictional newspaper, the New York Star, but no other Night Editor films were made.
Plot
Crane Stewart (Charles D. Brown), the editor of the New York Star, while playing poker with his friends, tells a story about a cop involved in a murder investigation.
In flashback, the editor tells the tale of police lieutenant Tony Cochrane (William Gargan), a family man who cheats on his wife with socialite femme fatale Jill Merrill (Janis Carter). Cochrane and the woman, who is also cheating on her husband, witness a man bludgeoning his girlfriend to death with a tire iron while the couple is parked at "lovers lane" by the beach.
The two can't report the crime without revealing their cheating, a dilemma which eventually leads to bigger troubles. Meanwhile, Cochrane must investigate the killing but is not able to tell anyone he witnessed the crime.
Cast
- William Gargan as Tony Cochrane
- Janis Carter as Jill Merrill
- Jeff Donnell as Martha Cochrane
- Coulter Irwin as Johnny
- Charles D. Brown as Crane Stewart
- Paul E. Burns as Ole Strom
- Harry Shannon as Capt. Lawrence
- Frank Wilcox as Douglas Loring
- Robert Kellard as "Doc" Cochrane
Radio program
The radio program the film was based upon ran from 1934 until 1948.
Sponsored by Edwards Coffee, this featured Hal Burdick (1893–1978) as the "night editor". Burdick would receive readers’ requests for stories, in a "letter to the editor" format, which would tell on the program. Burdick played all characters in the program. The stories varied greatly including tales of war, adventure, crime, and an occasional ghost story. The radio series was adapted for Night Editor, a short-lived TV series on the DuMont Television Network in 1954, also hosted by Burdick.