Watch Night Court For Free

Why so much hype?

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Wow... all that going on. This couldn't have been made after the film code started being enforced. Judge tries to hide his girlfriend in another part of town so she can't testify against him. All hell breaks loose. Walter Huston is shady Judge Moffat, and thinks he has all the answers. Lewis Stone (Grand Hotel) is another judge trying to right the wrongs. Phillips Holmes and Anita Page get caught up in the illegal drama, as the neighbors next door, Mike and Mary. The plot kind of runs all over the place, but it's all done pretty well. This turns into a story of cleaning up the dirty judges running the court system. Good restoration job. Sound and picture quality are excellent. Huston had only been in Hollywood a couple years, but gives a fine performance. Directed by Woody van Dyke. He and Holmes both died quite young, van Dyke from suicide and Holmes in a plane crash. Anita Page had an interesting career... she had started in the silents, moved into the talkies, took a LONG break, and made a few more in the 2000s... in her 90s! Catch this one on Turner Classics -- an opportunity to see Huston near the beginning of his career.

In the Pre-Code Era MGM at Least Tried Once in a While to be Socially Relevant and Concerned. In This One the Studio Ventured Into WB Territory with a Rather Nasty Story About a Corrupt Judicial System at the Bottom Level, the Night Court.A Good Cast Makes the Most of this Heavy Melodrama About a Married Couple with an Infant being Sucked Into This Cesspool of Corruption Only Because of Proximity. What Goes On Here is Not Pretty to Look At. Some Pre-Code Situations are Exploited to Explain the Frame-Up with Prostitution On Display Throughout This Rather Ugly Picture of Depression Era Folks Being Railroaded by the System and the Authorities. The Odds are Overwhelming and Only Determination and Some Luck Can Get Them Out of It.Aside from the Heavy Drinkers and Undraped Females the Film Contains Some Brutal Beatings and Truly Evil Characters. At One Point Judge Walter Huston Says..."Get me some Bad Boys, some Really Bad Boys!". Some of the Story is Gut-Wrenching when it Concerns the Happy Couple's Baby. The Movie is Not Easy Entertainment and Tries Mightily to Make a Statement About Some Social Concerns at the Time. The Ending May be a Tidy Wrap-Up but it is a Welcome Relief and Although Just a Fictional Placebo, that's About All a Movie Can Offer.

Made 73 years ago, "Night Court" is a very good, gritty precode about corruption in high places. In this case, it's a judge, played by Walter Huston.When a young woman, Mary (Anita Page) finds a bankbook left behind by a neighbor, she returns it, and finds herself sentenced to the work house for six months. The money belongs to Judge Moffett (Huston), who, to keep his activities quiet, hangs out in his girlfriend's apartment. The Judge believes that Mary looked at the bankbook and knows where he keeps his money. He sets her up and has her arrested as a prostitute. Her baby is put into care, leaving her poor cab-driver husband (Phillips Holmes) with nothing, and thanks to Moffett's girlfriend, he's even doubting his wife's innocence.However, he knows in his heart that Mary isn't capable of such a thing and sets out to clear her.The original was written by Mark Hellinger, a reporter, and producer of "Naked City" in 1948. The story is loosely based on a real-life character.Though some of the acting is melodramatic, as this was the style of the day, it's still compelling. Walter Huston is terrific, mean as dirt, and Holmes and Page are very sympathetic. Anita Page, about 22 here, worked until she died in 2008! Philips Holmes died in 1942 in a plane crash. For some reason, he reminds me of Tony Goldwyn.Three other cast members of note: Mary Carlisle (who as of this writing is still alive) as an honest judge's daughter, Lewis Stone as the honest judge, and Jean Hersholt as the building janitor.Very good and absorbing, though it's stylistically of the time.

When Phillips Holmes was given a solid script ("The Criminal Code", "An American Tragedy" etc) he gave his all and produced inspired performances but when the film was mediocre he couldn't rise above it. After some solid performances for Paramount, MGM must have thought he fit their "handsome leading man" bill perfectly but after securing top billing for "Night Court" the studio quickly lost interest and in "Dinner at Eight"(1933) he had only a few lines as Madge Evan's fiancé. His co-star was Anita Page, an actress who was also getting the cold shoulder from MGM. She had sparkled in the silent "Our Dancing Daughters", critics saying she stole the film from Joan Crawford, but talkies revealed a voice that guaranteed she would never play any high society types. No matter, she gave a fantastic showing as the gangster's moll who responds to John Gilbert's decency in "Gentleman's Fate" and mopped the floor with the other female lead, insipid Leila Hyams. But the writing was on the wall and "Night Court" was one of her last films. A pity because she had the making of a terrific young character actress.Based on a play by former press whizkid Mark Hellinger, Walter Huston was in his element amid the corruption and crime of civic government playing Judge Moffatt who is not averse to a bit of bribery and kickback. To the people that frequent his night court he is just but "one of them", but if anyone gets in his way he is ruthless. As Mike and Mary Thomas find out. Moffatt's mistress Lil is hidden away in a less up market part of the town but when neighbour Mary accidentally happens to see Moffatt's hefty bank balance, he puts in motion a series of circumstances which see Mary jailed for prostitution and vagrancy. Anita Page comes into her own, first as the happy, contented wife and mother, then as a frightened victim of a crime she is innocent of. Her scenes from the prison when she realizes that authorities have taken away her baby are heart rending. The story then focuses on husband Mike, a young cabbie trying to do his best for his wife and beloved child. Holmes has one of his better parts as his character goes through all the emotions, first amazement and disbelief, finding the courage to take on Moffatt and all his crooked cronies, then realizing that the ball is in his court when Moffatt is willing to do anything to get himself an alibi when righteous Judge Osgood (Lewis Stone) is found murdered.Mary Carlisle, a 1932 Wampas Baby Star, was getting a career kick start - even though she had what really amounted to a bit part of only a few lines (as Osgood's daughter who comes up with the phrase "this silly old town"), her billing was prominent. Alas not so for luscious Noel Francis - down the bottom of the cast but a pivotal part of the plot, her Lil really struts her stuff and shows what a pre-code bad girl could really do without restrictions!!