Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Tockinit not horrible nor great

Motompa Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

blanche-2 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.

Al Westerfield In 1931 Frankenstein and Dracula were thrilling audiences. But neither is as scary as 1932's Night Court because the events depicted here could really happen to you and me. Philips Holmes and Anita Page do the best work of their careers, first as a loving married couple, and later as desperate persons undone by a corrupt system. Things go from bad to worse and still worse until it seems there is no hope for the couple - torn apart, imprisoned, assaulted. Walter Huston plays the villain wonderfully until his over-the-top mad scene. Holmes' acting at the climax must be seen to be believed - absolutely perfect. There are many instances of horror in films of the period but Night Court maintains this fear from the moment Page opens the envelope. This film is a class act, better than Public Enemy or Scarface in its depiction of corruption. It deserves to be better known.

GManfred Disregard the mundane title, this is a good movie. The website classifies its genre as a crime/ thriller picture, and it is exactly that. It stars Walter Huston, arguably America's best actor, as a terminally corrupt judge who is interested in self-aggrandizement and self-promotion. Rotten to the core, he victimizes a young couple with a baby he suspects knows something about his lurid after-hours affairs. Huston has never been better when at his worst and runs up against a good guy (in this case, a good judge), who, as they used to say in the 30's, wants to 'get the goods' on him. Good Guy Judge is played by Lewis Stone (Judge Hardy, of Andy Hardy fame).Things get worse before they get better, and the scenes with Anita Page, as the young wife arrested on a phony charge, are hard to watch. Phillips Holmes plays her husband in one of the best roles of his short career (he was the cowardly weasel in "An American Tragedy").The movie, made so long ago, is outdated particularly in the resolution of the cases that come before Judge Moffett. Defendants are held and tried at breakneck speed, often with out benefit of counsel. As we know, the wheels of justice grind very slowly nowadays. And everybody has at least one lawyer.Do yourself a favor and get past the unimaginative title - this film is proof that you can't judge a book by its cover, or a movie by its title.

drednm Night Court is a gritty drama about graft and corruption in the US courts. Very well acted by a good cast, there are a few too many convenient plot devices but on the whole this is a terrific film.Walter Huston stars as Judge Moffett, a rotten crooked judge who has a whole network of goons and thugs doing his dirty work. Lewis Stone is Judge Osgood, a crusader trying to pin Huston. Phillips Holmes and Anita Page play a sweet young couple caught up in the corruption. Noel Francis (excellent) plays Huston's cheap moll. Tully Marshall plays a goon. Mary Carlisle has a weird scene as Stone's daughter. John Miljan is a crooked lawyer. Eily Malyon plays a starving woman. Jean Hersholt is the tenement manager. Rafaella Ottiano plays a neighbor.Huston, Francis, Page, and Holmes are all really good. I've seen Noel Francis in a few other films and wonder why she was not bigger. She's always good. Page has one of her best dramatic roles in this film.Gritty story, good actors---worth a look!