| Night Watch | |
| Director: | Alexander Korda |
| Producer: | Ned Marin |
| Starring: | Billie Dove Paul Lukas Donald Reed Nicholas Soussanin |
| Music: | Emil Bierman Mortimer Wilson |
| Editing: | George McGuire |
| Cinematography: | Karl Struss |
| Studio: | First National Pictures |
| Distributor: | First National Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Runtime: | 72 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | Sound (Synchronized) English Intertitles |
Night Watch is a 1928 American synchronized sound drama film directed by Alexander Korda and starring Billie Dove, Paul Lukas and Donald Reed. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-disc Vitaphone process. The film was an adaptation of the dramatic 1921 play In the Night Watch, written by Michael Morton. The film is set almost entirely on a French warship at the beginning of the First World War. Night Watch was the first of Korda's films to feature sound.[1] [2]
On the night of August 1, 1914, Commander Corlaix of the French Navy and his wife, Yvonne, arrange a shipboard dinner for the officers of his cruiser. Afterward, Lieutenant D'Artelle asks Yvonne to stay on board with him, and when Corlaix (learning by classified wireless that war has been declared) abruptly orders her from the ship, she goes instead with D'Artelle to his cabin. The ship is sunk by a torpedo, and Corlaix is brought before the Admiralty Court on charges of incompetence. Yvonne comes forward to testify and, by compromising herself, proves her husband's adherence to duty. Corlaix, realizing Yvonne's great love for him, forgives her for her indiscretions, and they are reunited.
The theme song for this film was entitled "Yvonne" and was composed by Mortimer Wilson.
A print of Night Watch is preserved at Cineteca Italiana in Milan.[3]