Jean Simmons never performed without vanity. Even here as a struggling sophisticate--a schoolteacher who takes a part-time secretarial job in a "sleazy" nightclub run by guys named Tony and Rocco--Simmons is coiffed to the gills and everything about her breathes Park Ave. This inconsequential drama-lite is peopled with lovable lowlifes and features a smoky but mostly scrubbed-clean hot-spot at its center, yet the energy and fake-pizzazz may win you over. Paul Douglas and Anthony Franciosa (in his film debut) work well together as co-managers of the club, and Simmons (nicknamed "Baby"!) is tolerable as the intellectual who improves their personalities. Good supporting cast includes Neile Adams (looking like a cross between Carol Haney and a young Liza Minnelli) as Joan Blondell's daughter, and Julie Wilson as a torchy singer who comes on like Patti Page. Robert Wise directed, under the usual MGM gloss. **1/2 from ****
Review of This Could Be the Night
