The Night Holds Terror 1955

Gene Courtier Jack Kelly, an employee of North American at Edwards AFB, stops his car on the way home to pick up hitchhiker Victor Gosset Vince Edwards, a wanted criminal and a member of a three-man robbery gang led by Robert Batsford John Cassavetes with Luther Logan David Cross as the newest addition. When the gang learns that Courtier only has a small amount of cash, they threaten to kill him but instead devise a plan to compel him to sell his car and turn over the money they want. However, since the local auto dealer cannot pay such a large sum so late in the day, the gang breaks off with Courtier and retreats to his suburban family home, intending to spend the night there and then accompany Courtier in the morning to collect the money before making their getaway.

Over the course of a tense night, the gang terrorizes Courtier, his wife Doris Courtier Hildy Parks, and their two young children. By morning, Courtier and the gang manage to extract the money from the auto dealer. Just as Courtier is about to be murdered on a lonely desert turnoff, Logan, who does not want to be party to murder, suggests an alternative. He advises Courtier to prepare to flee if they take the turnoff, and then proposes that they switch to a ransom scheme instead, arguing that Courtier’s father owns a chain of stores and that this would give Courtier a better chance to escape. Batsford, however, holds out for a high ransom—$200,000—and imposes a tight ultimatum: Courtier’s father is given one night to assemble the funds.

As the tension escalates, Doris acts quickly and calls the police, who begin tracing the gang’s phone communications. The criminals relocate Courtier to an upscale hillside hideout, while the police work feverishly behind the scenes to pinpoint their location. Inside the gang, disagreements flare up, and when Courtier and Logan attempt a break for it, Batsford shoots Logan dead and recaptures Courtier.

Doris uses the phone to stall the gang long enough for the trace to succeed. The police swarm the area, leading to a dramatic showdown near a desolate industrial phone booth. In the ensuing gunfight, Batsford and Gosset are wounded, and Courtier is finally reunited with his wife. The tense pursuit ends with the family’s safety secured as law enforcement closes in.