Home Before Dark (1958)
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70% of users liked it
(61 ratings)
Wearing a curiously (and perhaps deliberately) unattractive blonde wig, Jean Simmons stars in the tense psychological drama Home Before Dark. Having just recovered from a nervous breakdown, Charlotte Bronn (Simmons) returns from a mental institution to the home she shares with her academician… More Wearing a curiously (and perhaps deliberately) unattractive blonde wig, Jean Simmons stars in the tense psychological drama Home Before Dark. Having just recovered from a nervous breakdown, Charlotte Bronn (Simmons) returns from a mental institution to the home she shares with her academician husband Arnold (Dan O'Herlihy). Though he tries his best to help Charlotte re-adapt, his efforts are undermined by the insensitive meddling of her stepmother Inez (Mabel Albertson) and stepsister Joan (Rhonda Fleming) who may or may not have been carrying on a romance with Arnold in Charlotte's absence. The untenable situation at home leads Charlotte into a romance with college professor Jake Diamond (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), who as an ongoing target of anti-semitism has plenty of his own emotional baggage to deal with. What is remarkable about Home Before Dark is that it is a film without a villain: even the most unpleasant characters are drawn as three-dimensional human beings, who behave badly because they really don't know any better. The film was adapted by Robert and Eileen Bassing from Eileen's same-named novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Mervyn LeRoy
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Nov 16, 1958 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Powerful emotional story but thin soap opera story.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Jean Simmons
as Charlotte Bronn
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Dan O'Herlihy
as Arnold Bronn
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Rhonda Fleming
as Joan Carlisle
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Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
as Jake Diamond
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Mabel Albertson
as Inez Winthrop
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Stephen Dunne
as Hamilton Gregory
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Joan Weldon
as Frances Barrett
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Joanna Barnes
as Cathy Bergner
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Kathryn Card
as Mattie
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Marjorie Bennett
as Hazel Evans
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Johnstone White
as Malcolm Southey
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Eleanor Audley
as Mrs. Hathaway
