Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Steineded How sad is this?

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

MartinHafer It sure is interesting seeing how times have changed. Throughout the first portion of the film, Martin (Gordon Jones) shamefully sexually harasses a waitress at a warf-side dive. Again and again and again, he asks her out and completely refuses to take NO for an answer...and HE ultimately turns out to be the hero in the story!! Yikes!!Helen (Margot Grahame) is a waitress in a restaurant catering to the local sea men. Despite having a rough crowd, she keeps her distance, as she's on probation and wants to be a good girl. Later, there is a gangland killing in the restaurant and the police immediately single her out because of her past. So, she does what any heroine in a movie does---she goes on the run and Martin helps her sort things out...and finds out that some hidden gold is involved. This is a great illustration of the saying "Don't try this at home!", as I think running from the law and solving the mystery is NOT the best way of handling things!!This movie has B-movie written all over it. It comes in at a hasty 57 minutes (typical of a B) and has a plot that is very familiar to the style of movie. Apart from the sexual harassment, the film is a competent and reasonably enjoyable picture from RKO...a studio that made a lot of Bs.

calvinnme The film opens on a line of "night waitresses" at Torre's Fish Palace as Torre (Billy Gilbert) does a last minute inspection. Then they march out to work. It is immediately obvious that this restaurant is a dive not a palace. Helen Roberts (Margot Grahame) is the titular night waitress, and from hushed conversation from patrons the audience discovers that Helen is out on probation because of something her roommate did. She claimed innocence, and the court obviously split the difference between imprisonment and exoneration by giving her probation, which means one wrong move and she is back in jail.One customer after another gives her a pick up line, but one is particularly persistent- the guy in booth five, Martin Rhodes (Gordon Jones). He is actually there waiting to make a phone call at precisely 10PM. The call is about an old partner of his who has stashed a fortune and the man on the phone wants to tell Martin how to get it. The guy on the other end of the phone is the younger brother of the actual thief who was tortured to death by some gangsters trying to find the fortune, but the thief never talked. So now the gangsters are following the younger brother.This is where the film breaks down as far as making much sense. We learn that Martin ran liquor on his boat during prohibition, and now runs guns. Getting a job has apparently never occurred to him. But when he finds out what the secret cargo actually is he suddenly becomes a moralist? Martin is a guy completely without charm and loaded with swarm and yet Helen, who knows this guy is up to his neck in illegal activities lets herself fall for him knowing she could go to prison just for being around him? The police take Helen "downtown" to try and sweat a confession out of her (for what?) because she is a "probationer" after a patron at the Fish Palace is shot, ignoring everybody else who was there just based on their say so when she obviously is not armed? Martin ties up a bad guy on his boat and just leaves him alone and unguarded while he eats breakfast next door? I could go on, but you get the picture. The film has good atmosphere and competent acting, but the plot is just goofy. Probably worthwhile if only to see Billy Gilbert in an unusual role and Anthony Quinn in a bit part as a gangster.

Michael_Elliott Night Waitress (1936) ** (out of 4)Decent crime picture from Lew Landers has Helen Roberts (Margot Grahame) getting a waitress job after being put on probation for a crime the police think she knew about but couldn't really prove. Once working the woman gets involved with a young man (Gordon Jones) but what she doesn't know is that this location is a hot spot for gangster crime and soon she's threatened with going back to jail. There's romance, crime and drama here but none of the three things are exactly done good. For the most part this is just a 57-minute "B" picture that was obviously made to play second tier to something much bigger and as long as you don't take it too serious or expect too much you should at least be slightly entertained. I think Landers does a nice job with what he has to work with as he at least keeps the picture moving at a fast pace and for the most part the seedy locations feel real. Both Grahame and Jones do a nice job in the leads and help carry the picture and we also get to see Billy Gilbert in the role of the restaurant owner. If you look quick you can even spot a very young Anthony Quinn in a few spots. The biggest problem with the picture is that nothing ever really works well enough to make the film a good one. Still, fans who enjoy these forgotten, low-budget pictures will still want to check it out.

krorie A not bad little programmer directed with flair by Lew Landers about a night waitress, Helen Roberts (Margot Grahame), on probation who is trying to get her life together working in a waterfront dive run by none other than Billy Gilbert, who is virtually wasted in a routine bit part. Seems Helen's new boyfriend, Martin Rhodes (Gordon Jones of "The Green Hornet" fame), is somehow mixed up with gangsters who are after a hidden cargo he has. The result is murder and hot pursuit by both mobsters and police of Helen and Martin. The approximately hour-long second feature moves at a fast pace, filled with excitement and adventure.Keep your eyes open for Anthony Quinn as one of the hoods, Don "Red" Barry as a victim, and Frank Faylen as a policeman, each just beginning his screen career. Gifted comic Willie Best is also seen briefly as a passerby with only one line. The cinematography by Russell Metty captures all the griminess, desolation, and seediness of the San Francisco waterfront. It's fun to hear the seamen sing "The Monkeys Have No Tails in Zamboanga," later popularized by US soldiers in the Pacific in World War II. Many John Wayne fans will recall it being sung by Lee Marvin in John Ford's "Donovan's Reef."