The Big Night

According to interviews that director Joseph Losey gave in the mid-1970s to Michel Ciment, the FBI wanted to spy on him in Europe, where he relocated to work after being blacklisted by Hollywood because of his political activities. So they paid John Drew Barrymore (who became a good friend after this movie) to furnish information about Losey's political activities, if any, in London. Barrymore later met Losey in London and confessed to him about the money and expense account the FBI had given him to spy on Losey. Losey, recalling that the young actor had been under tremendous pressure at the time, forgave him and, in fact, suggested that they have several lavish meals together and put the cost on Barrymore's FBI expense account, which they promptly did.

The magazine racks outside the corner store are mostly issues contemporary to 1951, with one glaring exception. A copy of the famous first issue of The New Yorker (published in 1925).

Featured in Vampira: The Big Night 1951 (1956)