She moves to Hepperton, where she procures a job at another hospital, which is chronically underfunded and understaffed due to the tightfisted attitude of its chairman of the board, wealthy businessman Matthew Bowley.

Anne goes to London, where her now-married sister has abandoned her husband, Joe Shand, after he ran out of money and works as a nurse at a fashionable rest home.

The European release of the film has a slightly different ending: British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's voice is heard on the radio in Dr. Prescott's office explaining that Hitler has refused to withdraw his troops from Poland and that a state of war exists with Germany.

As the United States had not yet entered World War II, the American release does not contain the radio message, and a shot of Anne Lee and Dr. Prescott reacting to the news was deleted.

Glenn Erickson wrote in his column, DVD Savant, that "Vigil in the Night is beautifully directed, nicely acted and extremely well intentioned, but it has serious problems of credibility due to story and thematic aspects that seemed out of date even in 1940.