Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)

Am I Missing Something?

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Yet another Cornell Woolrich/William Irish off-the-wall yarn makes it to the screen. Apparently Eddy Robinson was scornful about this but that didn't prevent him taking on another Woollrich/Irish yarn eight years later with Nightmare. As it happens Robinson turns in a solid, convincing performance as the scamming mentalist who finds he really does have second sight, though it could be argued it's not hard to shine playing opposite Mr. Mahogany, John Lund, who keeps littering the set with sawdust. The female lead is the terminally lovely and ultimately tragic Gail Russell, who is given little to do but look desperate and carries it off to a fare-thee-well. John Farrow provides lots of atmosphere from the right bottle. Recommended.

The first scene is Elliott Carson (John Lund) rescuing his fiancée, Jean Courtland (Gail Russell) from committing suicide - he was told where and how by John Triton. He takes her into a nearby café where John Triton (Edward G. Robinson) is sitting at one of the café tables. Elliot assumes because of Jean's wealth that Triton is part of some kind of con game. Triton then begins his story in flashback. Years before he had a vaudeville act in which he pretended to be one who could see the future. As he says, "it was a phony act, but it was a first-class phony act". Then one night in the middle of a show he has his first real premonition and tells one particular woman that her child is in danger and she must run home. Another time he is talking to a little boy behind the theater and has a premonition that he will be run over by a car. He says something to change the boys plans - he gives him free tickets to the show. The boy says he needs to go tell his mom and, of course, he's run over by a car anyways. Meanwhile his - let us be kind and just call him "less deep and thoughtful" - colleague, Whitney Courtland (Jerome Cowan), is using John's ability to make a fortune in finance.Meanwhile John is haunted by the bad premonitions he is getting about which he can do nothing. The last is the worst though. He sees the future of his love, Jenny (Virginia Bruce). In his premonition the two marry, there is a child, the child lives but Jenny dies. So one night he clears out and decides to become a recluse. If he doesn't talk to anyone he can't see their bad end which he can't seem to change anyways. He knows Whitney will take care of Jenny, and he does. The two marry, have a child, and just as in his premonition, Jenny dies in childbirth. Gail Russell's character, Jean, is the daughter that would have been his, so he does keep track of her over the years. He moves to L.A. just to be in the same town as she and her dad. And then the trouble starts again. First he gets a premonition about Whitney's death when he hears about him trying to break a flight record. Thus he chances meeting Jenny's daughter Jean and warns her about the premonition he has. She tries contacting her dad, but it's too late. His plane has cracked up and Whitney is dead. Then John gets a premonition about Jean's death "under the stars", and we are back to the present, in the café.John wants to retreat back into his little world, but not until he can finally save someone, and not just anyone. He wants to save the daughter that might have been his had things been different. Of course now he has the suspicious fiancé to contend with along with the police whom the fiancé calls who say they found foul play involved in the crack up of Whitney's plane and suspect John as being part of some conspiracy plus they think he could be a little nuts and have the police psychiatrists examining him. Meanwhile Jean is in danger and is being guarded by skeptics. How will this all pan out? Watch and find out.Edward G. Robinson plays the melancholy clairvoyant just brilliantly as you can see how this supposed gift is weighing him down. Like Peter Boyle in the X-Files episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose", a gift is not much of a gift if all it does is give you visions of pain and death you can't seem to change. It is a very gloomy film from the start with the atmosphere of a noir, but not with the kinds of characters and situations normally associated with noir. Highly recommended.

This picture clearly is a classic noir picture. It is deadly serious, almost depressing. The Edward G. Robinson character is well-defined. His sadness and guilt over his "gift" is quite convincing. He is a man torn by his ability to foresee tragic events. His face is often contorted and Robinson's craggy face further emphasizes his angst. His raspy voice further emphasizes his sadness. The role is a tour de force for Robinson (who often portrays this type of internally focused, incredibly gnarled individuals). The role reminds me a bit of his portrayal of Barton Keyes in Double Indemnity - the little man who agonizes over the death of Dietrichson. Unfortunately, there is no femme fatale. Gail Russell is saccharine sweet, although prettier than in some of her other noir roles.

I saw this movie as a 16 year old, and have only seen it once since, but I found it to be a spooky and suspenseful tale. Edward G. Robinson does his usual superb job of acting, and I liked Gail Russell in it very much.