Night Must Fall (1964)

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Albert Finney's stunning performance is the reason to see Karel Reisz's tightly wound version of the Emlyn Williams play. Finney plays a diabolic young man who insinuates himself into the household of wealthy widow Mona Washbourne. He's soon her favorite and he soon has her wrapped around his demented finger. Things are further complicated by the fact that Washbourne's nubile daughter Susan Hampshire is smitten with the loony Finney. Deliberately paced but never boring, this film sets a grim tone from the get go and keeps it up throughout. Reisz and Finney produced and there's a creepy music score by Ron Grainer. The great Freddie Francis did the cinematography (his last for sixteen years, during which time he spent directing various horror films). Sheila Hancock plays Finney's pregnant girlfriend.

Is it a good idea to remake masterpieces? Usually not. The only reason Karel Reisz and Albert Finney decided to build on their great success of "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" and Finney's international triumph in "Tom Jones" to attempt just that by remaking this Richard Thorpe/Emlyn Williams 1937 classic, besides the fact that it was a great part for a flamboyant young actor like Finney, is that they figured that in those pre-video days, no one would remember the original film. Today's audiences however can compare the two films and I'd be surprised if more than a fraction of them would prefer the Reisz version over the Thorpe one. Why did it fail? Narcissism. Finney, who is a good actor, was popular enough to create his own company and tailor the film around his screen personality but not experienced enough to know that you can't get through that intricate play on just mugging, cute faces, a hand-held camera and modern editing techniques. Besides overlong cutesy-pootsy scenes like Finney racing his scooter with Susan Hampshire's Austin Mini, the spectator has to contend with seeing his naked body, open shirts and suggested musculature at every possible occasion the script permits. In order to make even more room for Finney's character and personality, Olivia's part has been rendered practically silent. She of the Greta Garbo good looks spends the film pouting mysteriously and letting us guess whether she has a soul or not and whether she is infatuated with Finney's character or not and whether she suspects him or not. The producers (Finney and Reisz) were apparently so worried that the film might be too talky that they removed every piece of inspired dialog (usually Olivia's) from the original and made the 101 minutes of running time feel infinitely longer than the original's 116 minutes in the process. The obligatory modernization of the play also necessitated a good dollop of sex where the original happily did without it so that Dora's character is made ridiculous and given a conspicuously vulgar turn by Sheila Hancock. Despite those flaws, the film is not a total failure and its marriage of image and music does deliver suspense and shocks commensurate to the post-"Psycho" era. Luckily, I don't think it will ever eclipse the originality and audacity of the first film or its importance in the history of film-making.

Handsome, boyish Albert Finney is a schizophrenic axe murderer in "Night Must Fall," based on the Emlyn Williams play, and a remake of the 1937 film starring Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell. There have been some rewrites. This film is less a psychological drama than an actual thriller this time around, with accompanying loud, distracting music. There is no repressed niece; there is instead, in the body of Susan Hampshire, a good-looking and fascinated daughter. And instead of being a harridan, the role of the aunt (now mother) is portrayed by Mona Washbourne as annoying. Also, the film has been opened up to encompass the outdoors more than the original, which centered around a secluded cottage.Strangely, showing more of the surrounding area rather than keeping the film in the dark, claustrophobic cottage was less atmospheric somehow. I didn't have the feeling of foreboding that I had with the original, waiting - excuse the pun - for the axe to fall. There was none of the loneliness or tension either.Albert Finney was at the top of his form, and had the actual story been closer to the original, he would have done an excellent job with that, too. He is a flirtatious dandy one minute, a playful little boy who doesn't know when to stop in the next, and a dangerous, vengeful child later on. Robert Montgomery's portrayal was smoother and less obvious fitting in with that earlier script. Susan Hampshire is very pretty and always good as a young actress on leave from London for reasons not explained, and Mona Washbourne is a typical semi-invalid old lady who in a strange way competes with her daughter for Finney's affections."Night Without Fall" seems to have been made on a low budget. There are choppy edits, and it almost appears as if some scenes are missing. If you forget the original and take this as a thriller, you will enjoy it more.

Night must fall is a riveting film with Albert Finney giving a fantastic performance. He plays Danny, the boyfriend of a kitchen maid (Sheila Hancock) who works for a wealthy widow. However, it isn't long before he sets his sights on the widow's daughter, Olivia (Susan Hampshire). Danny hides a terrible secret from those around him, he is not who people think he is. He is charming towards his girlfriend, his employer and even manages to win round Olivia, and it is this charm which makes his dark side even more frightening. Albert Finney is wonderful to watch, combining charm and humour with menace and danger. The supporting cast is also first-rate, there is a tense atmosphere throughout and it is a shame this film is so little-known - it is an excellent, suspenseful, engaging thriller.