There were a few reasons for wanting to see 'Nightfall'. The premise did intrigue, and film noir-type films are right up my street. That it was directed by Jacques Tourneur was also a plus, being one of many people who loves 'Out of the Past'. Have always loved Anne Bancroft ever since 'The Miracle Worker', the film and her performance in that are still powerful. Was really hoping that it would live up to its potential rather than being another potential waste.
Seeing it, 'Nightfall' doesn't live up to full potential and could have been better. It though is not a waste, despite the story being wanting and the lead performance being uneven 'Nightfall' is compensated hugely by the production values, atmosphere and the rest of the cast. It is fun and atmospheric, though falls short of greatness. So another one of those recommended films, while not raving about it or rating it an absolute essential.
'Nightfall' has a lot of good things. It looks great for one thing, it is really amazing that it is low budget when it looks better than a lot of films made on a higher budget. Especially striking is the photography, which is at its best pretty exquisite and creates a truly haunting atmosphere. The locations are beautifully used too, especially the snow-covered Wyoming. Tourneur's direction impresses in a lot of areas, he always had a keen eye for creating atmosphere that was evident throughout 'Out of the Past' and evident here too. He succeeds too in allowing the film to move quickly in general. The score is suitably ominous.
Enough of the script is thought provoking and taut and the story engrosses more often than not and has some nice suspense. The climax is very memorable and tensely staged, while the murder scene absolutely chills. Most of the cast are strong, especially alluring Bancroft as the film's most interesting character and Brian Keith is a good unsettling presence too. She and Aldo Ray have a good sensual yet uneasy chemistry together that really worked with the film.
Did think however that 'Nightfall' could have been better. While there is definitely atmosphere and while it didn't bore me, the story (as well as not being a particularly unique one on the whole) is on the implausible side at points and is too unlikely coincidence heavy. It is especially not too easy to swallow towards the end. The script generally could have been tighter, early on is a little talky.
Opinions on Ray's performance here are rather mixed, my feelings on him personally are pretty mixed too. He is effective enough later on but he starts wooden and it takes a while for him to get properly comfortable in a role that could have been better fleshed out.
Concluding, not great but worth watching. 7/10.
Nightfall
1956
Action / Crime / Drama / Film-Noir / Romance / Thriller
Nightfall
1956
Action / Crime / Drama / Film-Noir / Romance / Thriller
Plot summary
An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery he did not commit.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
June 21, 2019 at 03:02 PM
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
The black night
some good and some not so good
Night has come to Los Angeles. Jim Vanning (Aldo Ray) encounters model Marie Gardner (Anne Bancroft) at a bar. Two thugs are looking for their $350k and accuse Jim of hiding it. In flashbacks, Jim and Dr. Edward Gurston are on a fishing trip when the two men crash their car. Meanwhile, insurance investigator Ben Fraser is on their trail.
It's a nice setup for a noir thriller. This has a nice foursome going. The addition of Ben Fraser doesn't necessarily heighten the tension. He could have worked better if he turns out to be a greedy villain. There are also moments of great potential like the snowplow but this movie is unwilling to get bloody. This is a noir of its time. It has good parts and not so good parts.
Pretty exciting but one of the characters is completely unnecessary
This is a pretty exciting and unusual crime drama that stars Aldo Ray. Parts of the story are told through flashbacks, though most is not. When the story begins you learn that Ray's being tailed by an insurance investigator (James Gregory) as well as two thugs (Brian Keith and Rudy Bond). All three think that Ray knows about $350,000 in stolen money and the latter two are more than willing to bust him up to find out where it's hidden. The only trouble is, Ray has no idea where the money is because he didn't take it and no one believes him!!
Into this odd little flick is dropped Anne Bancroft for no apparent reason other than to provide SOME female presence in the film or else to provide the clichéd "woman who believes in him" story element. Whatever the reason she was included, it was a bad choice, as she falls for Ray and believes in him based only on the flimsiest evidence and her entire part seems irrelevant. In other words, after just meeting him, she agrees to run from her job and go a thousand miles with Ray because....I dunno exactly!! So we have an excellent actress in a thankless role and I feel compelled to knock off a point from the overall score for this.
Apart from this worthless story element, the rest of the film is excellent--making excellent use of a small budget and using second-tier actors who could really act.