Night Must Fall

Plot synopsis:
Mrs. Bramson (Dame May Whitty) is an irascible elderly woman who holds court in a small English village. She pretends to need a wheelchair, and impulsively threatens to fire her maid, Dora (Merle Tottenham), for allegedly stealing and breaking china. Meanwhile, the household learns that the police have searched a nearby river looking for the missing villager, Mrs. Shellbrook. Dora then introduces her Irish boyfriend, Danny (Robert Montgomery), who works for Mrs. Shellbrook. Perceiving that Mrs. Bramson is a hypochondriac who only affects her need for a wheelchair, Danny is charming toward her and says that she reminds him of his mother. He tells Mrs. Bramson that he loves Dora and would marry her if he had a better job. Mrs. Bramson obliges and he becomes her servant.
Mrs. Bramson's niece and companion, Olivia Grayne (Rosalind Russell), is suspicious of Danny, but Mrs. Bramson dismisses her concerns. When Mrs. Bramson's attorney, Justin Laurie (Alan Marshal), arrives to give his client money, he warns her not to keep so much cash in her possession; but she dismisses his concerns, as well. Meanwhile, Justin, who is in love with Olivia, asks her to marry him, but she refuses because their relationship lacks any true romance. Justin leaves feeling dejected, and Danny sees Mrs. Bramson putting the cash into her safe. Olivia's concerns are heightened when she catches Danny lying to Mrs. Bramson about a shawl that allegedly belonged to his mother, noticing that the price tag is still on the shawl. Still, Olivia cannot help being attracted to Danny.
Dora discovers Mrs. Shellbrook's decapitated body in the forest. Though Olivia accuses Danny of the murder, he denies it. Again, Mrs. Bramson dismisses her niece's concerns because she has grown very fond of Danny. The rest of the household does not feel comfortable being in the house while a killer is at large, but Mrs. Bramson feels safe enough to stay with Danny. Later that night, Mrs. Bramson hears noises and becomes frightened. When she screams for Danny, he comes in and calms her down by giving her something to drink and lulling her to sleep. Danny then suffocates her to death and empties the safe.
Olivia arrives unexpectedly and admits to Danny that she was attracted to him in the past, but no longer. He references his poor childhood and being looked down upon being a servant, and threatens to kill her, too, so that no one can incriminate him in Mrs. Bramson's murder. Olivia said she understands if he kills her, but she wanted him to know that she is no longer drawn to him. But just then the police arrive, called by Justin when he could not reach Olivia by phone, and arrest Danny. As he leaves, Danny says, "I'll hang in the end, but they'll get their money's worth at the trial." Finally, Justin and Olivia embrace.

Tags: murder

Review:
The great Albert Finney and his mysterious hat-box!.
To start with a little off-topic note: in 2003, Tim Burton made the film "Big Fish" which stars Ewan McGregor as a younger version of Albert Finney.
When you actually see "Night Must Fall", which was shot around the time when Finney was in his late 30's, it becomes obvious how good this casting choice was!
From multiple camera angles, McGregor really looks a lot like the young Finney and the facial expressions are almost exact.
"Night Must Fall" itself is a truly interesting and involving thriller and I wonder why on earth it's so underrated!
This is a remake of a 1930's thriller that stars Finney as a dangerous, yet very charismatic psychopath who systematically works his way up in a high-society family as a pageboy.
The film has a terrific opening sequence (the frightening image of Danny getting rid of his murder victim) and an extremely suspenseful finale!
Everything in between is a bit too talky and  at times  somewhat dull, but you keep watching since Finney's performance is so outstanding.
Reisz' directing is well-handled but it merely is Freddie Francis' imaginative photography that makes this film so dreamy and beautiful.
Francis unquestionably was Britain's best cinematographer of that time and he also directed a couple of entertaining horror films ("Trog", "The Creeping Flesh", "Tales that Witness Madness").
A good-looking, charming and friendly fellow; some 20 years before the horror of Ted Bundy!.Albert Finney gives his most impressive and outstanding performance.
The opening scene in which Finney is walking in a swamp with a head-less, arm-less, leg-less torso is one of the most shocking and disturbing scenes in film history.
The remake of the 1937 film was slaughtered both by critics and audience at the time it premiered and there was mainly one reason for it:the crazed fans of Albert Finney were absolutely shocked,as he daringly chose the role of the psychotic ''killer with the angelic face'', following his all-time favorite roles of ''Saturday night and Sunday morning''and, particularly, ''Tom Jones''.As many historians mention, the ''MGM wives'' who were few of the first to see the film, turned violently against the gifted director, Karel Reisz, shouting ''what have you done to that beautiful boy?''!But this is not a serious reason to dismiss an, overall, very good film, which, however, has some serious flaws.The use of music is exaggerated and some times irritating and, only in the first part of the film, Finney doesn't quite know how to tackle with his disturbed character.
But the photography is great, Mona Washbourne gives a superb performance and Karel Reisz does a great job, not only updating the old text and bringing it within the ''realism'' of the British Free Cinema movement, but also with his masterful camera movements and his use of editing and abruptly cutting to different scenes, he creates an imposing psychological thriller, where what you don't see is more disturbing than what you do.
Being one of the greatest actors EVER, Finney soon finds a convincing attitude for his character and the last part of the film is absolutely brilliant as a whole.It should be re-examined and re-appreciated, that's why it has to come out on VHS and DVD a.s.a.p.!
Impressive performance by Albert Finney.
I love Albert Finney's performance as a psychopath who has the gift of perceiving the innermost needs of those he meets and then molding his own personality to take advantage of those needs.
To see Finney in TOM JONES (previous) or TWO FOR THE ROAD (following), although he is young, his face does have character and expression lines - he is human.
If you're an Albert Finney fan I definitely recommend viewing this movie and making your own judgment..
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.
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..
Albert Finney is superb as Danny, well the entire cast is very strong.
I thought it was a lot like that other British twisted family oddity 'Girly' (US title) but with fewer sexual undertones.It's a shame Night Must Fall isn't more well known as it's a true gem of 60's British cinema..
Outstanding performance by Albert Finney.
There are many experimental aspects (music, camera angles, the performances) that reflect the time period in which it was filmed.
It came the year after Tom Jones and was co-produced by Finney, and as a result, was not the kind of film Finney fans were expecting.
I suspect that is why the film is not more well known.A couple of IMDb viewers were rather harsh concerning Finney's performance, but I have to disagree.
I was completely mesmerized and I highly recommend it.Probably not a good movie to watch on a dark stormy night by yourself.
At the same time, don't expect a typical horror film--I was thrown off by the very beginning and halfway through, I was questioning what I had seen--I think this was deliberate, and has a lot to do with Danny's character.
For those who feel Finney's performance was "over the top" remember in 1964 what the general perception was about a "crazy" or psychopathic person.
The public wasn't as educated about or aware of what mental illness looks like.Some historical context for this film for the reviewers who commented that Finney must really have wanted to make this film because he could do whatever he wanted after Tom Jones, and that he was trying to provide a showcase for himself.
First of all this movie was released in 1964, but it was filmed before Tom Jones was released.
This film was not, in fact, the first choice for Karel Reisz and Albert Finney, who wanted to collaborate again after working on Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
They originally planned to make a film about Ned Kelley, and had spent a lot of time and effort trying to put that project together, even going so far as to scout locations in Australia.
However, the financial backing was from MGM, and at the last minute they pulled the financing from the Ned Kelley project and told Reisz and Finney they were doing a remake of Night Must Fall.Both Director and Actor have said they didn't feel it was going well while they were making it, and they weren't happy with how it turned out; however, Tony Richardson said the same about Tom Jones.
I personally find Finney's performance riveting, the story suspenseful, and, as other people have mentioned, the cinematography as atmospheric and effective as you would expect from Freddy Francis.
I'm very glad I watched this extremely well made British '60s film before reading other critical judgements; otherwise I might not have bothered with it.
I've seen a lot of British thrillers and films noirs from this period, and some of them are really terrible; not terrifying, dreadful.
Not many parts like this are currently being written for elderly or middle-aged female actors in British or U.S films, but back then they were pretty common.
A psychological thriller well acted by a young Albert Finney..
This remake of a 1937 Robert Montgomery movie is just as eerie as the original.
Albert Finney does a great job conveying a  momma's boy character who turns even more pathological as the film progresses.
As true for many better British films, the supporting characters are well cast and perfectly matched to their respective parts..
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.
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.
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.
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.
My only problem was that I was expecting to understand more about Finney's character by the end of the film (ie: what lead to his psychotic behaviour, what had gone wrong in his childhood...that kind of thing), but never got any deep insight at all.
This remake of the 1937 film of the same name has one big drawback: a broad performance by Albert Finney as the stereotypical Mad Welshman.
Turn the sound down and you'll enjoy a lovely looking film shot by Freddie Francis, who remains one of the great living cameramen (see his work for David Lynch in the magnificent "The Straight Story").
Everything about this film LOOKS great, and there's good acting by Mona Washbourne (as usual) but Finney doesn't know how to turn it off.
A pity, considering he was just coming off Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, where he played an equally outrageous character to perfection..
A critical failure at the time of its release and considered something of a let-down for its director and star, (it was certainly an odd choice of material), this 1964 film version of Emlyn Williams' play, (it was written in 1935 and filmed two years later with Robert Montgomery), is nowhere near as bad as people say.
It's the one about the young psychopath, (a terrific Albert Finney), who worms his way into the affections of elderly invalid Mona Washbourne, (superb), and her initially stand-offish daughter, (an excellent Susan Hampshire).
The problem is that in attempting to get to the psychological heart of the piece director Karl Reisz drains it of all suspense and Clive Exton's screenplay, (I haven't seen or read the original play), is a bit on the dull side.
Cannot remember much more than this - other than the general feeling of menace and fear that Finney managed to evoke with his performance as the psychotic killer who terrorises the women of the house..
Night must fall : A great albeit modest experiment in British horror cinema by Karel Reisz and Albert Finney..
Night must fall has the dubious distinction of being not only an underrated horror film but also one of those brilliant films which has found scarce admiration in the realm of British cinema.However,these glaring shortcomings would not make much difference for those film aficionados who would like to explore new facets of horror cinema with a difference.British actor Albert Finney and director Karel Reisz have made a great horror film which works primarily on Albert Finney's mannerisms.This is a film which holds our attention as its suspense elements are merged with our comic occurrences thereby creating a kind of happiness during distress atmosphere.The psychological depth of Karel Reisz's feminine characters is so immense that it reveals their weaknesses as well as their fascination for a person who would stop at nothing in order to harm them.This is something which helps us comprehend that all characters are part of a wide spectrum of a character study which would be beneficial for society as a whole..
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.
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.
The ordeals of the psychotic Albert Finney's ladies.
Albert Finney makes a virtuoso performance, and the film could have for a subtitle 'Anatomy of a psychopath', since that is what the film envisions and with excellence.
This film Albert Finney made just after his triumph in "Tom Jones" as something of an opposite.
Wealthy widow Mrs. Bramson (Mona Washbourne) lives in the English countryside with her daughter Olivia (Susan Hampshire) and has a maid/cook named Dora (Sheila Hancock).
Dora is pregnant from her boyfriend Danny (Albert Finney).
He charms Mrs. Bramson and starts playing mind games with Olivia and Dora...but he's slowly starting to unravel.Rightly forgotten thriller.
This was done right after "Tom Jones" became a monster hit so Finney was able to do whatever he pleased.
He probably picked this to prove to people that he could act and wasn't just the handsome ladies man he played in "Jones".
Now, Finney IS a great actor but he's pretty dreadful in this.
In one scene we see Danny pretty much terrorizing Olivia who he caught in his room.
The acting by Hampshire, Hancock and Washbourne is good; there's a nice music score and it's shot appropriately in moody black & white.
Still, this is a slow, dull thriller full of annoying characters.
Might be worth watching to see Finney showing how you should NOT play a maniac.
Otherwise, there is no dramatic need for Danny to have a Welsh accent and Robert Montgomery didn't bother in the 1937 version.The main difference between the film and the play is that the film reveals its hand in the first minute that Danny is a psycho killer.
In the play, its not clear until near the end and much of the dialogue are cat n'mouse exchanges between Danny and Olivia.The result of this is to create a somewhat boring film; you know who the killer is and thus spend an hour and a hour waiting for him to explode.
Weak, lethargic version with unconvincing Finney as Danny....
Emlyn Williams would never recognize what the British have done to his play about a psychotic killer, recycled from the 1937 film that starred ROBERT MONTGOMERY, ROSALIND RUSSELL and DAME MAY Witty.What is supposed to be a tense household situation that slowly builds to a horrific climax, is treated like a stylish drawing room drama with modern British sensibilities that takes time establishing any of the characters.
Only gradually does ALBERT FINNEY get under the skin of his character, the cheerfully casual Danny who charms the wheelchair-bound mistress of a secluded British household in the country.
The glimpse we do get of Finney's inner torment is almost laughable, accompanied by discordant chords of frantic music on the soundtrack.His flawed performance is the centerpiece of the melodrama and weakens the film, just as Robert Montgomery's did in the '37 version.
By comparison, this film opens things up a bit more and is less stagey than that earlier film in which Dame May Witty stole the show.MONA WASHBOURNE does nicely in the Dame May Witty role and the other players are competent enough, but the camera is almost always on Finney in his pivotal role.
If you've seen the 1937 version of this film, it's hard not to compare the two.
The sexual tension between the two is totally gone (Olivia and Dan have sex immediately) and the great, quietly erotic scenes between Rosalind Russell and Robert Montgomery in the original (similiar to the scenes between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling) are missing.
The only suspense left comes from watching Finney as "the psycho" and wondering when he'll explode.This is why the ending falls flat.
To really enjoy this film, I would advise not seeing the original!.
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.
Things are further complicated by the fact that Washbourne's nubile daughter Susan Hampshire is smitten with the loony Finney.
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.