Nightfall

Plot synopsis:
Commercial artist James Vanning (Aldo Ray) and his friend, Dr. Edward Gurston (Frank Albertson), are on a hunting and fishing trip in Wyoming. They stop to help two men whose car has crashed. John (Brian Keith) and Red (Rudy Bond) are bank robbers, fleeing with $350,000 in loot, who don't plan on leaving any witnesses.
They murder Gurston using Vanning's hunting rifle, but through luck Vanning survives. He's knocked out cold but is still alive. He awakens to discover the stolen money, left behind by mistake, and runs with it from the returning hoods. He gets away but loses the bag in the blizzard.
Much later, at a café in Los Angeles, Vanning makes the acquaintance of Marie Gardner (Anne Bancroft), a model. He is ambushed by John and Red, but once again gets away. Marie falls for Vanning and travels by bus with him to Wyoming, tailed by an insurance investigator named Fraser (James Gregory) who has been following the case all along.
John and Red have found the money and get the drop on the other three. The crooks double-cross one another, however, and Red shoots John dead. Vanning fights with Red, who is killed by a snow plow. The insurance man will clear Vanning, who is now free to marry Marie.

Tags: suspenseful, murder, flashback

Review:
He's just right here, playing tough guy up against cold-hearted Brian Keith and buddy/big brother/love-interest to model Anne Bancroft, who gets caught in this crime web and yet doesn't seem to mind.
Despite a sluggish start and a few details that don't come together (such as why the crooks' car runs off the road in Wyoming, or why the two bank-robbers don't follow Aldo Ray when he runs through the river with the satchel of loot), director Jacques Tourneur handles the criss-crossing plot with buttery ease.
If "Out of the Past" is one of the best films noir to be released in the 1940s, then "Nightfall" must be one of the best from the succeeding decade.Aldo Ray plays James Vanning, who, with his doctor friend Edward Gurston (Frank Albertson), finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up knowing the whereabouts of a bag of stolen money, wanted mightily by two bank robbers (one played with droll relish by Brian Keith).
Fate, always a principal character in any film noir, brings James together with Marie Gardner (an impossibly young Anne Bancroft), a fashion model who becomes his girl Friday.
I don't know if Aldo Ray was considered a good actor at the time, but he does a terrific job here -- who better to play an American everyman caught up in a sticky web than this all-American jock of an actor?
He and Bancroft sizzle in their scenes together, and one of the movie's highlights comes when they are racing away from one of Bancroft's fashion shows with the bad guys in hot pursuit, and Ray, frustrated by the fact that Bancroft can't run in the impractical gown she was just modeling, picks her up and runs with her into the safety of a cab, after which she leans against him and says, "You're the most wanted man I know." This scene and line got laughs and applause at the screening I attended, but you could tell that people were laughing with the film and not at it.This film is one of the highlights of the noir genre, and I highly recommend catching it if you get a chance.Grade: A.
But consider the opening chance encounter between Vanning (Aldo Ray) and Marie (Anne Bancroft).
Jacques Tourneur's Nightfall follows the classic Film-Noir pattern: a man hunted by someone for something he did in the past, a beautiful woman, expressionist black and white photography etc..
The action of the film takes place in Chicago where James Vanning (Aldo Ray), meets in a bar a beautiful young fashion model Marie Gardner (Anne Bancroft).
Though Nightfall doesn't stand comparison to Jacques Tourneur Film-Noir masterpiece Out of the Past, it's still quite an interesting film generally well acted with some very good dialogs in it and the most remarkable end sequence that probably served as an inspiration for the ending of brothers' Coen Fargo.
The artist James "Jim" Vanning (Aldo Ray) meets the model Marie Gardner (Anne Bancroft) in a bar and they have dinner together.
Will Jim prove his innocence?"Nightfall" is a film-noir with a story of coincidences and bad luck.
The wonderful Jacques Tourneur directed this 1957 noir, "Nightfall," starring Aldo Ray, Anne Bancroft, Brian Keith, James Gregory, and Frank Albertson.James Vanning (Aldo Ray) is on the run from some vicious criminals who have stolen a fortune from a bank.
They believe that Ray, an innocent party, knows where in the Wyoming mountains the money is.Back in the city, Vanning meets a model (Bancroft) and this is picked up by two of the crooks.
He manages to get away and goes to Bancroft's place; since the thugs know who she is, the two of them have to go on the run.Tourneur's themes here are similar to his other films, such as "Cat People," "Out of the Past," "Experiment Perilous" as three examples: Chance meetings and coincidence dominate a story where Tourneur uses flashbacks expertly.
Here, two innocent people are drawn into a situation and being pursued.Very absorbing story -- in her early films, beautiful Anne Bancroft, a powerful actress, was cast in these young leading lady or ingenue roles, like Bette Davis when she first came to Warners.
The film opens stunningly: we watch the hunted protagonist (the, well, stolid Aldo Ray) as Los Angeles day darkens into dusk, and the pace flows seamlessly to a "chance" meeting with the young Anne Bancroft in a cocktail lounge.
Anne Bancroft is luminescent in her film debut as the model who comes to anti-hero Ray's aid.
And James Gregory is fabulous as the detective shadowing Ray. But Rudy Bond steals the show whenever he's on screen as Brian Keith's sadistic partner.
So he's doing the Richard Kimble thing and staying low.I'm sure he couldn't believe his luck when beautiful model Anne Bancroft gives him the come hither look in that bar just to get him out in the alley so Brian Keith and Rudy Bond can get to him.
Of course she being the good citizen she is, does this because she believes they're cops and they just want to apprehend Ray. In flashback we learn that out in the Wyoming woods Keith and Ray get some help from Ray and his friend Frank Albertson who happens to be a doctor.
After that Ray's on the run.Jacques Tourneur directed this rather unbelievable noir film and the thing I most can't believe is this is the same guy who directed Out of the Past.
So what if Brian Keith and Rudy Bond stupidly lose 350,000 dollars just so they can move the story along and chase protagonist Aldo Ray from snowy Wyoming to sunny LA.
The biggest problem is the plot which gets worse the further along you go and climaxes in an unbelievable (not in a good way) and contrived ending, which if re-written, could have made this a pretty decent film..
It's a widescreen black and white affair, set in an unnamed (I think) big city and in wilderness Wyoming.It's no surprise that director Jacques Tourneur makes a dark, brooding movie with unusual location shooting.
Tourneur was on a long slide in his career (though a cult classic of his, "Curse of the Demon," was due out in a few months), and I think he is just a victim along with everyone in Hollywood of the 1950s nosedive due to t.v. and changing tastes.That said, there are so many things to like here, including a more modern feeling of noir sensibilities, it's a great movie to study, or to appreciate as much as get swept up in..
****SPOILERS**** Unconvincing and very talky movie about about an innocent man James, Aldo Ray, on the run from two hoodlums John & Red, Brian Keith & Ruby Bond, as well as a bank insurance investigator Ben, James Gregory.
James then gets involved with Marie, Ann Bancroft, as the whole bunch go from L.A to some 1,000 miles South-East to end up in the snows of Moose Wyoming for the movies climactic and totally contrived ending sequence.
The film "Nightfall" ends with James & Marie and the two crooks, John & Red, as well as the bank insurance investigator Ben heading down to Moose Wyoming.
It seem by now that the movie makers just got so sick and tired of the story, like those of us watching,that they wanted to finally end the movie and put the audience as well as those actors in the film out of their misery.
In the end of the film the three surviving cast members, James Marie & Ben, split up the bank money and live happily ever after..
It stars Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, Rudy Bond, James Gregory and Anne Bancroft.
Music is by George Duning and cinematography by Burnett Guffey.A pretty model, an insurance investigator, two thugs, an innocent man on the run and a bag of stolen money buried out in the Wyoming snow.
Destiny awaits with devilish glee.It resembles the earlier Tourneur classic Out of the Past, so loses a bit of freshness, it hinges on a major contrivance involving the bag of money and it's more blanc-noir than film noir, but Nightfall rounds out as being a well executed paranoid thriller.
Pulling it into the film noir universe is the protagonist played by Aldo Ray (a mighty physical presence), he's the victim of mischances and coincidences, his situation worsening because of paranoia and the inability to comprehend how the vagaries of fate have put him into a life and death predicament.
These characters are always interesting, the thugs played by Keith & Bond are unusual because they need the help of Ray's protagonist, thus having to rein in murderous tendencies, Gregory's investigator is like an impartial observer on the periphery and Bancroft's babe starts out cold but becomes a woman prepared to go on the lam with a guy who clearly has issues to be resolved!
Ultimately, and rightly so, it's Ray's movie, his Vanning character is a haunted figure, the world weighing heavily on his huge gait, with gravel in voice and bemusement in eyes, it's a true film noir character that is excellently portrayed.Interesting if a mixed bag, Nightfall is however comfortably recommended to those interested in noir cinema.
Jacques Tourneur is at his poetic best with this simple tale of a wrongfully accused man pursued by the police and the crooks — a classic noir plot if ever there was one.
The cast is perfect: Aldo Ray is solid as the likable hero in the wrong place at the wrong time, Anne Bancroft has just the right combination of worldly wisdom and hope as the girl caught up Ray's troubles, Brian Keith and Rudy Bond are a couple of hard guys who don't much like each other but have 300,000 reasons to form a slightly uneasy alliance and the wonderful character actor James Gregory gives a nuanced performance as the insurance agent on Ray's trail.While Nightfall won't change your life if is a solid piece of entertainment which Hollywood seem to toss off with so little effort back in 40's and 50's.
The film starts out with James Vanning, (Aldo Ray)walking down a dark street and trying to keep himself in the shadows when he meets up with a man who wants a light for his cigarette, this man is Ben Fraser, (James Gregory) which is a very quick encounter and then James goes into a bar and not long after he meets up with a pretty girl, Marie Gardner, (Anne Bancroft) who asks him for five dollars and he becomes rather suspicious at first and after a while he takes her to dinner.
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).
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.
In this noir he plays an artist pursued both by the cops and the crooks -- and Anne Bancroft leaps at the chance to hitch her wagon to the big lug with a nice face and trouble from all sides.Jaques Tourneur (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie) directs with exceptional taste and restraint.
All the actors are nicely human as they go through some pretty grisly stuff at a brisk pace.Brian Keith as the big bad guy plays him low-key and reasonable but not averse to torture if it works.
A terrific B-movie with A-list credentials, (Jacques Tourneur directed, Stirling Silliphant did the screenplay from a David Goodis novel, Burnett Guffey was the cinematographer and the cast included Aldo Ray, Anne Bancroft, Brian Keith, James Gregory and Jocelyn Brando though it is Rudy Bond's psycho-killer who steals the movie).
The intensity of the action, superb direction, astonishing juxtaposition of the city sequences and scenes in the tranquil, snow-filled countryside, and - probably most of all - the many hardboiled dialogues present Nightfall as a truly expressive film noir.
Through a clever use of retrospectives the film introduces the audience to James Vanning (Aldo Ray), whose life story is as tragic as it is suspenseful.
It begins with the doctor,(you may recognize character actor from Hitchcock's "Psycho"; the wealthy oil man) anyway the doctor and his friend, Aldo Ray, are on a hunting trip in Wyoming.
She is interested in helping Ray, at first cautious, doubting his story.There is the usual pursuit and chase as the criminals trail Ray. Brian Keith is rather good as a menacing character, there is a scene in a oil field where he is threatening Ray, if the whereabouts of the stash of money is not disclosed.Overall a do not miss, worth buying on DVD.
The other great noir film directed by Jacques Tourneur.
NIGHTFALL is a spellbinding 1957 noir film directed by the great Jacques Tourneur.
Based on a novel by David Goodis ("Dark Passage," "Shoot The Piano Player," etc) the film stars Aldo Ray, Anne Bancroft, Brian Keith, James Gregory and Rudy Bond.
Nearly a forgotten film, NIGHTFALL has never been available on any home video format.NIGHTFALL tells of the plight of an innocent man (Aldo Ray) plunged into a nightmarish scenario of fear and paranoia when he becomes the object of pursuit by both the cops and a pair of sadistic killers (Keith and Bond) over the whereabouts of a cache of stolen money.
Anyone familiar with the dark and despairing novels of David Goodis will no doubt be drawn into the dire world of NIGHTFALL's protagonist, Jim Vanning---beautifully played by the vastly under-appreciated Aldo Ray. Ray's compelling portrait of a tough man on the brink of utter desperation (a common thread in Goodis' fiction) is a revelation---as honest a depiction of a tortured hero as 1950s American pulp cinema has provided.
Much of the heavy lifting is done by Brian Keith as a bank robber and James Gregory, who was very good as the insurance investigator.
Anne Bancroft is the female lead in a non-taxing role as Ray's girlfriend.Tourneur does an excellent job for an independent production company on a picture which is not in the same class as "Out Of The Past", but comes close.
After watching it I am happy I didn't know anything about the plot because in that way I enjoyed it much more than if I had known , so I advice you to watch "Nightfall" before reading comments, reviews or summaries about it.Now if U want to know more about the movie before watching it here is a little more information: All the performances are great, but I have to say the actors who played the bad guys were terrific, I found them similar to the characters played by Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta from Pulp Fiction (one of my favorites movies).During the first minutes there is a couple of great scenes with excellent dialogs at a night club between the characters James Vanning and Marie Gardner.
It is a pretty nice device as it goes, because it allows a lot of action to be happening at the same sort of time in the film even if events were further apart at either end of the story.The downside of the flashback device is that it is trigger by James telling "love interest" Marie about his past; Marie doesn't seem to exist for any other reason than enabling this plot device to be used, so when she is not being used this way then she feels a little bit redundant as a character and does get in the way a little bit.
Man On The Run. An innocent man named James Vanning (Aldo Ray) finds himself in a predicament involving bank robbers.
I wouldn't put this on the emotional level of that wonderful film, but it does effectively contrast the cold dark city with the cold white space of the countryside.The story unfolds in a series of flashbacks related by the singularly unlucky James Vanning, our hero.
But to make things worse, John and Red also catch up with Vanning...and they're prepared to do whatever's necessary to get their money back.The chase is on, with Vanning trying to elude the sadistic thugs as well as Frazier, while also romancing Marie, a sultry model who offers him shelter.Beautiful cinematography is a given in any Tourneur film and the direction here is as top notch as ever.
Anne Bancroft is most attractive as Marie, though I never shook the feeling she was a token female stuck in the movie for a tacked on romance.As with just about any film, the bad guys really dominate.
These flaws lay at the heart of Nightfall's problems.Ordinary guy Jim Vanning (Aldo Ray) and his doctor friend (Frank Albertson) are out hunting when they witness an auto crash.
We learn more about his character than that of anyone else in the cast, but he ends up having little to do with the story's outcome.The final strike against Nightfall is delivered by Aldo Ray. As written Jim Vanning is basically an ordinary guy in way over his head, so scared that he jumps when a newsie suddenly turns on the lights of his newsstand.
Ray is at first mistaken for one of the robbers by James Gregory, doing his best to play a sincere character, a bank bond investigator.
One that tends to slip through the cracks is Jacques Tourneur's "Nightfall", an excellent film released in 1957, toward the end of the noir cycle.
James Vanning, a commercial artist played by Aldo Ray. Vanning's one of noir's strangest saps.
When the Columbia honchos cast him with more stage-trained costars (Anne Bancroft, Brian Keith and James Gregory) like they have done in this picture, the result is a truly interesting set of dynamics and interplay.The story is told mainly in flashback and the pacing is fairly brisk.
One thing about actor Aldo Ray. To me, his craggy voice disqualified him forever from being the leading man type in films.