NIGHT MUST FALL

Danny, a handsome waiter descends on the country house of Mrs. Bramson, an old invalid who lives with her daughter Olivia. Danny had gotten Mrs. Bramson's maid pregnant and Mrs. Bramson wants to find out Danny's intentions in regard to her. Danny courts the old woman very carefully. Charmed by his allure, she invites him to stay with them with the excuse that he should paint some rooms. She then has Danny call her "Mamma" and together they recreate an environment of children's games. Olivia is bored with her sparkless fiancé. She, too, lets herself be seduced by the manners towards her aggressive of her mother's guest. Meanwhile, Dora plays along with Danny's games with her bosses, although she is confused by them. The police make their first appearance on the edge of the woods in the background of the house. They are looking for the body of a middleaged woman and begin to dredge in the pond. The killer is Danny himself. When Olivia is scolded by her mother for her relationship with Danny she leaves the house. A little after Dora leaves. When left alone with Mrs. Bramson, Danny plays with her. But when the old woman wants to stop, he feels excluded and so decides to punish her. When Olivia comes back to the city her mother is dead and Danny is shut in the bathroom, already prey to a long night of madness.

"The first version of Night Must Fall had a great success with the public and the critics. This was a result, above all, of the splendid interpretation of Robert Montgomery in the role of Danny a psychopath he portrays in a convincing manner… But, given his intellectual background and steady concern with leading issues, it's understandable that Reisz was hesitant to make a new version of a film purely entertaining in purpose and theme. Hence he thought of transforming the basic melodrama into a psychological study which was to reveal certain social structures in the killer's environment. Probably here as in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, important themes were to be treated by focusing on a central character who was victim and aggressor at the same time. This idea was very attractive to Albert Finney. Once more, spurred on by 'purer motives' and 'higher intentions', the two threw themselves into the work on a new subject very excitedly." (Georg Gaston, Karel Reisz, Boston, Twayne Publisher, 1980)

Director: Karel Reisz.
Screenplay: Clive Exton, daila commedia di Emlyn Williams.
Director of photography: Freddie Francis.
Operatore: Gerry Fischer.
Editor: Fergus McDonell, Philip Barnikel.
Music: Ron Grainer.
Art director: Lionel Couch, Timothy O'Brien.
Cast: Albert Finney (Danny), Mona Washbourne (Mrs. Bramson), Susan Hampshire (Olivia), Sheila Hancock (Dora), Martina Wyldeck (l'ispettore Willet), Michael Medwin, Joe Gladwin, John Gill.
Production company: Albert Finney, Karel Reisz per la Memorial Enterprise.