I've seen bad movies. This is not a poorly made movie. But it's bad nonetheless.
Why? I asked myself as I sat through it, never bored for one minute. The black and white cinematography is often quite good. The acting, at least Henry Fonda's and Vincent Price's, is good, given what they had to work with.
The script, certainly, is terrible. Far too many things don't make sense. At the end, when all those men down below are calling up to Fonda saying that they're his friend and that they will help him, you remember that in all that preceded the end he had been shown as a loner with no friends. Where did all those very devoted friends come from all of a sudden? And how could Barbara Bel Geddes' character be so naïve as to go on trips with a man who had "forced his affections on her"? There is a limit to innocence, after all.
I kept having the feeling that there was a LOT of script that had for some reason never been shot, that we were missing out on a lot of details that would have made sense of some of what remained.
I honestly can't think of any reason to recommend this movie to anyone. I very much like Anatole Litvak's better movies - that's why I rented this one - but even so I found this very disappointing. Maybe if you're a fanatic about b&w cinematography you could ignore the plot and just watch the picture. Best to turn off the sound if you do.
I can't imagine why anyone would have made this movie, nor how anyone could have imagined it stood any chance of making any money.
Postscript: Having now seen the French original on which this movie was very closely based, Le jour se lève, I understand the reason the script of the American one so often makes no sense: puritanism. In the French movie, the young woman, Françoise, has evidently had an on-again, off-again affair with the animal trainer (Vincent). Jean Gabin's character, the one played by Henry Fonda, finds out about it. In fact, he shoots the animal trainer (Vincent Price's character) when this latter threatens to tell him about their sex life together.
The French movie is very beautiful, a real masterpiece. Everything makes sense. Including the end, which is the one thing they completely changed for the American version. I won't spoil the French movie by telling you what it is, but I will say that it is both very powerful and astoundingly beautifully filmed.
Don't waste your time on The Long Night. Yes, there are some good touches in it, but by the time they have taken all the sex out, what remains makes no sense. See Le jour se lève. It's a powerful masterpiece.
And if you have seen The Long Night, make SURE you see Le jour se lève. The very different end will overwhelm you, as it just did me.
Why? I asked myself as I sat through it, never bored for one minute. The black and white cinematography is often quite good. The acting, at least Henry Fonda's and Vincent Price's, is good, given what they had to work with.
The script, certainly, is terrible. Far too many things don't make sense. At the end, when all those men down below are calling up to Fonda saying that they're his friend and that they will help him, you remember that in all that preceded the end he had been shown as a loner with no friends. Where did all those very devoted friends come from all of a sudden? And how could Barbara Bel Geddes' character be so naïve as to go on trips with a man who had "forced his affections on her"? There is a limit to innocence, after all.
I kept having the feeling that there was a LOT of script that had for some reason never been shot, that we were missing out on a lot of details that would have made sense of some of what remained.
I honestly can't think of any reason to recommend this movie to anyone. I very much like Anatole Litvak's better movies - that's why I rented this one - but even so I found this very disappointing. Maybe if you're a fanatic about b&w cinematography you could ignore the plot and just watch the picture. Best to turn off the sound if you do.
I can't imagine why anyone would have made this movie, nor how anyone could have imagined it stood any chance of making any money.
Postscript: Having now seen the French original on which this movie was very closely based, Le jour se lève, I understand the reason the script of the American one so often makes no sense: puritanism. In the French movie, the young woman, Françoise, has evidently had an on-again, off-again affair with the animal trainer (Vincent). Jean Gabin's character, the one played by Henry Fonda, finds out about it. In fact, he shoots the animal trainer (Vincent Price's character) when this latter threatens to tell him about their sex life together.
The French movie is very beautiful, a real masterpiece. Everything makes sense. Including the end, which is the one thing they completely changed for the American version. I won't spoil the French movie by telling you what it is, but I will say that it is both very powerful and astoundingly beautifully filmed.
Don't waste your time on The Long Night. Yes, there are some good touches in it, but by the time they have taken all the sex out, what remains makes no sense. See Le jour se lève. It's a powerful masterpiece.
And if you have seen The Long Night, make SURE you see Le jour se lève. The very different end will overwhelm you, as it just did me.