That Night! (1957) User Reviews

As realistic as it gets

[Kitty Foyle · 10/10 · 9 August 2000]

I really love this movie. It perfectly represents the trials and tribulations of a typical US suburban family in the 1950's. All the actors are relative unknowns who perfectly dissolve into their characters. The devastation that a husband's heart attack can have on the family is totally underestimated by those who have never had the unfortunate experience.

amazing chronicle of US middle class pressures

[rollo_tomaso · 10/10 · 7 January 2001]

This and The Hidden Eye are two of the most exceptional Hopperesque American "foreign" films of the 1950's. Shot by shot, this independent classic cuts directly to the "heart" of US middle class struggles by realistically sharing with us all the forces at play and episodic experiences of an account executive who suddenly finds himself trying to reinvent his life's boundaries after suffering a near-fatal heart attack. I give it 10 out of 10 -- a must-see classic.

Cinema Verite Perfectly Done Before Genre Became In Vogue

[maharani_md · 10/10 · 24 July 2000]

John Beal gives a great performance as an ordinary salesman who suffers a heart attack. Augusta Dabney is equally true-to-life as the wife. Karl Swenson and Jackson Beck are effective in small bits. If you ever want a time capsule to take you into life as it really was in 1957, you could not do better than That Night. John Newland's practiced eye for documentary has never been more advantageously used.