Marie: You’re smiling. You went back to the bar and you were acting like you had a big problem with your shoulder..
Jim: They come and go.
Marie: Trouble?
Jim: Smile.
Many consider the 1956 noir nightfall It’s a light movie, but considering Jacques Tourneur’s career, it might as well be. But I love it too much and find it too appealing to dismiss it easily. Also, this surely applies to another movie tiny toons It was riffed on at some point.
I fear the name Tourneur has been forgotten by many modern moviegoers. But his movies aren’t like that. from cat people to devil’s nightTourneur created westerns, noirs, and horror films. He made a name for himself by making pictures for Val Lewton, a producer who brought out some memorable films in the ’40s. Tourneur’s films, whether Luton’s or any other, always manage to evoke a certain kind of anxiety, an unmentioned, pervasive but ever-present fear.
fear of nightfall It may not be as powerful, but it’s there. As with all noir, there’s something off about everything. There is a feeling that everything is not right. The genre often deals with the randomness and brutality of the system, and if we lived in a time when Hollywood was functioning, it would be a burgeoning genre worthy of these troubled times.
Sterling Silliphant’s script, based on a book by David Goodis, is lean but not as mean-spirited as most noirs. But that’s not to say it’s a pretty photo. Its teeth are very sharp and can cause cuts if you’re not careful. Still, Silliphant’s script is simple for a genre where plots are so common that even the screenwriters don’t have all the answers.
Jim Vanning, played by Aldo Ray, is a civilian on the run. why? Because, through no fault of his own, he is being chased by the police and a pair of bloodthirsty bank robbers. nightfall It’s like some sadistic god is laughing out loud at the ants below.
But before that, I have to confess that this is my first Aldo Ray movie, or at least the first movie where I noticed Aldo Rey. He is a man who seems to have stepped out of his time. He’s a burly linebacker with a baby face, a soft, raspy voice, and zero affection. He doesn’t have a Bogart or Mitchum mug, but there’s something compelling about his presence.
My wife said: “He’s like a modern actor in a 1950s movie.” All of this goes to show that Ray may not be the best leading man, but he’s a fascinating one. His bland character as the hapless James Vanning both contradicts and embodies genre archetypes.
Now, if Ray is the only good thing, nightfallI can understand the tendency for this movie to be called “light”. But they still haven’t reached the psychopathic bank robbers played by Brian Keith and Rudy Bond, who play John and Red, who relentlessly pursue Vanning.
Keith, the cool and level-headed leader of the duo, and Bond’s sadistic, laughing sidekick are also charming. nightfall They are memorable, if only because of their casual brutality. These two have a combustible energy that gives them an unsettling menace in the ’50s, or any era for that matter. Needless to say, it turns out that what the two share isn’t loyalty, but rather an uneasy truce.
James Gregory will also star as Ben, an insurance agent pursuing Vanning. Gregory is there primarily as a dumping ground for the exposition and as a surrogate for the audience. He is contradictory. He is tailing Banning for the insurance company and acts like a guilty man trying to go unnoticed, despite how innocent Bunning may be.
Oh, I didn’t mention Anne freaking out Bancroft. Bancroft has great chemistry with Ray, her baritone voice contrasting nicely with Ray’s own unique timbre. Silliphant’s script may be a little too quick to take her from bar stranger to loyal lover, but this noir’s logic is the least of our worries. Besides Bancroft, Marie has one of my favorite moments, when she stops in the middle of a rant directed at Vanning and politely asks for a cigarette before continuing to rip into the man.
Tell me about a woman.
Probably what makes it so nightfall What makes it so easy to dismiss is that it lacks psychological depth compared to the genre and Tourneur’s other works. not so wealthy Another famous noir of his, Get out of the past Or just as full of fear leopardan early Val Lewton film and one of the first. To address the concept of serial killers. You could say it’s an early slasher.
but nightfall Includes unique fun. Silliphant’s script, chock-full of tough dialogue mixed with poetic prose, has an underlying patina that borders on sly parody. For example, when Ben tells Jim that everything will be fine, he reminds him to “don’t forget Dandy.”
Not to mention how Silliphant constructs the story. People point out that this story is so unnatural that everything happens by chance. Not to mention the flashback that happens halfway through the movie. But that’s the point. Silliphant and Tourneur look at how unjust, unfeeling, and unforgiving the universe is. You can’t outrun your future. Otherwise, do what Vanning does and wait for the perfect moment.
Guffey and Tourneur undermine this by having the majority of the film take place during daylight hours. But Guffey still finds moments to play with the shadows, giving the film a ghostly feel. Tourneur’s direction strips away the surreal, dream-like qualities associated with the genre, but still retains a fantastical quality while creating a more realistic natural aesthetic.
Instead, replace it with a desolate, dark atmosphere. The vast, snow-covered wilderness of Wyoming is a visual representation of how small and insignificant we are. There’s beauty in it, but it’s there, never mind the brutality that precedes it.
make a call nightfall It’s too coincidental to be believed, but it misses the point. “What really happened is always hard to explain.” The past is full of bank robbers, cops, dead friends, hoaxes, and money hidden in the Wyoming wilderness. The future is happening before our eyes, while the present is trying to deal with the garbage of the past.
nightfall It’s about how things happen. Some people, like Vanning, are just unlucky. part of what you make nightfall What’s so interesting is that Vanning did nothing to cause this. He just went camping. While camping with his best friend, he finds himself accused of murder and almost driven to suicide. He is currently on the run from the law and two madmen.
There are many notes from nightfall it reminds us fargoespecially the way the dry comedy melds with the terrifying. There’s a scene with a snow plow on the runway that makes you feel something. I’m sure the Coens giggled incessantly at how effective it was, no matter how ridiculous it was.
nightfall If for no other reason than that, despite its trappings, it’s tempting to zig where it’s supposed to zig. Whether parts of the film take place in broad daylight or how the foot-tracking takes place during a fashion show, Tourneur, Silliphant and Guffey emphasize the idea that noir feels like a nightmare come true. leaning towards. It may indeed be a happy ending, but behind the neatly tied bow lurks in everyone’s eyes the shadow that the same thing might happen again.
Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures
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