Die schrecklich lange Nacht

I remembered seeing this movie on UK television a couple of times when I was very young back in the 1970s and since then it has vanished without trace.

Only in recent years, with the memory of a kidnapped girl being kept in an underground coffin refusing to go away did I search on the internet and manage to identify this film and at last I've got hold of a copy and been able to see it again after all these years.

I was surprised how many well-known actors are in it and the fact that this adventure is based on a real-life incident will always give it that extra 'edge'. However, I found it very pedestrian watching it in 2007. The scenes unfold in a very matter-of-fact manner and yes, there's a certain tension because an innocent girl's life is at stake, but that aside I found it almost uninvolving at times. There's really not much effort made to really get inside any of the characters. We don't get to know any of the chambers family before the kidnap takes place on screen (the very first scene) so the impact of this shattering intrusion on their everyday lives is lessened.

David Janssen goes through a lot of worrying as the father but at no point during the film is he ever seen with his daughter, so its harder for us to see how greatly he's affected by all this - we never witness what his normal routine was like, what kind of a character he normally is, what kind of a change he goes through. Maybe he's always worried? Without much depth to the characters its hard for the actors to make much of their roles - there's a feeling that everybody is just going through the motions.

Nevertheless, the opening scene when Mrs Chambers is tied up and the daughter forcibly taken away is still dramatic and I'm not surprised it stuck in my memory for 30 years.

Overall - it's interesting to watch, but its really a straight re-telling of the facts rather than a carefully-crafted drama. It would be done a lot better nowadays, I'm sure.

Great cast and performances headline this virtual biopic, economical at less than 75 mins head to tail which still produces the nail-biting tension the premise promises to deliver. Director Jack Smight made a similar telemovie "The Screaming Woman" around the same time which I'd also recommend. Farentino is the standout here, and his partner in crime played by Skye Aubrey is also pretty convincing as the well-prepared kidnappers attempting to extort half a million from wealthy businessman (Janssen) for the safe return of his adult daughter whose trapped beneath the ground in a purpose built tomb with limited resources to survive. Smight keeps a lid on anything hysterical, a highly process-driven police response led by an ultra-conservative FBI team which includes Mike Farrell as the principal agent, whilst John Kerr and Jason Bernard (uncredited) are prominent and equally stony-faced in support. Overall this was an engaging and taut telemovie, no-nonsense with a very solid cast and safe-hands approach, worthy of a viewing.

Mercenary couple kidnap a young woman--the daughter of a wealthy businessman--from her hotel room and hold her for ransom; while they are awaiting the $500K in cash to arrive, they bury their victim underground in a ventilated 'capsule' with only enough air for seven days. Directed by Jack Smight and written by Merwin Gerard (from a true account, of which Gerard apparently recreated faithfully), "The Longest Night" hasn't a single plot twist or element of surprise--it's a textbook account, which is both pro and con. The filmmakers blessedly steer clear of histrionics (everyone keeps a cool head), but there isn't much action, what with the girl buried alive in a confined space and her father dealing with her abductor over the phone. Much of the film's success is due to the performances, and David Janssen (as the distraught father) and James Farentino (flashing his dimples as the kidnapper) are both solid. Smight mounts the story as a news reporter might; scene by scene is dictated by fact. The incident was revisited in 1990 for another TV-movie, "83 Hours 'Til Dawn".

I must have watched this film in 1972 on an old box TV, I would have been almost 7 and to this day I can still remember the room where we were sat and certain scenes from this film. The blanket of autumn leaves covering the buried chamber where the kidnapped girl lay, the way the interior of her chamber was shot, the pipes for breathing and for water. From this summer in 1972, I have always had a fear of small enclosed spaces and being kidnapped!! Where my dear parents were that night, allowing such a small child to watch such a film, I do not know! But I am living proof that effective, subtle films can affect children deeply and in this easily accessible media age, parents really do have to be careful. Perhaps if I saw this film again, my phobias would fade. A remake would be great!

This movie not only has some of the greatest stars before they were famous - David Janssen, Mike Ferrell, James Farentino, Sharon Gless, Phyllis Thaxter, Richard Andersen - but it is 98% accurate to the true story. The later "authorized" movie 83 Hours Til Dawn was focused more on the kidnapper than the victims, and was poorly done. Sallie Shockley did an excellent and believable job as the victim, and did not whine one bit. A great movie, and I hope it comes out on DVD at some point - I have only been able to find it on eBay as a recorded copy from television when it was first aired. Availability might be impaired by the copyright lawsuit filed and won by Gene Miller when it aired as an infringement of his book.