La noche que nunca fue mia

Gary Merrill plays a failed playwright in a dreary marriage, trying to recall a drunken evening. And if you ask me next week what this movie is about, I'd probably have a hard time recalling it. There's little reason to care about what's going on, and not much to care about anyway. At least there is something of a payoff in the end, but it's a matter of too little, too late. You could make a case that the film explores bitter regrets and existential ennui, but it's too superficial to get excited about. Bland performances (Linda Darnell stands out but only because of her beauty), bland imagery, bland drama. A good remedy for your own nights without sleep.

Six years ago, Gary Merrill was a rising composer whose career was about to be cut short because his Broadway show had run out of money before opening. Joyce Mackenzie came up with the money and now they are married and thoroughly miserable. Merrill can't write and drinks. After a blank night he wanders down to New York City to see his occasional girlfriend Hildegard Knef. He runs into Linda Darnell, who had been an unnoticed chorus girl in the show. Now she is a big Hollywood star, and still in love with Merrill.

It's an exercise in self pity, with everyone reciting overblown, self-pitying lines while Cyril Mockridge's ludicrously lush score plays in the background, and a terrible forgotten memory will destroy everything. It's complete tripe.

1952's "Night Without Sleep" is an obscure Fox 'B' that popped up on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater on February 28 1976, followed by second feature "Beginning of the End," the Bert I. Gordon cheapie about giant grasshoppers. The prospect of sitting through this snoozefest does indeed chill the blood, basically a feature length exposition centering on a once famous musician, now an unhappily married alcoholic who finds more camaraderie with his dog than with the numerous females in the cast. Star Gary Merrill made a career out of roles like this, especially on the Hitchcock teleseries, but never once raises the scale on the dramatic meter. Earlier on Chiller Theater was the even more obscure "Run Psycho Run," a 1965 melodrama that Merrill did in Italy, even tougher to find. In 1974, he and June Vincent would be reunited, again as husband and wife, on an episode of KUNG FU, "The Way of Violence Has No Mind." Any audience that braves "Night Without Sleep" may have trouble avoiding 90 minutes of boredom.

Gary Merrill, Linda Darnell, Hildegarde Knef, and June Vincent star in "Night Without Sleep," a noir from 1952.

Merrill is an alcoholic composer who wakes up one morning thinking he's killed someone. In flashbacks, we see him go back over his experiences - his wife (Vincent) going on a trip, meeting a gorgeous film star (Darnell) at a party, seeing a sometime girlfriend (Knef) - he knows there was violence during one of these encounters, but which one?

Not a great film. I always enjoy seeing Darnell and Knef. The film kind of creaked along until the denouement.

What was fascinating about this film is a look at how people lived back then - theater started at 8:30, you went to a club after for a late supper, you sat around drinking and smoking cigarettes and probably ran into someone you knew. And everyone was dressed to the nines. Worth seeing for some of those aspects.

Awaking one morning out of a drunken stupor, composer Richard Morton (Gary Merrill) can't shake the feeling he has murdered a woman during the night.

In a flashbacks as he tries to piece things together, we return six years ago Richard was a rising composer, however his career was about to be cut short because his Broadway show had run out of money before opening. Emily came up with the money and it's a loveless marriage as his wife just wants him to write a play for her own benefit. Merrill can't write and drinks. After a blank night he wanders down to New York City to see his occasional girlfriend Hildegard Knef. He runs into Linda Darnell, who had been an unnoticed chorus girl in the show. Now she is a big Hollywood star, and still in love with Merrill.

Night without Sleep is quite talky and drifts into a romantic interlude, however it's quite engaging, the dialogue is sharp and there's great performances all round - Gary Merrill stands out as a composer who feels used by the women in his life; he wants someone to appreciate him for himself, not for what he can do for them. Quite offbeat, it's an interesting thriller which ends sadly.