La nuit du lendemain

Marlon Brando is just amazing in this intelligent film.Most people don't understand Brando's career choices during the sixties.But I think that as years go by,they will.His ideas were way ahead of his time.His talent and range were unbelievable.Every actor tries to imitate his intensity (deniro,penn,nolte,.....) with no success.Definitely the king of acting.

The Night of the Following Day (1968)

*** (out of 4)

A girl (Pamela Franklin) finds herself kidnapped by a group of kidnappers (Marlon Brando, Richard Boone, Rita Moreno) but is sworn her life is safe as long as her father pays the ransom. Soon it becomes clear that the kidnapper's most difficult thing is going to be dealing with each other.

THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY didn't make much of a splash when it was originally released and throughout the decades it still hasn't gained much of a cult following. For fans of Marlon Brando this was released during a period when the actor was struggling or just not really caring what type of movies he was doing as long as there was a paycheck attached. While there are certainly many flaws with the picture I think it's a rather underrated kidnapping yarn.

What I enjoyed most about the film was the cast. Brando delivers a pretty good performance here as the kidnapper who quickly realizes this plan isn't working. I thought the actor was quite good in the part and I enjoyed the more psychological nature he brought the character. Boone and Gerard Buhr as a friendly cop are also quite good and Moreno is also very memorable as the kidnapper with the drug problem. Franklin is also good here in a role that doesn't offer her much to do but it's still fun seeing her.

The film obviously wants to be like the various Euro crime films that the decade was full of. The biggest problem is that director Hubert Cornfield goes for a laid-back approach, which is fine but a bit more energy or tension would have been nice. I'd also argue that there's really nothing overly special about the screenplay and the main story. THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY doesn't last too long and it's mainly going to appeal to people for its cast.

The Night Before The Following Day is one of Marlon Brando's most over-looked films. Looking as fit and trim as he was in Streetcar Named Desire, Brando gives an emotionally charged performance as Bud (Brando's nickname in real life!), the leader of a gang of ruthless kidnappers. Brando's acting is at its best in an amazing scene in which he has an intense conversation with Jess Hahn about his misgivings regarding the success of their kidnapping.

The supporting cast is remarkable. Richard Boone as a sadistic murderer, gives his finest career performance. His villain is the most chilling in movie-screen history. Jess Hahn, as hard-luck Wally, steals the show. He has the look and build of a man who has been dealt the worst of bad luck. Rita Moreno as Wally's drug-addicted sister and Brando's girl-friend, is at her rawest. And a young Pamela Franklin as the kidnap victim shines in a truly abusive role.

Raw acting, graphic brutality, realistic action, a surprise ending, and out-standing acting performances makes The Night Before The Following Day a Marlon Brando classic.

Although the acting is by all means above average, this movie suffers from lack of tension and suspense.The characters' actions are sometimes incomprehensible and the ending is too disappointing. Was this kind of ending supposed to be a novelty back in 1969? I don't think so.... Anyway, the Night of the following day is no garbage but it's no good either.

5

This picture is worth time to see, but only if you've willing to invest the time to put in the effort to pay close attention. It is not a good choice as a movie to keep on in the background. The kidnapping goes wrong almost immediately, not from law enforcement personnel, but from within. We see the changing relationships between the kidnappers as the hours with their victim go on.

Added note: Try to rent the video. When NBC showed the movie on commercial television, the network added additional scenes featuring the brother of the victim working a police inspector. These scenes are not outtakes from the original movie that NBC restored, but new scenes that NBC filmed and added to make clearer the kidnappers' fate. They are unnecessary and rather insulting to the audience that the network felt they needed to "improve" the movie.