The Longest Night

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!

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".

"The Longest Night" is the type of film I feel you really can't write too much about… You can't state that the script is implausible, grotesque or too far-fetched, because it's based on a true story and allegedly sticks very close to the facts. You can't write too much about the production values, neither, as it's a made- for-TV film from the early seventies without much action or spectacle. It's a more than competent effort, especially in terms of acting performances and direction, and mainly thrives on oppressed tension and family drama. Without using excessive violence, a carefully prepared couple abducts the young daughter of a wealthy businessman and leaves the mother tied up and petrified in a motel room. Instead of locking her up in a basement or isolated cabin somewhere, the kidnappers bury Karen in a meticulously constructed hole in the ground that only provides air, supplies and lighting for a period of five days maximum. Their fiendish plan includes that the girl will in case the ransom demands aren't met in time, or in case they are apprehended or shot by the police first. Unquestionably, the whole dramatic and shocking impact of the film (as well as the news bulletins around the original true crime case) emerges from these miserable conditions the poor girl has to survive in for four long days and nights. We witness Karen's honest and understandably terrified reaction when she's brought to her "grave" by her kidnapper, and during several interludes throughout the film we return to this place only to see how she hears ominous noises, suffers from panic attacks and loses her hope to make it out alive. Meanwhile, her father and the authorities move heaven and earth to confront the kidnapper, but this is less interesting to see, as it's more familiar subject matter. "The Longest Night" is effective and successful because you notice yourself constantly repeating things in your head like: "Oh, that poor girl" and you sincerely hope that her father – or anyone else for that matter – finds her in time. Otherwise it's a rather anonymous TV-movie, certainly not on par with some of the other classics that ABC released in that same era, and only worth tracking down in case you're a fan of any of the cast members (David Janssen, James Farentino, Phyllis Thaxter) or – like me – director Jack Smight ("Damnation Alley", "Airport 1975", "The Travelling Executioner"…). Little fun fact, "The Longest Night" is of course a very serious and emotionally heave retelling of the true crime case, but a wildly fictionalized version the same story also got turned into a rancid exploitation flick called "The Candy Snatchers".

In an episode of "Quincy" a kidnapper buries his victim under ground with only a limited supply of oxygen. However, the kidnapper gets accidentally killed and Dr. Quincy is called in to piece together the clues in order to help the police figure out where that missing person is buried. Well, after seeing "The Longest Night", it became obvious that the writer of that "Quincy" episode 'borrowed' the idea from this earlier TV movie. Additionally, years later the Dutch film "The Vanishing" also has some similarities...though not nearly enough to assume the writer 'borrowed' from "The Longest Night". As for the story, the film acknowledges that the story is based on an actual kidnapping and it is conceivable that the writer for "Quincy" got the idea from the actual case and not the movie.

When this "ABC Movie of the Week" installment begins, a kidnapper is moving his female victim to a buried room not much bigger than a coffin. She'll stay there with oxygen and light for several days in this claustrophobia-inducing hole until after the ransom is paid and the clever criminal is sure he's in the clear. And, unlike in "Quincy" the guy isn't killed but there still is a huge hurry to get to the victim in time as there just isn't much air in this space...and the kidnapper doesn't seem to mind too much if she isn't found in time.

This is one of the more exciting and suspenseful movies from this series. Additionally, watching the policework going into the case was interesting as well. Combined with some nice acting, this film is well worth seeing and better than the "Quincy" episode.

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.