Ad un'ora della notte

Liz taylor plays ellen wheeler, six years after her last big hit, the comedians. As others have pointed out, night watch feels like a hitchcock film, but was really directed by brian hutton. Hutton had just directed liz in x,y, and zee the year before this, but it's not a well known film. Co-stars laurence harvey as the husband john; harvey only made one film after this, passing away from cancer at 45. In the story, ellen is bored, and suffers from insomnia. And sees strange things going on at the house next door, during a thunder storm. When they call the cops, they find nothing in the old house next door. But that's not the end of the story. Good suspense. Some fun twists and turns. Based on the play by lucille fletcher. Fletcher had also written sorry, wrong number, a blockbuster starring barbara stanwyck. That one also started out as a play, performed on the radio.

Just bought NIGHT WATCH and watched it tonight when it arrived. I don't think I've seen it since, say, I was a teenager and it was on the late show!

But it's a Taylor film no one talks about.

I actually think it's great, in its way (but, as with every Laurence Harvey movie he does with Taylor, I always want to re-cast him with James Mason).

Anyway, yes, I think it's a smidgen underrated. And has a nice, London-y, shrouded early-'70s melancholy flavor and that neo-Victorian early-'70s thing what with the dark wood and the plush velvet-y furniture and the Tiffany lamps and the overgrown plants and deep shadows and the sprinkling of harpsichord in the score and the occasional fish-eye lens.

Great twist ending, too!

The end is important in all things, as we have learned from Ghost Dog, and this is absolutely true when speaking of Night Watch. After about twenty minutes you think you know exactly where the plot will end. It really seems that this is the director's and writer's fault, because they give away too many clues, so I almost instantly lost interest. But after the many dull scenes following the brilliant visualization of Lizzies nightmare comes the unexpected ending. And this makes the whole movie worth watching, but as I've already mentioned: it is mostly the nightmare-scene which deserves the credit.

Based on a play by the brilliant Lucile Fletcher ("sorry wrong number" ,who gave Barbara Stanwyck one of her best roles, "80 dollars to Stanford" ...) , this is a good thriller with many red herrings. The heroine is seeing things (in the night ,horrified, she sees a dead body ) ,and as she has a tormented past ,she might sink ,slowly but inexorably ,into complete madness.Or is it a set up? Her husband is considerate,but there is another woman in the house ,and she may be his lover : do they want to have her sent to a sanatorium? One of talented Laurence Harvey's last part :he was to die prematurely of cancer shortly after.Billie Whitelaw is ideally cast as a disturbing woman (see "the omen") which might (or might not) be dangerous.

An underrated thriller.

...and Elizabeth Taylor freaking out!

Night Watch from 1973 is based on a Broadway play that starred Joan Hackett. Taylor is Ellen Wheeler, married to her busy husband John (Laurence Harvey). They currently have Ellen's best friend Sarah (Billie Whitelaw) visiting. Sarah is having a clandestine affair and sneaks out to meet him.

One night, during a storm, Ellen swears she saw a murder victim in the old house across the way. Raising her suspicions is the fact that the man (Robert Lang) who lives in the guest house is digging what looks like a grave. The next day, trees have been planted on it. Ellen's past comes into play here, as she keeps remembering an incident from years ago.

The police, however, can't find anything; Ellen then sees another murder victim and lives in a state of hysteria, paranoid and suspicious of everyone and everything. Her husband has a psychiatrist friend (Tony Britton) speak with her, and it's decided it is best if she goes away for a little rest.

This is a fun movie, where it seems there is always a horrible storm raging. It contains elements of some other films, as mentioned above. Taylor, who at this point was making a lot of schlock, does a fine job as the unstable Ellen.

I did know how this ended ahead of time, having seen part of it ages and ages ago, so I didn't have the twist-ending thrill others have had. Nevertheless, it was very entertaining.

One of Taylor's better films from this period - in the hands of better director, it could have been much stronger, since the story and cast are strong. As it is, it's worth watching.