A Maleta Fatídica

The wonderful Jacques Tourneur directed this 1957 noir, "Nightfall," starring Aldo Ray, Anne Bancroft, Brian Keith, James Gregory, and Frank Albertson.

James Vanning (Aldo Ray) is on the run from some vicious criminals who have stolen a fortune from a bank. He and his doctor friend (Frank Albertson) had the misfortune to meet these men, who took the doctor bag instead of the $350 grand they stole! They believe that Ray, an innocent party, knows where in the Wyoming mountains the money is.

Back in the city, Vanning meets a model (Bancroft) and this is picked up by two of the crooks. He manages to get away and goes to Bancroft's place; since the thugs know who she is, the two of them have to go on the run.

Tourneur's themes here are similar to his other films, such as "Cat People," "Out of the Past," "Experiment Perilous" as three examples: Chance meetings and coincidence dominate a story where Tourneur uses flashbacks expertly. Here, two innocent people are drawn into a situation and being pursued.

Very absorbing story -- in her early films, beautiful Anne Bancroft, a powerful actress, was cast in these young leading lady or ingenue roles, like Bette Davis when she first came to Warners. Bancroft brings an interesting, smoky quality to the role of a woman who has an unhappy past with men. Aldo Ray has never been a favorite of mine, but he is effective here. He looks like a character actor, though he played leads, and though he has a husky voice and appearance, there's a gentle quality in his manner. James Gregory has always been good, and he's good here as a detective who wants to get down to the truth.

The black and white photography is very striking and really adds to the film. Jacques Tourneur made some excellent films; though he obviously didn't have a huge budget for this one and his star had descended somewhat, he still had what it took to make a strong film.

The artist James "Jim" Vanning (Aldo Ray) meets the model Marie Gardner (Anne Bancroft) in a bar and they have dinner together. When they leave the restaurant, Marie gives her address but the gangsters John (Brian Keith) and Red (Rudy Bond) abduct Jim and Marie goes home. They want information about a wallet with US$ 350,000 and Jim tells that he does not know where it is. They torture Jim, but he escapes and drives to Marie's apartment. He tells that she is in danger and he explains that he was camping in the snow in Moose with his friend Dr. Edward Gurston (Frank Albertson) when they see a car driving off the road. They go to the spot to help the victims but they are subdued by John and Red that kills the doctor and shots him. The criminals believe they are both dead and Red mistakenly takes the doctor's wallet leaving the money behind. When Jim awakes, he flees with the wallet with money but looses it in the snow. Now the criminals are hunting him down while he is also wanted by the police. Meanwhile the insurance investigator Ben Fraser (James Gregory) is also on the track of Jim and curious with his behavior without spending the stolen money and having a simple life. Will Jim prove his innocence?

"Nightfall" is a film-noir with a story of coincidences and bad luck. It is an entertaining film with a good villain despite the flaws. The screenplay is intriguing and the viewer only knows the truth after the initial scenes. How could Ben, Jim and Maries go after the killers without a weapon? My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Maleta Fatídica" ("The Fateful Wallet")

There's little pretense in "Nightfalls;" it's made on a small budget and is only intended as a somewhat artful entertainment. And, in this, it succeeds.

Perhaps what's most remarkable about the film is its several expressions of affection. Remember that? If it's non-existent on TV, it's also extremely rare in movies that don't fit the romantic comedy genre, where it can occasionally sneak in today, and was far more common in the 1930s and 1940s.

Here it gets play in the budding relationship between Vanning (Aldo Rey) and Marie Gardner (Ann Bancroft), but also in the marriage of Ben (James Gregory) and Laura (Jocelyn Brando). It also seems to appear in the longtime friendship between Vanning and his old doctor buddy, whose younger wife he's close friends with.

How does this exceptional quality show? Mainly in Rey's open & engaging smiles when he's in the presence of Bancroft. Although it's Bancroft who is actually conveying & delivering the most and brightest affection, it's most noteworthy in Vanning, simply because he's male. Is it his virility and gruff voice that allows this unusual expressiveness? No, I think it's rather that Rey is not your typical leading actor, nor is Tourneur your typical male director, and that affection is hardly foreign to their lives. In fact, it may be prized by both, unintentionally in the former and intentionally in the latter, which is why it's not excised from the script.

In the case of Ben & Laura, the affection seems inherent in what appears to be a much more equal relationship than is generally shown on screen, especially in the film noir genre. The typical devoted, clingy, and overwrought detective's wife is expelled. Laura is fully involved (from home) in his investigation and is updated daily on the latest clues and findings. It's refreshingly adult, and highly welcomed, as is the affection the two radiate.

But "Nightfall's" interest in affection doesn't end here--not without an example of its opposite in the two gangsters. The psycho-killer partner very convincingly pleads his profound attachment to his boss, but only as a deadly maneuver with his life on the line. This one-way, "sincerely" expressed affection is only effective because encapsulated and final, and because the top dog is "soft." But not all "suckers" lose, though, as "Nightfall" amply points out.

Although it is far from a masterpiece, "Nightfall", a low-budget film noir (stunningly photographed by Burnett Guffey), is one of Jacques Tourneur's finest films. What amazed me about "Nightfall" was the way it resembles Tourneur's previous films in its depiction of chance and coincidence. The similarity to "Out of the Past" (the duality between past and present, city and country, the use of flashbacks) is somewhat obvious. But consider the opening chance encounter between Vanning (Aldo Ray) and Marie (Anne Bancroft). It recalls the similar (though different) chance meetings between Irena and Oliver at the zoo in Tourneur's "Cat People"(1942), and Dr. Bailey and Cissie on the train at the beginning of "Experiment Perilous"(1944). If you watch it closely at the opening scenes, Marie's seat beside Vanning at the bar is empty BEFORE she appears. So, we expect the seat to be filled. I didn't notice it when I first saw the film, but critic Chris Fujiwara's observations in his splendid book, JACQUES TOURNEUR:THE CINEMA OF NIGHTFALL, were immensely helpful. Fujiwara adroitly notes, "Throughout Nightfall, chance and unconscious processes determine key events. Tourneur's standard procedure of showing the effect before the cause underlies the inexplicability of these events, their fantastic nature".

David Goodis' pulpy novel becomes exciting, well-cast and acted crime-drama, peculiarly titled since most of the action takes place in the snow-covered mountains of Wyoming (perhaps "Snowfall" would've been more apropos). Two innocent campers run violently afoul of two trigger-happy bank-robbers, with 350 G's getting lost in the frost. Hollywood never quite knew what to do with Aldo Ray: polite and beaming (like an overgrown Boy Scout), Ray's ingratiating manner and wobbly, scratchy voice made him difficult to type-cast in the 1950s. He's just right here, playing tough guy up against cold-hearted Brian Keith and buddy/big brother/love-interest to model Anne Bancroft, who gets caught in this crime web and yet doesn't seem to mind. Despite a sluggish start and a few details that don't come together (such as why the crooks' car runs off the road in Wyoming, or why the two bank-robbers don't follow Aldo Ray when he runs through the river with the satchel of loot), director Jacques Tourneur handles the criss-crossing plot with buttery ease. Add in some amusing parallels to the later "Fargo" and you've got the makings of a cult classic, one that Columbia Pictures rarely revives. *** from ****