La longue nuit

When I went to my local library to check some DVDs, I stumbled onto this obscure flick that starred Henry Fonda, Barbara Bel Geddes (in her film debut), Vincent Price, and Ann Dvorak. With that cast (I just remembered that Elisa Cook, Jr. has a memorable role as a blind man here), with Anatole Litvak as director, and Dimitri Tiomkin conducting his score (as well as some Beethoven pieces spread among it), I expected an excellent suspenseful movie and I got it! Well, maybe nearly so since the speech Ms. Bel Geddes says to Fonda at the end is obviously contrived to address the audience as well as the leading character about the faith of people. Otherwise, the dialogue was mostly spot-on especially the heated exchanges between Fonda and Price who, as usual, is absolutely charming even in his creepiness. And Ms. Dvorak marks a nice contrast with her cynicism as compared with Ms. Bel Geddes' optimism. Fonda himself goes the full range of emotions whether during the flashbacks or his present condition of being holed up in his apartment while the police are waiting outside. So for all that, I highly recommend The Long Night.

Henry Fonda goes through "The Long Night" after committing murder in this 1947 film noir directed by Anatole Litvak and also starring Vincent Price, Ann Dvorak and Barbara Bel Geddes. Fonda plays Joe, a returning veteran, now a blue collar worker who falls in love with young, pretty fellow orphan Jo Ann (Bel Geddes), only to come up against Price. Price plays Maximilian, a creepy magician with a show that features dogs and Charlene (Ann Dvorak). At first, Maximilian asks Joe to stay away from Charlene because she's his long-lost daughter and he wants better for her. From Charlene, Joe learns the truth - Maximilian is not her father, and she's attracted to his worldliness - though she claims to love Joe. Depressed, he turns to the sexy Charlene, his heart still with Jo Ann. During a fight in his apartment, he shoots Maximilian, and spends the entire movie under siege in his apartment as he relives in flashback and flashback within flashback what led him to this moment.

Litvak, a talented director, stages this film in an interesting manner - it begins with a blind man (Elisha Cook Jr.) stumbling across the body of Maximilian in the hallway of the apartment building where he lives. Joe will not leave his room, and the police work throughout the film to get him out. The photography and direction capture the darkness and drabness of Joe's surroundings, the cheapness of the nightclub where Maximilian performs, and focuses a harsh light on Charlene's room and Charlene herself.

Despite all of this great style, the film has a cheesy quality; the characters aren't really likable except for poor Joe; and the motivations of the characters aren't fully fleshed out, so the story ultimately doesn't make it. The acting is very good - Fonda shows us some still waters that run pretty deep in an excellently crafted performance. He's sexy as all get-out, too, when he lays down on Charlene's bed and smiles. Dvorak does a great job as a brittle Charlene, and Price is a complete sleazebag as the cruel Maximilian. Bel Geddes is incredibly young - this is her first film, and though she was 24 or 25, she looks and acts about 18, which is appropriate for this small-town, inexperienced girl.

"The Long Night" has some interesting elements, but because of a spotty script, we're not invested enough in the film for it to be really intriguing or exciting.

I don't like remakes--and that is why I waited so long to watch "The Long Night". Originally it was a dandy French film ("Le Jour Se Leve") and I saw no reason to redo the film, as the original was quite good. And, after seeing it, I stick by my original opinion--there just wasn't a need to make this remake. However, I can understand why they made it, as folks in the States back in the 1940s did not watch foreign films--and when they saw this American version, it did seem original. But now with DVDs, Turner Classic Movies and Netflix, you should just stick with "Le Jour Se Leve".

The film is a talky picture about a brooding guy (Henry Fonda), his sweetie-pie (Barbara Bel Geddes) and a completely bizarre blabber-mouth (Vincent Price). Fonda and Bel Geddes are in love but Price is determined to break them up--and push Fonda to the breaking point. The story is told through flashbacks and is similar to the Jean Gabin film--without the film noir camera-work and lighting. Also, the American version comes off as much talkier--much. All in all, not a terrible film at all--but not the 9 that the other film deserved when I rated it a couple years ago.

Holed up in his apartment after committing a murder, a depressed war veteran engages in a gun battle with the police while reflecting on the circumstances that led to the situation. It sounds intriguing on paper, but the script is rather sloppy, featuring flashbacks within flashbacks. It's basically an uninteresting story with dull characters. Fonda tries to make something of his role, but is given little to work with. Bel Geddes makes an impressive film debut, and Dvorak and Price are also fine, but they are all let down by the screenplay. Litvak has made better films, but here his staging of police work and the shootout is poorly executed.

This is an example of a very BAD remake.Proof positive that great actors and good directors do not necessarily mean good work.You have got to bear in mind that Carné/Prévert's "Le JOur se Lève" was made in 1939 at a time when France was not smiling .The movie was so depressing it was quickly forbidden by the military censorship (see my review of the French film for more details).The movie was an exact reflection of its time.Out of that context it's another melodrama.Besides,deprived

of Prévert's lines -when a poetic dialog is translated into another language,there's always a problem- it loses much of its appeal)

Although one of the best actors in American cinema,Henry Fonda could not succeed in Gabin's plebeian part.Ann Dvorak is the most adequate choice since her swagger imitates Arletty's.

And who could forgive the new ending?