Night Unto Night

"Night Unto Night" is by no means outstanding, but is not the bottom of the barrel effort that some reviewers have claimed. It is a serious attempt to portray two serious personal problems.

The first is the difficult task of coming to grips with the death of a spouse; the husband of Vivica Lindfors' character has been killed in the war (WWII). The second is having to face a serious medical condition; Reagan's character, a scientist, suffers from epilepsy.

The pace of the film is, to say the least, leisurely. The climax, which comes during a Florida hurricane, finally provides a bit of action. The acting is good throughout. Reagan's performance is competent if not outstanding. Vivica Lindfors and Broderick Crawford are better.

The attitude toward epilepsy was somewhat different in 1949 from what it is today, and one sees that portrayed in this film. (I believe that the symptoms displayed by Reagan's character are not accurate.) "Night Unto Night" was produced with the best of intentions, but the final product does not live up to expectations. It is, however, worth at least one viewing.

"Night Unto Night" was made in 1947 and was not released until 1949. That is a very bad sign...a sign that the studio thought they had a bomb on their hands. While I would not call this one a bomb, it certainly could have been a lot better...and it's a shame because the acting is really nice in this one...particularly by Ronald Reagan in the lead.

When the film begins, John (Reagan) moves to the Florida coast and finds a home to rent. A widow (Viveca Linfors) wants to leave her home...and not for the usual reasons. She thinks the place is haunted and she hears her dead husband's voice there! John thinks this is nutty but is a gentle man and treats her well despite her odd delusion. Eventually the pair fall in love...but he has a secret he broods over...he has epilepsy.

The acting and production values are really nice in this one but the film acted like epilepsy is some sort of death sentence...or at least a life destroyer! It certainly isn't and handling the illness this way seemed pretty crass and silly. Overall, some nice moments but the plot just didn't make a lot of sense...and marrying a man who occasionally goes blank (which happens with many types of seizures) is NOT something that destroys your life or makes you destined to be a lonely recluse! The writing sinks this one....and it's a shame as Reagan is at his best in this one. And, I wonder how epileptics felt when they watched this film...as if they were somehow destined for hollow lives because of the disorder!

Let's just get the best part of Night Unto Night out in the open: Ronald Reagan looks great in a uniform. He's very handsome, and when he smiles the entire screen lights up, but the movie isn't very good. He plays an epileptic recluse looking for peace and quiet, but when he rents a beach house from Viveca Lindfors, he doesn't find either. Viveca has mental problems and is grieving over her late husband, and her emotional outbursts are cries for attention. She and Ronnie share a romance, but it's difficult because of their own issues, and also because of her flirtatious, manipulative sister.

If you're a particularly big fan of Broderick Crawford, you might want to check this one out. He plays against type, an artistic intellectual who lends a sympathetic and wise ear to Ronnie's plight. I was watching it for the eye candy, and while I wasn't at all disappointed, I'm objective enough to realize any other Ronald Reagan movie could have done the trick. On paper, the plot is very interesting, as it discusses philosophy, mental illness, suicide, and the afterlife. However, Viveca was pretty irritating, as were the supporting characters, save Broderick. If the entire movie was just Ronnie and Brody talking, it would have been very good.

NIGHT UNTO NIGHT ('49) struggles to be a message film with something important to say about life and love--and does carry an unusual theme. However, despite the dramatic intensity in the performance of Swedish actress VIVECA LINDFORS (who looks radiant in all of her close-ups), no one else in the cast seems to be in the same picture. RONALD REAGAN seems to be sleepwalking through a role he clearly doesn't comprehend, displaying none of the emotional fireworks that Lindfors is capable of. He makes any notion of chemistry with Lindfors seem absurd. A stronger actor might have brought some credibility to his role of a botanist who keeps a dark secret from the woman he loves.

And unfortunately, the supporting roles are too colorless to add much to the proceedings. BRODERICK CRAWFORD is cast inexplicably as an artist in touch with "the truth" and OSSA MASSEN is a bit over the top in her drunken stupor as the jealous sister who reveals Reagan's dark secret to Lindfors at the height of a thunderstorm.

Could have been so much better with a tighter script and more emotional response from Reagan, but this is clearly not one of his better films at WB. Technically, the storm is a stunning sequence--too bad it isn't supporting a better script. Reagan redeemed himself later with some better roles at his home studio but this is clearly a dud.

I was a young teenager when this film came out. I couldn't recognize a set from the real outdoors and, of course, knew nothing about plot and character development, pacing, conflict resolution, etc. But now, viewing it with a more critical eye I can see its weaknesses. Still I need to make one comment. In the film there is a romantic interlude that takes place at night on the beach. It culminates in a long, lingering kiss. For some reason the technicians, especially the lighting technicians, took a great deal of time setting up the scene. The amount of time and effort even became part of what little lore remains about the picture. Well, to a young, impressionable lad, that was my first sense of the warmth of romance in films. Before this, my only interest were comedies and adventures. Now I sensed their potential for romance--and I liked it.