Retour avant la nuit

I was amused while watching this suspenseful film to notice that whole passages of the music used were lifted straight from Warner's great Bette Davis film, "Now Voyager". Since it was a Warner's film I suppose they had the right. I noticed that Max Steiner, the composer from the Davis film, was given no credit for the music that was used in this film. Seems a shame, but I suppose that's Hollywood. Still, this is a good film with a fine cast of stars and familiar character actors. I enjoyed the location photography and the chilled atmosphere of the film is enhanced by the obvious dead of winter scenery. I mainly just wanted to comment on the music, however, it just surprised me to hear such a familiar score used over again in this film.

I have seen many Jean Simmons' movies, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

I saw it as a young teenager on TV in Memphis, Tennessee, and it made quite an impression on me at the time. I haven't seen it since, but I still remember so many images from the movie. Not only was the acting excellent, I felt that I almost knew the characters personally. Jean Simmons was tremendous, as always. I have ordered other movies of hers, and have taped the ones from TV that I could.

The tone of the movie was also an important part of the story. As I recall, it was cold, winter, and filmed in Black and White, which gave it more of an impact. It's just occurred to me that since I saw it in b&w, I don't know if it was made in b&w, or if it was in color, since I was viewing it on a b&w TV. I think the starkness of the b&w made it very effective. I continue to look for it on TV and would LOVE to have a copy of this movie, if it ever becomes available! Donchu

Charlotte (Jean Simmons) comes home from a mental hospital, shaky but game. She's been cured of all her delusions - that her husband and stepsister are having an affair, and conspiring behind her back. Except that her husband (Dan O'Herlihy) really does crave her stepsister (Rhonda Fleming) and they do talk about her in whispered tones. Even their new lodger (Efrem Zimbalist) can see it. But they deny it and she tries to deny it some more, to keep peace in the family. Finally, she can't. Is she having a breakdown or a breakout?

Admittedly, it is slow - the direction is cumbersome. But occasionally, it nails Eileen Bassing's novel with its stifling New England academic atmosphere and the rigidity of its codes. Jean Simmons was nominated for Best Actress in this role, and small wonder; it's one of her best this side of Elmer Gantry. Steve Dunne has an engaging appearance, and it's Rhonda Fleming who gets to be unsympathetic for a change.

If I could find the video, I'd buy it. But it's not for teenaged boys.

I can certainly sympathize with those who have commented about the lack of a video release of this title, and their disappointment at its apparent abandonment in the archives of TV broadcasters. I saw it during its initial theatrical release, when some very positive critical notices told me I'd be in for a much-better-than-average viewing experience. Not only was I impressed with its quality but, even though I've never seen it since, I can still quite easily recall several of its key sequences and the excellent performances by everyone in the cast.

After quite a run at Twentieth-Century Fox in a long string of their CinemaScope costumers, Jean Simmons must have truly enjoyed exercising her considerable talents as an actress with the lead role in "Home Before Dark," under the steady hand of Hollywood veteran, Mervyn LeRoy. He was one director who always seemed to get the best out of his casts and had a special gift, it seems to me, of eliciting surprisingly good performances from those lovely ladies, such as Rhonda Fleming in this one, who were usually thought of merely as "glamor girls."

When this film was released I was a relatively new resident of southern California, so its effective use of Boston and other Massachusetts locations, where I'd been born and raised until almost entering my teens, may be the reason that the memory of this film is still quite vivid. Those of us who would like to see a video release might nurture a wisp of hope, what with so many more films now enjoying an entry onto the video catalogues. It's certainly worthy of a place along some of Hollywood's better psychological dramas.

Producer-director Mervyn LeRoy knows how to trail a false scent or two across this story; we receive hints of other films (Gaslight, for example, or almost any Hitchcock) and begin to wonder. Keeping us doubting, and keeping us outside the vulnerable and troubled main character, played superbly by Jean Simmons, we are left in a strange, low-key state of suspense right to the end. Is she mad, is she being manipulated for some nefarious end? Are her family conspirators or just unfeeling? If the latter, who is to blame? We want to rescue this character, we have in the story two likable men who seem to be candidates for white knights. Again, LeRoy manipulates our expectations of a melodramatic plot twist, a catharsis of the sort we have seen in those other films, in which all will be revealed. But, without spoiling the story, this is a different sort of film. Between the first scene and the second to last scene, we are held in a kind of suspended animation, together with the Simmons character. It is only very late in the film, however, that LeRoy lets the scales drop from our eyes.

Some may find the other family members too unsympathetic, early on especially. If there is a weakness in the formula, this is it. For me, the powerful sequence on Christmas Eve in Boston – the shopping jaunt, the party and the confrontation back at the hotel - settles such doubts as exist.

The ledger is more than balanced, in any case, by a good script, fine black and white photography, a convincing portrayal of a hidebound and catty faculty town (politics has nothing on academe), sensitive direction by LeRoy and, especially, Jean Simmons at her considerable best. This film deserves more admirers. It is that quietly spoken guest at the party who, if you spend some time listening, has more to say than the usual cinema windbags.