La mort aux enchères

"Still of the Night" is one of the more obscure entries in Meryl Streep's filmography, even though it came out in 1982 in between two of her greatest films, "The French Lieutenant's Woman" and "Sophie's Choice". (Until it turned up recently on British television I had never previously seen it or even heard of it). It is a psychological thriller, directed by Robert Benton who had earlier directed Meryl in "Kramer v Kramer". It has often been described as having been influenced by the works of Alfred Hitchcock, and one of the obvious signs of this influence is the fact that the main character, like the heroine of "Spellbound", is a psychiatrist. (Hitchcock was fascinated by psychology and psychiatry, and often makes reference to them in his films).

Another Hitchcock touch is the idea of the "man in the street" who suddenly finds himself in trouble or in danger. When one of his patients is murdered Dr Sam Rice, a Manhattan psychiatrist, finds himself becoming emotionally involved with a young woman named Brooke Reynolds, who was not only a colleague of the dead man but also his mistress, and who is also a suspect in his murder. The plot is a complex one, involving Rice falling under suspicion with the police, who believe that he may be withholding evidence about the killing, and his placing himself in danger by his own attempts to solve the crime.

The film makes quite deliberate reference to a number of Hitchcock films. Besides the general psychiatric theme, there is also a dream sequence reminiscent of the one in "Spellbound". The appearance of a bird during this sequence is a reference to "The Birds" and possibly also to "Psycho", where Norman's hobby is stuffing birds. A fall from a bell tower recalls "Vertigo" and, as in "North by North West", there is a scene set in an auction room. (The murdered man, George Bynum, was a senior employee of an auction house). There are also scenes reminiscent of "Rear Window" and "Marnie". Jessica Tandy who plays Rice's mother (also a psychiatrist) appeared in "The Birds". Many of Hitchcock's films, including "Notorious", "Strangers on a Train" and "Psycho", feature a strong, dominant mother-figure.

Perhaps the most effective Hitchcock touch is the use of a trademark blonde heroine. Although this is far from being one of Meryl Streep's greatest films, she nevertheless gives a very accomplished performance as Brooke, portraying a woman who is clearly disturbed and frightened and who might just also be a psychopath, while leaving (as the conventions of the thriller genre require) that second point open to doubt. Had Meryl been twenty years older, she might have become one of the Master's great muses, along with the likes of Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly.

And yet any number of Hitchcock references do not in themselves make a Hitchcock film. "Still of the Night" falls along way short of the great man at his best, or even at his second-best. Roy Scheider does not make a very charismatic hero and, except perhaps in the final sequences, Benton never succeeds in generating the sort of nail-biting tension that Hitchcock was so skilled at conjuring up, even in some of his lesser films. Whereas Hitchcock could normally relieve that tension with some effective use of humour, "Still of the Night" is a pedestrian and humourless film, no more than an average eighties thriller. 5/10, largely for Streep's performance.

Quiet thriller with great acting from Meryl Streep, taken a slightly different route with the paranoid performance from Roy Schnieder. Unfortunately some other of the other performances are quite poor, with the standard dumbed down cops. Slow to pick up, it's worth sticking with past the stock plot setup routines. There's some neat camera work to strengthen the guessing game and make you feel the paranoia and fear of the doctor. There's a fantastic sequence in central park where the Doctor follows a mystery woman, losing her beneath the light \ dark pools of street lights. Using the sound of her footsteps to pull your attention forward to a tunnel. The final moments of that sequence are brilliant. Throughout the lighting is used to great effect with all other senses and even performances extremely restrained. A good film which I'm sure has influenced many others of this genre.

I remember trying to get into this film in New York City on a Friday night, and it was sold out. IMDb doesn't list its box office, but I remember that it was quite popular. It was around the beginning of Meryl as Goddess - this was her 10th film and before "Sophie's Choice." The rest of the stars are Roy Scheider and Jessica Tandy. Scheider gets drawn into the murder of one of his patients after a visit from a mysterious woman (Streep) who worked with and had an affair with the victim. He goes back in his mind over some of his sessions with his patient, including a vivid dream, and finds himself living it.

If you know and love the big guy, Hitchcock, as much as I do, you'll enjoy this film just picking out all the Hitchcock touches. Others on this board have mentioned the cool blonde (Streep, looking gorgeous), the psychiatrist mother and the dream (Spellbound), a shot reminiscent of Rear Window, the presence of Jessica Tandy (The Birds), the ordinary man drawn into strange circumstances, the auction scene (North by Northwest), and of course, the Shadow of a Doubt reference - Scheider's Uncle Charlie.

"Still of the Night" is gimmicky, cold, and strangely memorable. Look at the various posts and see how many people remember where and when they saw it. Streep is excellent in her cool blonde role, though it's not a great part; however, her monologue toward the end of the film is very compelling. Scheider is just right as the psychiatrist, and Tandy is wonderful as his mother, though her role is too small.

Others mention that the film moves slowly until the end. The ending is very suspenseful and exciting, but I didn't feel the rest of the movie was slow - I felt like I was being set up for something. As it turned out, I was.

Recommended for lovers of Hitchcock and those who have not seen much early Streep.

This film has received quite a few negative posts. I also read Leonard Maltin's review, in which he said that it was full of holes and was a weak Hitchcock homage. I really think people are all wrong about this one; it's full of some very good old-fashioned suspense, and I love all of the Hitch touches many here have already noted. As well, it must be recalled that Hitch dealt in many implausibilities in his films. He hated those who constantly pointed out that "that could never happen in real life." It's not real life, it's a movie! That's one of the ways I thought this film succeeded, was in reflecting (or even gently parodying) Hitch's use of things that would never happen in real life. Loved the chemistry between Meryl and Roy, not to mention the lovely mentor/parent shrink/shrink relationship between Roy and Jessica. Nice work from Robert Benton. I love this film. --Matthew Hays

I remember being entirely taken with this film, seeing it several times when it was originally in theaters, way back in '82. Its creator, Robert Benton, freely admitted at the time that he intended this to be an homage to Hitchcock, and he's largely succeeded, right down to the cool, mysterious blonde female with a troubled past and the detective who is drawn to her, and the balletic, deliberate pacing that accentuates the suspense and tension, almost to a fault. Unlike Hitchcock, this film is strictly serious business, with nary a moment of lightness, which, alas, means something less than 'fun'. Hitchcock ALWAYS utilized humor, no matter how dark it may have been, recognizing that it, too, can actually heighten the suspense by putting people off their guard. This film would be richer for that sense but still it remains a good, solid mystery. As I've said, the story is pure Hitchcock: a murder takes place and a cool, mysterious blonde (Streep) may be the prime suspect, something that draws New York City psychologist (and amateur sleuth) Scheider towards her. One comment here said, "They don't make 'em classy like this anymore" and he couldn't be more right: from the restrained, low-key performance of Streep (accent-free but looking perhaps more beautiful here than in any other film she's done; she nearly resembles those women in a Dutch Renaissance painting), balancing the "livelier" performance of Scheider, to the lovely muted blues, browns, greys and blacks of its cinematography. There are a fair number of jolts and a satisfactory wrap-up, too. If there is any one fault with the film, it is, as one user has already commented, how slight the script is - it's nearly a puff of smoke! Another asked if we really needed ANOTHER homage to Hitchcock since De Palma's been doing it for years; however, one look at De Palma's films and THIS film and the difference is night and day: De Palma's films, which could be considered almost a Hyper-Hitchcock, are almost TOO jokey and slavish to its directors flights of fancy, while Benton's film exhibits the cool reserve, almost detachment, of its sophisticated New York settings. Hitchcock was THE undisputed master of thrillers and remains so to this day; it's wonderful to see other, modern directors try their hand at the lost art of the classy thriller/mystery. "Still of the Night" is definitely worth discovering, no matter its minor faults.