Nightfall

As in Out of the Past, Tourneur uses a flashback structure to reveal the story, but this time he fragments it a lot more, often leaving the viewer guessing why the characters are in their situations. Aldo Ray has a certain quality to him, kind of a teddy bear toughness. And there's a wonderfully grisly death at the end. Other than that, it's not too special but it's plotted well and a few moments of stimulating photography. Bancroft is lovely, but doesn't seem like a good fit for this role.

seemed ahead of its time, good plot, nothing spectacular in the way of directing, writing, or acting, but a solid movie.

I couldn’t get through the first 20 minutes because the acting was so stiff and the characters were bland. This rating is based on my impatiently aborted effort.

Some directorial tweaks could have improved its effect, but a classy lesser-known noir. Especially the cinematography deserves praise.

This is a delightfully eccentric noir. How eccentric? It features Ray and Bancroft as a romantic couple. She's really great, bringing a really atypical energy to the role. Of the two robbers, Bond is a talkative, joke cracking psychopath which amps up the weirdness. It all leads to everyone heading up to the snowy mountains of Wyoming where Ray lost the money, with insurance investigator James Gregory tailing them.

fatigued snowy proto-FARGO noir about a bag of cash, a well-meaning insurance investigator, a lonesome model and an ordinary sadboy war vet who can't catch a break. it's all apprehensive, risky tenderness, ray's resigned smoky voice always on the verge of cracking as he opens himself to the chance of yet more bruises. "they get to you once, they get to you again. anyway, i'm scared. you don't know what it's like to live with your back against the wall. inside, you change. you really change."

Shadowy banger

Lacks any big PUNCH to truly make it an all time noir kinda thing but still a nice ride. Lots of good shadows as is the norm in Tourneur's stuff

Mid-tier noir that might have worked better as a short (even with its already-tiny running time); the characters spend a lot more time talking than doing, and the flashbacks seem to detract from the tension rather than add to it. Bonus points for the unusual character death that is telegraphed early.

There's a lot to like in the directing and economic storytelling in this late noir. It plays well with expectations about characters; the femme fatale, a charming Anne Bancroft, who contrary to first impressions isn't one plus a protagonist who's more vulnerable and scared than the usual streetwise witty noir hero. It's unfortunate that the miscast Aldo Ray fails to portray this softer side of the character or to deliver any line convincingly, lessening this substantial.

Disappointing Tournier gets off to a good start then plods along until its predictable conclusion. As expected, it's handsomely mounted, but it isn't a patch on Out of The Past or the other notable films the director made in the 40's and 50's.

Em honra do centenário de Jocelyn Brando - que ficou conhecida como irmã e influência de Marlon, mas que teve sua cota de parceria com grandes diretores também. Eu fico tempo sem ver filme do Tourneur e acabo me esquecendo o quanto ele é bom, este também faz parte da fina flor do filme noir e talvez tenha o melhor papel que o Aldo Ray já interpretou, embora eu goste dele nos filmes de Mann e Walsh também. Box Versátil Filme Noir Volume 3.

A bit too contrived, a bit too full of levity and light-hearted patter to be a really excellent noir, despite its strong premise. Still, far from the worse noir I've seen.

86.00

Nothing special, and a tad sloppy at times, but generally a very enjoyable piece of film noir that's well plotted and also benefits from featuring quite a bit of snow (seriously, film noir plus snow-covered locations is an awesome combination).

Starts off fantastic but then stumbles a bit towards an ok ending, seemingly unsure of where to take these characters. It does make up for it somewhat with a surprise or two up its sleeve. Ending aside, it's a fun film and that first half is effectively tense. Aldo Ray isn't a particularly good actor but he's believable as the wrong man on the run and the bit players are memorable, particularly Rudy Bond as a trigger happy goon.

Not a great film, but a very well-constructed story, with little or no dead spots; this movie just moves along. The payoff was a tad disappointing, but I'd bet this would keep most people's attention all the way until the end.

"In spite of that tantalizing potential, Nightfall will always just be a promising B picture." - Simon Abrams