Monday January 09, 2012 at 11:56
NOTHING BUT THE NIGHT (1972)
Written by Brian Hayles, from the novel by John Blackburn
Written by Brian Hayles, from the novel by John Blackburn
Directed by Peter Sasdy
The trustees of the Van Traylan fund, which runs an orphanage on a remote Scottish island, are being murdered. When a bus carrying the orphans crashes and Mary Valley (Gwyneth Strong), one of the girls, begins having strange dreams while recovering in the hospital, police Col. Bingham (Christopher Lee) enlists the aid of his pathologist friend Sir Mark Ashley (Peter Cushing) to solve the mystery of the murders. One of the very few Lee/Cushing films I had never seen, this is not a Gothic horror but a solid murder mystery with a twist. Lee and Cushing, as in HORROR EXPRESS (also 1972 - a good year for these two) play the good guys, and do a fine job, with able assistance from Georgia Brown as reporter, Michael Gambon (in his first film) as a policeman, Diana Dors as the main suspect and young Gwyneth Strong as the daughter she reluctantly gave up. (Strong was 22 when she made the film, but is completely convincing as a twelve year-old.) One of only two films produced by Lee’s Charlemagne Films (the other being THE WICKER MAN), its a shame his company didn’t make more, as these both take fresh looks at old genres. While the screenplay feels as if it could have used one more draft, the strength of the cast and the intelligent approach of the filmmakers carry the viewer through to the end. (Viewed on a new DVD release from Scorpion Releasing, which looks fine, though the soundtrack is a bit muffled at times.) By the way, if you Google images for NOTHING BUT THE NIGHT, you’ll see at least five different posters, none of which convey the film’s quiet appeal quite so well as the opening title above.
The trustees of the Van Traylan fund, which runs an orphanage on a remote Scottish island, are being murdered. When a bus carrying the orphans crashes and Mary Valley (Gwyneth Strong), one of the girls, begins having strange dreams while recovering in the hospital, police Col. Bingham (Christopher Lee) enlists the aid of his pathologist friend Sir Mark Ashley (Peter Cushing) to solve the mystery of the murders. One of the very few Lee/Cushing films I had never seen, this is not a Gothic horror but a solid murder mystery with a twist. Lee and Cushing, as in HORROR EXPRESS (also 1972 - a good year for these two) play the good guys, and do a fine job, with able assistance from Georgia Brown as reporter, Michael Gambon (in his first film) as a policeman, Diana Dors as the main suspect and young Gwyneth Strong as the daughter she reluctantly gave up. (Strong was 22 when she made the film, but is completely convincing as a twelve year-old.) One of only two films produced by Lee’s Charlemagne Films (the other being THE WICKER MAN), its a shame his company didn’t make more, as these both take fresh looks at old genres. While the screenplay feels as if it could have used one more draft, the strength of the cast and the intelligent approach of the filmmakers carry the viewer through to the end. (Viewed on a new DVD release from Scorpion Releasing, which looks fine, though the soundtrack is a bit muffled at times.) By the way, if you Google images for NOTHING BUT THE NIGHT, you’ll see at least five different posters, none of which convey the film’s quiet appeal quite so well as the opening title above.
— Robert Deveau, The Doomed Farmer
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