Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Diagonaldi Very well executed

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

dougdoepke Following a grisly murder, a pushy stranger worms his way into a rich, old lady's remote household, much to disapproval of her uptight secretary.What a good touch when Danny (Montgomery) roughly shoves the house cat and then smilingly tells Mrs. Bramson (Witty) how much he likes the little four-footed critters—a neat introduction to his devious nature. I wish the rest of the movie were this well executed. Aside from being overlong and too talky as other reviewers point out, (some silent mood scenes are badly needed), there's a big hole in the middle that's been generally overlooked. Surprisingly, it concerns that otherwise excellent actress Rosalind Russell.Key to the plot is the highly refined, severely repressed Olivia's (Russell) conflict over Danny. She's both attracted and repelled by him. He's such a low, boisterous type, it's hard to see her attraction to him at any level. But the script has wisely prepared us with her attraction to dark, woodsy things. Now, the movie's key scene is in the kitchen where Danny boldly confronts Olivia's repressed attraction. To this point, Olivia has had only one outward emotion, namely an emotionless expression consonant with her inner discipline and station in the household. Danny's aim is to force from her an acknowledgment of what he knows she feels even though she won't admit it even to herself.Crucial to this pivotal scene is that actress Russell convey even the slightest expression of the inner conflict she is now experiencing— conflict we know she's experiencing from the dialog. But try as I have, I can't spot a single change of expression. She's grudgingly okaying the words, but without the necessary conflicted behavior. In short, her words say one thing, her manner another. Thus, we're not drawn into her conflict, we merely observe it in the dialog. And crucially-- instead of becoming active participants in the story, we're encouraged to remain passive observers.In terms of story development, the role of Olivia becomes unconvincing, especially since the deadpan continues for the rest of the film. It's especially implausible when the plot has her hide the severed head in order to save Danny from the law. As a result, her motivations from the kitchen scene on ring hollow, thereby undercutting her pivotal role in the movie as a whole. It wouldn't be accurate to say that Russell therefore walks through the part in uninterested fashion. Rather, I'm inclined to blame director Thorpe for not providing the proper cues, especially in that key kitchen scene. At the same time, I wish Montgomery's Danny were not so extreme, bordering at times on the clownish. For a usually restrained actor, it's a real departure, robbing his character of any hint of needed menace. Still and all, the idea of Danny's acting out for the benefit of his "double"— the one that emerges in the mirror scene at the end-- remains a provocative one.Where Danny's blustery, overdone charm really works is with tyrannical old Mrs. Bramson. His is just the kind of overriding personality that would melt her icy reserve. At the same time, Witty steals the film with a rock solid performance, especially during that exhausting breakdown scene that even had me gasping for breath. I also like that morbid sight-seeing tour with E. E. Clive as the guide. That people would pay to see a gravesite suggests to me the basic gentility of small town England for whom murder is such an unusual and curious event. I gather from IMDb that studio head L. B. Mayer didn't like the results and didn't want to release the film. Whatever the failings, It's far from being that bad. Ironically, it appears that had Mayer himself wanted to do justice to the material, he would have assigned a top studio director instead of the thoroughly mediocre Thorpe (check out his credits). In fact, the movie as a whole suffers from uninspired direction, its rich atmospheric potential left visually untapped. As far as I can tell, Thorpe simply filmed the script that was handed him and nothing more. After all, his reputation with the studio rested on efficiency, i.e. bringing projects in under budget.I just wish someone like Hitchcock had gotten hold of the material first. With its rich potential for nuance and atmosphere, a gifted psychologist like Hitch could have made something really memorable. Unfortunately, as the movie stands, it's a long way from that point.

wes-connors In an English village, roguishly Irish Robert Montgomery (as Danny) worms his way into the household of wealthy hypochondriac May Witty (as Mrs. Bramson). Charmed by Mr. Montgomery's fawning attention, Ms. Witty hires him as her wheelchair-pushing companion. Meanwhile, police search the countryside for a man who has decapitated another woman. Witty's beautiful straight-laced niece, Rosalind Russell (as Olivia Grayne), suspects Montgomery is the killer, and wonders if Witty is next. Yet, Ms. Russell is strangely attracted to Montgomery, even more than handsome lawyer Alan Marshal (as Justin Laurie)."Night Must Fall" entertains greatly due to the Oscar-nominated "Best Actor" performance from Montgomery; he didn't get many roles like this one, but sure knew what to do with it when he had one. At the time, Montgomery served as a romantic attachment to MGM's female leads; here, he shows he can carry a film with the best of them. Russell plays a second fiddle just as well, and Witty thankfully preserves her presence on film; nominated for a "Best Supporting Actress" award, Witty is simply marvelous. The film made several year-end honor rolls, topping the "National Board of Review" as "Best Picture" of 1937.******** Night Must Fall (4/30/37) Richard Thorpe ~ Robert Montgomery, May Witty, Rosalind Russell, Alan Marshal

whpratt1 Remember my parents telling me how great this film was and the great acting performed by all the actors. It is great to see other generations enjoying this great story that was performed on the New York City stage and then the 1937 film version. Robert Montgomery, (Danny 'Babyface'), "Lady in the Lake",'47, played a rather strange fellow who became quite involved with Rosalind Russell,(Olivia Grayne), "Wonderful Town", '58 who lived with her Aunt, Dame May Witty, (Mrs. Bramson), "The White Cliffs of Dover",'44. Danny was hired by Mrs. Bramson, who was delighted with his great wit and charming personality. This is certainly a very dramatic film which reveals deep hidden secrets about each persons mental feelings and childhood problems that some of them share with each other. Dame May Witty, was the first woman awarded the title of Dame in 1918, which stands for Knight in the United Kingdom. A must see great Classic film of 1937

William J. Fickling Warning: spoilers follow.Let's see if I've got this straight. A neighboring woman disappears and her hidden body is later found with the head severed. About the same time, an itinerant young man shows up, charms the crotchety old lady who runs the household, as well as most of her staff, with the sole exception of her dedicated personal assistant, who is also her niece and who can't stand her. The niece immediately becomes suspicious, does some checking, and finds out that his background isn't exactly what he says it is. Meanwhile she discovers he's carrying around a hatbox which she, and we, suspect contains the severed. So do the police, but when the police ask him to open the hatbox, the niece comes to his rescue and gets him off the hook by saying that the box is hers and that it contains some papers. Why does she rescue him? Could it be that she is secretly attracted to him? If so, this is belied by the all of her previous (and subsequent)actions, all of which indicate that she is terrified of him. And with good reason, as it turns out, because he soon dispatches the old lady. We never see her body, because he probably hid it as well, since he seems absolutely certain that he'll never be caught. Then the police show up, following a tip from the niece's boyfriend that couldn't have been more than conjecture. He is arrested and resigns himself to eventually being hanged, but it's never clear what he is being arrested for, the first murder or the second. And on what evidence? There is nothing linking him to the old lady's death, and there's no indication that they saw what was in the hatbox. So, go figure!All this probably makes the film sound much worse than it actually is, because in spite of all the aforementioned, I still recommend it. It is tremendously entertaining and contains some superb acting. Although this was early in Montgomery's career, this was easily his best performance. Dame May Whitty is superb as well. Rosalind Russell underplays her role. 8/10