Night Has a Thousand Eyes

"The Night has a Thousand Eyes" is a most engaging drama, with Edward G. Robinson giving his all to the role of a clairvoyant. A wonderful Robinson performance. Gail Russell is seen in one of her best film appearances. John Lund is well cast as Russell's doubting but supportive love interest.

The atmosphere created here has an almost hypnotic effect. Robinson is completely into his role and totally convincing.

That this film has not yet to date made it on video is incredible. Of all the lesser films that did so, this movie warrants attention. Paramount Pictures [us]--please take note.

Cornell Woolrich aka William Irish is not read much these days but lives on courtesy of films derived from his novels, most notably by Hitchcock, Truffaut, Siodmak, Tourneur and Delannoy.

Most probably taken from the title of a poem by Frances William Bourdillon, his 'Night has a Thousand Eyes' is only one of two works written by Woolrich under the name of George Hopley and is a decidedly disturbing tale of predestination.

Alas, even by Hollywood standards this version, capably directed by John Farrow, has little to do with the original, even to the extent of changing the fateful hour from midnight to eleven! It becomes in effect a film of two halves, the first infinitely better than the second and weakened by a contrived ending.

What is does have in its favour is the superlative chiaroscuro cinematography by John F. Seitz and the presence of one Edward G. Robinson. The character of the psychic tortured by his terrible gift of prophecy has been fleshed out here and Mr. Robinson is magnificent in the role. By all accounts he was none too keen on the finished product but heaven only knows what he thought of his next foray eight years later into Woolrich territory, 'Nightmare', a totally unnecessary remake by Maxwell Shane of his own 'Fear in the Night'.

The police procedural element of the novel has been trimmed down and we have a great turn by William Demarest as a befuddled detective. John Lund is well cast as a dullard for whom every phenomenon has to have a rational explanation whilst Gail Russell is suitably appealing as a character sorely in need of protection.

Before 'Film Noir' there was 'Roman Noir' and Mr. Woolrich takes us into the realms of what one astute observer has termed 'Paranoid Noir'. His view of a cruel and malignant fate from which there is no escape is more than somewhat unsettling, especially to advocates of free will. One thing of which we can be certain, the clock is ticking for us all........

The movie's a riveting excursion into the occult. In fact, the production pulls off the difficult trick of making occult happenings seem almost plausible, something Hollywood rarely cares about doing. Robinson's turn is first-rate as a stage magician suddenly burdened with the power of pre-cognition. Watching Triton (Robinson) slowly succumb to the terrible reality of foreseeing the future amounts to a dramatic triumph. He has no control over these pre- visions and they're almost always of dark happenings, especially when involving the sweetly vulnerable Jean Courtland (Russell). The climax is a stunner as the clues to Jean's bleak future slowly come true, while there seems no alternative to fate having its evil way.

This is one of the darkest of noirs, both literally and figuratively. Generally, the lighting is too shadowy to catch the ethereal Russell's pale blue eyes, a feature that would have added to the overall mood. It's also nicely ironic that the real occult would step into the life of a magician who only pretends to conjure other dimensions for the delight of paying audiences. It's like a punishment for presuming to toy with the surreal. I also like the way others remain militantly skeptical since that would be a natural reaction.

In my book, the movie's clearly underrated by the professionals and I'm not sure why. If the production's got an overriding flaw, I can't find it, though I could have done with less of the theramin whose eerie sound is like gravy on soup. Nonetheless, for me, the overall result is one of the best to deal with a topic that's usually made hokey as heck by Hollywood, and that's besides having one of the most intriguing titles in movie annals.

According to "The Films of Edward G. Robinson", this entry in the 2008 Film Noir Series at the Egyptian on April 18, was pretty much dismissed by critics and the star itself. After all, this came right after his masterful performance in John Huston's "Key Largo", for which he teamed up with Humphrey Bogart for the last time. This film barely shows up in Gail Russell's bio, who's probably best known as John Wayne's co-star in "Angel and the Badman", the first time he utters "pilgrim", as that was what she played. However, "Night" did generally get a positive response with modern audiences. Director John Farrow, father of Mia, provided a good atmosphere and generally kept the narrative at the good pace. It begins with John Lund, the third name above the title, saving Russell from suicide. From there, they meet Robinson at a restaurant and who has already ordered exactly what they want. Then, he tells in flashback that he actually knew her parents quite well. As played by Virginia Bruce and Jerome Cowan, hey manage his clairvoyant act in which he actually gets glimpses of the future. In fact, he actually quits when an unfortunate event happens that I won't give away. Where he retires to is of special notice to old time Angeleno fans. He's seen going to his Bunker Hill residence from taking Angel's Flight. It is from there he brings the audience back to the present. Of special interest among the cast is William Demarest, who appeared in just about every Preston Sturges comedy during this time period. Playing straight, he's nevertheless is quite comical as the dumb police detective. The ending is actually quite well written. It has an intriguing twist and some of the best prose Robinson's voice was ever given to speak. A great film noir.

A jewel in the rough. A small little movie with a great Edward G. Robinson. The loneliness of Triton is played with a big intensity by him. Story, actors and shooting of the film is both, film noir and drama of loneliness and being lost, quite as it is Woolrich's credo in a lot of his novels and screen adaptations. This is one of its best. Eight points.