Nightfall (1957 film)
| Nightfall | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Jacques Tourneur |
| Produced by | Ted Richmond |
| Screenplay by | Stirling Silliphant |
| Based on |
Nightfall 1947 novel by David Goodis |
| Starring |
Aldo Ray Brian Keith Anne Bancroft |
| Music by |
George Duning Conducted by Morris Stoloff |
| Cinematography | Burnett Guffey, A.S.C. |
| Edited by | William A. Lyon, A.C.E. |
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Production
company |
A Copa Production
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures Corporation |
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Release date
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Running time
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78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Nightfall is an American film noir directed in 1957 by Jacques Tourneur. It features Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, and Anne Bancroft.
The low-budget film is remembered today for camera work by cinematographer Burnett Guffey. It uses flashbacks as a device to tell the story, which was based on a 1947 novel by David Goodis.
Nightfall was written by Stirling Silliphant, who 10 years later would win an Academy Award for his original screenplay for In the Heat of the Night.
Commercial artist James Vanning (Aldo Ray) and his friend, Dr. Edward Gurston (Frank Albertson), are on a hunting and fishing trip in Wyoming. They stop to help two men whose car has crashed. John (Brian Keith) and Red (Rudy Bond) are bank robbers, fleeing with $350,000 in loot, who don't plan on leaving any witnesses.
They murder Gurston using Vanning's hunting rifle, but through luck Vanning survives. He's knocked out cold but is still alive. He awakens to discover the stolen money, left behind by mistake, and runs with it from the returning hoods. He gets away but loses the bag in the blizzard.
Much later, at a café in Los Angeles, Vanning makes the acquaintance of Marie Gardner (Anne Bancroft), a model. He is ambushed by John and Red, but once again gets away. Marie falls for Vanning and travels by bus with him to Wyoming, tailed by an insurance investigator named Fraser (James Gregory) who has been following the case all along.
John and Red have found the money and get the drop on the other three. The crooks double-cross one another, however, and Red shoots John dead. Vanning fights with Red, who is killed by a snow plow. The insurance man will clear Vanning, who is now free to marry Marie.
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Wikipedia