Night Must Fall

Night Must Fall (1937)

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Wealthy widow Mrs. Bramson notices that her maid is distracted, and when she learns the girl's fiancé, Danny, is the reason, she summons him in. Mrs. Bramson's niece Olivia takes a liking to Danny, and comes to believe that he may have been involved in the disappearance of a local woman.

Date of release
1937-04-30
TMDB
7.0 / 10 (49)
Runtime
1h 56m
Genres
Mystery, Thriller
Director
Richard Thorpe

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 1 · Nominations: 2. Including: National Board of Review Award for Best Film

Night Must Fall is a 1937 American film adaptation of the 1935 play by Emlyn Williams, adapted by John Van Druten and directed by Richard Thorpe. It stars Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell and May Whitty in her Hollywood film debut at age 72, who earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She reprised her role in the stage drama in London and New York City. A critical success, Night Must Fall was named the best film of the year by the National Board of Review. Robert Montgomery also received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. A 1964 remake starred Albert Finney, although the remake did not do as well as the original.

Production

Dame May Whitty, Kathleen Harrison, Merle Tuttenham and Matthew Boulton reprised the roles that they had originated in the London production. Whitty and Boulton also appeared in the later Broadway production.

Robert Montgomery recounted that he had seen the play in New York and lobbied Louis B. Mayer for the role. The studio was willing to risk a flop in order to seize control over Montgomery and his desire for more substantial roles. He recalled that "they okayed my playing in it because they thought the fan reaction to me, in such a role, would humiliate me." Montgomery also agreed to finance a portion of the film.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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