Night Must Fall (1937)

Night Must Fall: Directed by Richard Thorpe. With Merle Tottenham, Kathleen Harrison, May Whitty, Rosalind Russell. When a rich but cantankerous dowager on an isolated estate hires an engaging handyman, her niece/companion becomes suspicious of his motives.

“Somewhat forgotten, uniquely entertaining u0026quot;thrilleru0026quot; about the happenings of an old English cottage when news of a missing then discovered murdered woman surrounds household. Rosialnd Russell, looking very prim and proper(and Oh! so young!), gives a good performance as a bullied niece with loads of imagination, a repressed sexual bent, and some genuine ambivalent feelings toward life, death, and the whole notion of what is exciting and what is dull. She takes orders from the wonderful Dame May Witty giving a grand performance as an imperious woman in a wheelchair trying to clutch on to anything in her life that will still give it meaning. Her household is visited upon by a young man that has been seeing one of the servant girls – Robert Montgomery – and he manages through his u0026quot;charmu0026quot; to worm his way into her home. We know at the very beginning that his intentions are not noble as we see him talk about Wittyu0026#39;s wealth and spy on her as she locks away her valuables. Witty adopts Montgomery, now working in her home, as a kind soul full of funny anecdotes and good will. Russell knows differently but either is unwilling to accept what kind of person Montgomery is or is excited by that very same kind of person he may be. The murder looms the entire time in the background. Richard Thorpe does one heck of a good job infusing this film with taut tension and gentle humour. His use of setting and cinematography in particular show great craftsmanship. He is also blessed with three strong performing leads. Witty is an absolute treasure. Russell is very good, and Montgomery gives what might be his best performance. His light Cockney-like accent is believable, and although I found his character despicable from the very beginning – that credit for making what many perceived as a charming local initially affable and then later very detestable is a credit to Montgomeryu0026#39;s acting craft. He plays a psychopath very well indeed. Night Must Fall will not dazzle you with action sequences, nor will you even see any actual violence. The film is very talky, but wonderfully so and relies almost entirely on the dialog and the believability of the acting. Movies like this sure arenu0026#39;t made any more. They just involve way too much thinking.”