Nightfall (1956)

By Kim Morgan filmnoiroftheweek.com “This is what they call the point of no return my friend.” Nightfall is a work of striking juxtapositions and tones that by picture end, come off like a wonderfully disarming person—you’re charmed, even a bit disturbed, but you’re not sure what to make of it all. It opens at night, in the neon lit, Los Angeles jungle shimmering with welcoming Hollywood haunts like Miceli’s, Firefly and Musso and Frank and ends within the blinding white snow of the more foreboding Wyoming Wilderness. It pits an older doctor and his much younger, artist friend against t…

drystyx

10.0

Apr 2, 2023

Aldo Ray metaphorically stumbles across mob money. Rudy Bond is a sadist who makes a game out of killing his victims, making them believe there is a contest involved. Brian Keith works with Rudy Bond, and is disgusted by him, till the sadist finally decides to try to kill him. James Gregory is investigating all of this, and feels he is in over his head, and discusses his insecurities with his wife. Sound familiar? Well, this was the original classic that McCarthy later went totally Hollywood formula with, but this one is the real deal. Here, the bad guys are just as mortal as the good guy…