I had heard of this film but had not taken the time to watch it for many years. After all it does have one of the great George Sander's final performances(albeit brief and rather tame)to recommend it. I finally sat down and was actually pleasantly surprised and not surprised it is not better known too. A newly married couple move into their newly constructed home called Gypsy something built by a great Greek architect who is dying(unconvincingly played by a Swede I might add). The young man, played rather nicely by young(then) Brit Hywel Bennett, is a poor, job to job fellow who enjoys beautiful things. He meets a young, attractive American, also played nicely by Haley Mills, who turns out to be one of the richest women in the world. The two meet, fall in love, move in to their dream house, and then the girl dies. Why? What happens to her? Is it her family that is concerned of their inheritance? Is it the young man? It is the strange family friend - played with her usual aplomb and sexiness by Britt Ekland? Only sitting through the movie will make me divulge(not really even that I suppose). Endless Night is a bit plodding at times. But - it is strangely watchable even though so little happens AND the ending - for me - could be seen a mile away. There is Bernard Herrmann's haunting score. There is Sidney Gilliat's workmanlike though not astonishing direction. But the acting by a cast of British stalwarts helped me stay focused despite the somewhat muddled script, the unlikely transitions, and the plot holes. The leads are all pretty good, but then you get folks like Madge Ryan(Who's Killing the Great Chefs of Europe), Lois Maxwell - very good here(James Bond's Moneypenny), Peter Bowles(To the Manor Born), and people like Ann Way and Patience Collier who you know you know but don't know what they were in at the moment. Then there is Mr. Sanders. This is generally seen as his second to last film(his last being the bizarre horror film about a frog demon and death-wielding motorcyclists)before killing himself from what he referred to as "boredom." He still looks suave and sounds great despite looking pretty old here. He has really two good scenes and makes the most of what he is given to do. Endless Night is an entertaining little thriller with some selling points despite some obvious weaknesses.
Review of Endless Night
