Endless Night (1972)

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I wanted to see this movie after seeing "Agatha Christie's Marple: Endless Night", which I thought was one of the better Miss Marple movies although the original novel wasn't a Miss Marple story.The story of Michael Rogers, a scheming chauffeur, who dreams of building a spectacular house along the Devon coast, and the people he ensnares to achieve his ends including marrying a beautiful heiress Ellie Thomsen, has darker psychological overtones than many of Agatha Christie's works. However it needed the right touch to translate it to the screen.In the Miss Marple version the tone is right and although Miss Marple is grafted onto proceedings, it all comes together. "Endless Night" is more shrill, and the treatment makes it feel a little old fashioned – except for Britt Ekland's flash of flesh towards the end.But this film does have stars I like. Anyone who grew up with the Disney movies of the 50's and 60s would have to have a soft spot for Hayley Mills. As Ellie Thomsen in "Endless Night" she is grown up, but looks about 10 years younger. Hayley Mills has always looked much younger than her years. I was surprised to read once that she regretted not accepting the role of Lolita in Kubrick's film. Now that may well have eclipsed memories of "Pollyanna" if it had ever taken place.George Sanders plays lawyer, Andrew Lippincott. It's not a big role and it was about his last film. He hardly shifted gears throughout his career but he didn't need to; he lifted every film he was in. His sang-froid contrasts with Hywel Bennett's somewhat hyper performance as Michael Rogers. Britt Ekland is in it too, sexy as Ellie's friend Greta.Letting the film down are some self-conscious photographic effects and a strangely schizophrenic score. The usually brilliant composer, Bernard Hermann, decided to overlay his orchestral score with a Moog Synthesiser. It was all the rage at the time, but nothing dates a movie like the Moog. He wasn't happy with the result and it's easy to hear why.The Miss Marple version is a much slicker production and shows how the story could be nuanced. Over 40 years later, "Endless Night" is a little too manic, but has some intriguing stars that still command attention.

This intriguing tale benefits from some strong characters, who really make you want to keep watching to the end of the film, plus an unnerving sense of impending doom. Based on an Agatha Christie story, the film is extremely slow-moving which will probably be a put off to many modern movie goers. Indeed, not much in the way of action happens at all, as the film is dialogue based. Thanks to a good script, if you concentrate then you'll find yourself rewarded by the time the credits close.Some really beautiful locations help to add to the visual quality of this film, which is incidentally top-notch. While not a horror film exactly, there are plenty of spooky moments, such as a mysterious old woman who stands around and shouts forebodings of evil, plus a chilling scene or two. These nightmarish moments are achieved without any special effects whatsoever, and it's very effective. There's also a fantastic twist in the tale which I certainly didn't see coming, I won't spoil it, except to say it's a good one.The film also benefits from a very good cast, seemingly populated by loads of British character actors and actresses. Hywel Bennett excels in the lead role of a poor dreamer, who admires art and beauty. You can really feel for his character and understand his various actions, and Bennett makes his character likable. Hayley Mills is very good as the young, innocent wife, while Britt Ekland enjoys her role (which, unsurprisingly, calls for nudity) as a housekeeper. Filling out various roles are Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny from the Bond films) as a crabby old aunt, Walter Gotell, Windsor Davies in a small role as the village policeman, and finally George Sanders, who brings an air of respectability to the proceedings, playing a distinguished lawyer.For fans of mysteries and thrillers, this is unmissable viewing. While it might not be the best of the best, it's still superior in just about every way, a mature, convincing film which hooks you from the start and lulls you into a false sense of security before smacking you in the face with shock after shock. One to watch...

I came to this having recently seen the slightly earlier, 'Twisted Nerve' also starring Hayley mills and Hywel Bennett, directed by the Boultings and was expecting something more along the lines of a more traditional thriller/horror. this, however, is a very different film and if not as successful as it might have been, certainly deserving of attention. I was not as persuaded as some by the creepiness but it certainly odd and although it seemed to progress rather slowly and in an unusual way, I had no idea that things would turn out the way they do. Well worth seeing, some may find it more haunting than others but is certainly just that little bit different. Even dressed in a dowdy manner, Britt Ekland completely overshadows Mills in the looks department and Per Oscarsson's performance almost knocks Bennett aside.

Well, this definitely wasn't what I initially expected, but nonetheless "Endless Night" is a respectable and slow-brooding mystery thriller from the pen of the legendary Agatha Christie. This is actually one of those films of which the impact mainly comes afterwards, when the subject matter had its time to sink in. It probably won't ever become one of my personal favorite thrillers because the pacing is too slow, the screenplay is overly talkative and there aren't any memorable shock sequences, but you have got to admire director Sidney Gilliat's skills of suspense-building and generating an ominous atmosphere. I primarily wanted to watch "Endless Night" because it reunites the two lead players of the marvelous British shock-picture "Twisted Nerve" (Hywel Bennett and the indescribably ravishing Hayley Mills) and then additionally features no less than Britt Ekland ("The Wicker Man") and George Sanders ("Village of the Damned"). Great British cast, to say the least.Michael Rogers is a poor chauffeur with great ambitions and nearly unrealizable dreams. The building of his dream house on a fantastic piece of landscape suddenly becomes possible when he starts dating the sixth richest girl in the world … without even being aware of it! Obviously Ellie's family and financial counselors heavily protest against her relationship with the undoubtedly greedy young lad, but the couple conquers all relationship tests and stick together. Still, once they are settled on their dreamy hillside, mysterious events begin to occur. Ellie receives visits from an uncanny and crazy cat-lady (who very well may have been the inspiration for the character in "The Simpsons" with the same name) and offers shelter to her childhood nanny Greta even though she clearly doesn't get along with Michael. For a very long time – approximately two thirds of the whole film – you will wonder where Agatha Christie is going with the plot. "Endless Night" only turns into a mystery thriller during the last fifteen minutes. All the foregoing is actually just relationship drama and moody psychological studies. The remotely infamous twist near the end is indeed quasi unpredictable, but also highly implausible in my humble opinion. Obviously I can't write too much without revealing essential key information, but if a man is put to the choice between a beautiful rich girl and a beautiful poor girl … it isn't such a tough decision.