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20 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Chance and coincidence in one terrific film noir, 15 January 2003
Author: Kalaman from Ottawa

Although it is far from a masterpiece, "Nightfall", a low-budget film noir (stunningly photographed by Burnett Guffey), is one of Jacques Tourneur's finest films. What amazed me about "Nightfall" was the way it resembles Tourneur's previous films in its depiction of chance and coincidence. The similarity to "Out of the Past" (the duality between past and present, city and country, the use of flashbacks) is somewhat obvious. But consider the opening chance encounter between Vanning (Aldo Ray) and Marie (Anne Bancroft). It recalls the similar (though different) chance meetings between Irena and Oliver at the zoo in Tourneur's "Cat People"(1942), and Dr. Bailey and Cissie on the train at the beginning of "Experiment Perilous"(1944). If you watch it closely at the opening scenes, Marie's seat beside Vanning at the bar is empty BEFORE she appears. So, we expect the seat to be filled. I didn't notice it when I first saw the film, but critic Chris Fujiwara's observations in his splendid book, JACQUES TOURNEUR:THE CINEMA OF NIGHTFALL, were immensely helpful. Fujiwara adroitly notes, "Throughout Nightfall, chance and unconscious processes determine key events. Tourneur's standard procedure of showing the effect before the cause underlies the inexplicability of these events, their fantastic nature".

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12 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
A decent Film-Noir, 9 May 2003
Author: Ilya Mauter

Jacques Tourneur's Nightfall follows the classic Film-Noir pattern: a man hunted by someone for something he did in the past, a beautiful woman, expressionist black and white photography etc..

The action of the film takes place in Chicago where James Vanning (Aldo Ray), meets in a bar a beautiful young fashion model Marie Gardner (Anne Bancroft). There is instant liking between them. Everything seems fine till James is picked up by two strange individuals whom as we understand he knew before and who begin to interrogate him, threatening his life, about a big amount of money that he supposedly possess and that actually belongs to them. James manages to escape and takes refuge at Marie's home. He's obliged to tell her the story about his past that led those to men to hunt him. The story which is shown to us in flash back sequences.

Though Nightfall doesn't stand comparison to Jacques Tourneur Film-Noir masterpiece Out of the Past, it's still quite an interesting film generally well acted with some very good dialogs in it and the most remarkable end sequence that probably served as an inspiration for the ending of brothers' Coen Fargo. 7/10

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12 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
A Symphony in Black & White, 10 September 2002
Author: mackjay from Out there in the dark

What distinguishes "Nightfall" is the stunning beauty of the cinematography by Burnett Guffey. This is a film of the darkest darks AND the whitest whites. BLOND Aldo Ray is led into villains' hands by DARK haired Bancroft. But she is a pseudo-Femme Fatale, not really involved in the initial intrigue.

Along with one of the most chilling murder scenes encountered in 'classic period', the film contains a tri-partite Flashback, which always takes us from the BLACKNESS of a cityscape (menacing Oilwells the first time) to SNOW COVERED plains. The continuous interplay of BLACK & WHITE in this film is striking enough to make it well worth seeing. In this sense, it is a true JACQUES TOURNEUR film, hearkening back to the Val Lewton films he directed and even occasionally foreshadowing moments in "Night of the Demon"

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13 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Another Wonderfully Inventive Film from Jacques Tourneur, 27 December 2006
8/10
Author: brocksilvey from United States

Jacques Tourneur used his vast reserves of creativity to turn small-budget films into fascinating movie-going experiences. If "Out of the Past" is one of the best films noir to be released in the 1940s, then "Nightfall" must be one of the best from the succeeding decade.

Aldo Ray plays James Vanning, who, with his doctor friend Edward Gurston (Frank Albertson), finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up knowing the whereabouts of a bag of stolen money, wanted mightily by two bank robbers (one played with droll relish by Brian Keith). Fate, always a principal character in any film noir, brings James together with Marie Gardner (an impossibly young Anne Bancroft), a fashion model who becomes his girl Friday. Meanwhile, an insurance investigator (James Gregory) working on behalf of the robbed bank has James's number and comes calling. All of these characters finally collide in a memorable and rather grisly ending.

"Nightfall" is tremendously stylish and playful. It very much resembles Tourneur's earlier noir, "Out of the Past," in its thesis that a man can run but never hide from his past. But it also reminded me of "On Dangerous Ground," Nicholas Ray's strange offering from 1952, in its juxtaposition of a shadow-filled urban environment filled with anonymous (and perhaps dangerous) strangers with the wide open (and no less frightening) spaces of the country, where anything can happen and no one will know. I don't know if Aldo Ray was considered a good actor at the time, but he does a terrific job here -- who better to play an American everyman caught up in a sticky web than this all-American jock of an actor? He and Bancroft sizzle in their scenes together, and one of the movie's highlights comes when they are racing away from one of Bancroft's fashion shows with the bad guys in hot pursuit, and Ray, frustrated by the fact that Bancroft can't run in the impractical gown she was just modeling, picks her up and runs with her into the safety of a cab, after which she leans against him and says, "You're the most wanted man I know." This scene and line got laughs and applause at the screening I attended, but you could tell that people were laughing with the film and not at it.

This film is one of the highlights of the noir genre, and I highly recommend catching it if you get a chance.

Grade: A

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11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Taut, low-budget, film noir with an edge, 27 January 2001
10/10
Author: rollo_tomaso (rollo_tomaso@excite.com) from Houston, TX

Jacques Tourneur, director of the highly acclaimed Out of The Past, leaves out the melodrama and the fanfare, to deliver the goods. Anne Bancroft is luminescent in her film debut as the model who comes to anti-hero Ray's aid. And James Gregory is fabulous as the detective shadowing Ray. But Rudy Bond steals the show whenever he's on screen as Brian Keith's sadistic partner. The pacing is taut, and the mood is gritty. This is a must for all film noir fans. 9/10.

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11 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Crisp, no-nonsense late noir from legendary Jacques Tourneur, 20 August 2001
8/10
Author: bmacv from Western New York

Having established his reputation in the 1940s with The Cat People and Out of the Past (pinnacles among several others), Tourneur returned to the noir cycle as it was winding down to direct Nightfall. The film opens stunningly: we watch the hunted protagonist (the, well, stolid Aldo Ray) as Los Angeles day darkens into dusk, and the pace flows seamlessly to a "chance" meeting with the young Anne Bancroft in a cocktail lounge. Of course, the inevitable menace, here concerning $350 grand from a bank job, falls as swiftly as the night. The narrative weaves back and forth from the present in elegantly placed flashbacks which establish the backstory; present and past converge at the film's climax (foreshadowing a memorable scene in On Her Majesty's Secret Service). Though Ray's curious career never answers the question, Why was he in movies at all?, the supporting cast -- starting with Bancroft -- is superb. Brian Keith is the heavy, while the underused James Gregory (best remembered as the McCarthyite imbecile from The Manchurian Candidate, and from the Barney Miller show) plays an insurance investigator who becomes an ally. On the other side of the law, Rudy Bond portrays one of the most despicable sadists in a cycle lousy with them.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Despite some story gaps, a first-rate suspenser..., 8 March 2008
7/10
Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca

David Goodis' pulpy novel becomes exciting, well-cast and acted crime-drama, peculiarly titled since most of the action takes place in the snow-covered mountains of Wyoming (perhaps "Snowfall" would've been more apropos). Two innocent campers run violently afoul of two trigger-happy bank-robbers, with 350 G's getting lost in the frost. Hollywood never quite knew what to do with Aldo Ray: polite and beaming (like an overgrown Boy Scout), Ray's ingratiating manner and wobbly, scratchy voice made him difficult to type-cast in the 1950s. He's just right here, playing tough guy up against cold-hearted Brian Keith and buddy/big brother/love-interest to model Anne Bancroft, who gets caught in this crime web and yet doesn't seem to mind. Despite a sluggish start and a few details that don't come together (such as why the crooks' car runs off the road in Wyoming, or why the two bank-robbers don't follow Aldo Ray when he runs through the river with the satchel of loot), director Jacques Tourneur handles the criss-crossing plot with buttery ease. Add in some amusing parallels to the later "Fargo" and you've got the makings of a cult classic, one that Columbia Pictures rarely revives. *** from ****

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Neglected Suspense Classic, 23 January 2008
8/10
Author: drmality-1 (drmality@sbcglobal.net) from Illinoize

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I wonder if Jacques Tourneur's "Nightfall" was a kind of influence on the Coen Brothers' "Fargo". It features quirky crooks and flawed characters stumbling about in a frozen wilderness in search of loot. Sure, this is not as wry as "Fargo", but I wonder. One thing's for sure...both films capture the essence of a snowy rural locale well. "Fargo" had death by wood chipper, "Nightfall" has death by snowplow...

Another reviewer made an astute connection to "On Dangerous Ground". I wouldn't put this on the emotional level of that wonderful film, but it does effectively contrast the cold dark city with the cold white space of the countryside.

The story unfolds in a series of flashbacks related by the singularly unlucky James Vanning, our hero. Vanning's luck is sure lousy, as he becomes the victim of a series of terrible coincidences and bad timing (as one of the hoods, Red, gleefully points out). It seems that while on a winter fishing trip with good pal Doc, Vanning comes to the rescue of two gents whose car crashes in a canyon. Unfortunately for Vanning and Doc, the duo, John and Red, are dangerous felons fleeing a bank robbery. John is the laconic brains of the outfit while Red is a jovial sadist itching for the kill. Before we know it, Doc is gunned down and Vanning is left for dead, while John and Red take off with what they think is a bag containing $350,000. But it isn't, it's Doc's bag...and the still-living Vanning stumbles into the snow in a daze with the real swag.

Circumstances are such that Vanning is now hunted as the murderer of Doc. The bag of money is laying out in the wilderness where Vanning left it. Vanning is forced to hit the road and change his name to avoid capture. Hot on his tail is amiable insurance investigator Ben Frazier, who suspects Vanning might be innocent. But to make things worse, John and Red also catch up with Vanning...and they're prepared to do whatever's necessary to get their money back.

The chase is on, with Vanning trying to elude the sadistic thugs as well as Frazier, while also romancing Marie, a sultry model who offers him shelter.

Beautiful cinematography is a given in any Tourneur film and the direction here is as top notch as ever. Strong performances and crisp dialog also make an impact. Aldo Ray wound up as a drunken hack in terrible films later in his career, but here he makes a rugged yet vulnerable Vanning. It's one of his best roles. The wonderful James Gregory is appealing as always as Frazer...what a terrific character actor he is. Anne Bancroft is most attractive as Marie, though I never shook the feeling she was a token female stuck in the movie for a tacked on romance.

As with just about any film, the bad guys really dominate. Brian Keith's John is a most peculiar bad guy...laid back, very reasonable sounding, yet something about him suggests this is a very dangerous man capable of great violence. That comes through best when he hauls a captive Vanning to an oil derrick and threatens to kill him with some of the derrick's huge machinery. In contrast, Rudy Bond as Red is a chuckling backslapping type who just happens to be a bloodthirsty killer. The scene where he casually, almost apologetically sets up Doc's murder and Vanning's "suicide" is chilling. The dynamic between these two is really strong and explodes into conflict at the end.

Not everything clicks. I found it pretty amazing that the bag of loot would sit out in the Wyoming winter countryside in the same place for so long. Even in remote areas, hunters often wander and wild animals could have taken the bag,too. Not too mention it should have been under a snowdrift. As mentioned before, the relationship between Vanning and Marie also seems artificial. And the plot of the show, while clever, is far from revolutionary. I can think of many crime dramas with more action and firepower.

But it all works out pretty well. I was gripped by the whole show and the final showdown is pretty intense, ending up in one of the most gruesome deaths in 50's cinema.

Well worth your time.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
The Loot In The Woods, 23 January 2008
4/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Nightfall finds Aldo Ray as a man on the run. On the run from a couple of bank-robbers who think he's got their loot, on the run from the police who think he killed a good friend. So he's doing the Richard Kimble thing and staying low.

I'm sure he couldn't believe his luck when beautiful model Anne Bancroft gives him the come hither look in that bar just to get him out in the alley so Brian Keith and Rudy Bond can get to him. Of course she being the good citizen she is, does this because she believes they're cops and they just want to apprehend Ray.

In flashback we learn that out in the Wyoming woods Keith and Ray get some help from Ray and his friend Frank Albertson who happens to be a doctor. They shoot Albertson and rather unbelievably Ray survives. But the two geniuses take Albertson's medical bag instead of the one with their loot. After that Ray's on the run.

Jacques Tourneur directed this rather unbelievable noir film and the thing I most can't believe is this is the same guy who directed Out of the Past. The plot is too much for me to swallow.

Rudy Bond and Brian Keith play a nice pair of contrasting hoods. Bond the happy go lucky homicidal maniac and Keith the brains of the outfit. There's also a nice final confrontation with the parties back in Wyoming where the loot got stashed by Ray.

Still this is not the greatest of noir pictures.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Jacques Tourneur Produced a great Film, 23 January 2008
7/10
Author: whpratt1 from United States

Enjoyed this film from the beginning to the very end with an outstanding ending. The film starts out with James Vanning, (Aldo Ray)walking down a dark street and trying to keep himself in the shadows when he meets up with a man who wants a light for his cigarette, this man is Ben Fraser, (James Gregory) which is a very quick encounter and then James goes into a bar and not long after he meets up with a pretty girl, Marie Gardner, (Anne Bancroft) who asks him for five dollars and he becomes rather suspicious at first and after a while he takes her to dinner. Some very interesting things happen after this dinner and the film takes on a completely different direction with plenty of flashbacks and eventually goes to the State of Washington after leaving some oil wells. Don't miss this film, it is a great film directed by Jacques Tourneu who has created thrilling B films in the past. Enjoy

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