clanciai A horrible film but very well made. After I had seen it at night I was told not to see it at night. Well, it certainly is a shocker, and the stronger for the old efficient trick that you never see the bloody murders or the rest of the victims; but their presence is the more unavoidable. Albert Finney makes a virtuoso performance, and the film could have for a subtitle 'Anatomy of a psychopath', since that is what the film envisions and with excellence. Susan Hampshire is very convincing as well in her wavering position as getting more and more uncertain about her relationship the more she gets to know him; but the prize goes to Karel Reisz for his direction. It's an extremely weird film that only gets more so in its course, and Reisz more often than not made a sport of challenging the difficult art of border line balancing - his greatest success was "Morgan - a suitable case for treatment", his next film. This film Albert Finney made just after his triumph in "Tom Jones" as something of an opposite. Danny here is as charming as Tom Jones and even more agile about it but definitely goes too far. It's a film well worth seeing, but you never want to see it again.

CountessGaviota Other reviewers have pretty much covered the synopsis of this film. I would just like to add that it really should be viewed with some consideration given to the time it was made. For those who feel Finney's performance was "over the top" remember in 1964 what the general perception was about a "crazy" or psychopathic person. The public wasn't as educated about or aware of what mental illness looks like.Some historical context for this film for the reviewers who commented that Finney must really have wanted to make this film because he could do whatever he wanted after Tom Jones, and that he was trying to provide a showcase for himself. First of all this movie was released in 1964, but it was filmed before Tom Jones was released. Finney did not have carte Blanche to do anything he wanted at this stage. This film was not, in fact, the first choice for Karel Reisz and Albert Finney, who wanted to collaborate again after working on Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. They were not trying to make a showcase, but rather were excited about film making, and were trying to do something different and unusual. They originally planned to make a film about Ned Kelley, and had spent a lot of time and effort trying to put that project together, even going so far as to scout locations in Australia. However, the financial backing was from MGM, and at the last minute they pulled the financing from the Ned Kelley project and told Reisz and Finney they were doing a remake of Night Must Fall.Both Director and Actor have said they didn't feel it was going well while they were making it, and they weren't happy with how it turned out; however, Tony Richardson said the same about Tom Jones. Sometimes, the artist doesn't appreciate his own masterpiece. I personally find Finney's performance riveting, the story suspenseful, and, as other people have mentioned, the cinematography as atmospheric and effective as you would expect from Freddy Francis. I'm obviously in the camp with those who think this is an overlooked gem. Everyone entitled to his/her own opinion, but I did want to clarify a little of the history. Also, it was probably just a typo by one reviewer, but Finney was 26/27, not his late thirties when this was being made, but yes I agree Ewan McGregor does resemble him.

preppy-3 Wealthy widow Mrs. Bramson (Mona Washbourne) lives in the English countryside with her daughter Olivia (Susan Hampshire) and has a maid/cook named Dora (Sheila Hancock). Dora is pregnant from her boyfriend Danny (Albert Finney). What she doesn't know is that Danny is a psychopath. He charms Mrs. Bramson and starts playing mind games with Olivia and Dora...but he's slowly starting to unravel.Rightly forgotten thriller. I'm no fan of the 1939 original but it's a masterpiece when compared to this. This was obviously a project Finney really wanted to do--he's one of the co-producers. This was done right after "Tom Jones" became a monster hit so Finney was able to do whatever he pleased. He probably picked this to prove to people that he could act and wasn't just the handsome ladies man he played in "Jones". Now, Finney IS a great actor but he's pretty dreadful in this. He overplays the role to an embarrassing degree. He's so obviously deranged that you wonder why anybody would be charmed or trust him. When he tries to show the violence in his character he looks more silly than anything else. He also adopts a stupid accent that renders most of his dialogue unintelligible. The script doesn't help. It's slow and wanders all over the place. There seem to be gaps in it too. In one scene we see Danny pretty much terrorizing Olivia who he caught in his room. The very next scene he's teaching her how to ride his motorcycle like nothing has happened! Another problem are the characters themselves--none of them are remotely likable. Dora comes across as whiny, Olivia as pathetic and Mrs. Bramson as a real vicious and cruel person. Who wants to spend two hours with these people? There are a few good things about this. The acting by Hampshire, Hancock and Washbourne is good; there's a nice music score and it's shot appropriately in moody black & white. Still, this is a slow, dull thriller full of annoying characters. Might be worth watching to see Finney showing how you should NOT play a maniac. I give it a 4.

swabidoo To each his own taste, but I have to disagree with the other review of this movie. I love Albert Finney's performance as a psychopath who has the gift of perceiving the innermost needs of those he meets and then molding his own personality to take advantage of those needs. (I don't know anyone from Wales, nor do I know what a stereotypical "mad Welshman" is.) He and Mona Washbourne play off each other superbly. I do agree with the other review's assessment of the cinematography, and especially love the lighting. To see Finney in TOM JONES (previous) or TWO FOR THE ROAD (following), although he is young, his face does have character and expression lines - he is human. The lighting in this movie smooths his face to make it seem devoid of affect; you feel that his reactions to the people and the world around him spring not from human emotion but from insanity. If you're an Albert Finney fan I definitely recommend viewing this movie and making your own judgment.