Night Has a Thousand Eyes
Night Has a Thousand Eyes | |
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File:Night1000eyes.jpg
Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | John Farrow |
Produced by | Endre Bohem |
Screenplay by | Barré Lyndon Jonathan Latimer |
Based on | Night Has a Thousand Eyes by Cornell Woolrich |
Starring | Edward G. Robinson Gail Russell John Lund Virginia Bruce |
Music by | Victor Young |
Cinematography | John F. Seitz |
Edited by | Eda Warren |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates
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Running time
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81 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1.9 million[1] |
Box office | $1.5 million (US rentals)[2] |
Night Has a Thousand Eyes is a 1948 film noir, starring Edward G. Robinson and directed by John Farrow. The screenplay was written by Barré Lyndon and Jonathan Latimer. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Cornell Woolrich.[3]
Contents
Synopsis
The film opens in New Orleans, where John Triton (Robinson) is "The Mental Wizard", a nightclub fortune teller. During a show one evening, Triton suddenly urges an audience member to rush home, cautioning that her son is in danger. As the story unfolds, Triton struggles with his new-found psychic ability, as all of his relentlessly bleak predictions prove accurate. Jerome Cowan (of Maltese Falcon fame) plays Whitney Courtland, Triton's best friend, who becomes wealthy using tips from the now-psychic Triton.
Cast
- Edward G. Robinson as John Triton 'The Mental Wizard'
- Gail Russell as Jean Courtland
- John Lund as Elliott Carson
- Virginia Bruce as Jenny Courtland
- William Demarest as Lt. Shawn
- Richard Webb as Peter Vinson
- Jerome Cowan as Whitney Courtland
Reception
Critical response
The film is generally praised for its gloomy adaptation of Woolrich's writing. Time Out Film Guide, however (in spite of praising the cinematography by John F. Seitz), gives the thriller a negative review:
"Aside from the fine opening sequence -- Lund's rescue of Gail Russell from the brink of suicide, and discovery of her mortal terror of the stars -- a disappointing adaptation of Cornell Woolrich's superb novel."[4]
In his book Art of Noir, Eddie Muller writes: "No film more faithfully captured Woolrich's sense of doomed predestination than Night Has a Thousand Eyes."
Music
The film's main theme (written by Jerry Brainin and Buddy Bernier) has gone on to become a jazz standard, having been recorded by Horace Silver, Carmen McRae, Harry Beckett, Paul Desmond and John Coltrane, among others.
References
Notes
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Bibliography
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External links
- Night Has a Thousand Eyes at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Night Has a Thousand Eyes at IMDb
- Template:Allrovi title
- Night Has a Thousand Eyes at the TCM Movie Database
- Night Has a Thousand Eyes film scene on YouTube
Streaming audio
- Night Has a Thousand Eyes on Screen Directors Playhouse: February 27, 1949
- Night Has a Thousand Eyes on Philip Morris Playhouse: August 19, 1953
- ↑ Biggest Film Firm: Paramount's Puzzler: Will Attendance Slide Be Brief or Prolonged? By Joseph W. Taylor Staff Correspondent of The Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 21 July 1947: 1.
- ↑ "Top Grossers of 1948", Variety 5 January 1949 p 46
- ↑ Night Has a Thousand Eyes at the American Film Institute Catalog.
- ↑ TimeOut film review, no date. Accessed: July 5, 2013.
- Pages with reference errors
- Pages with broken file links
- 1948 films
- English-language films
- 1940s drama films
- American films
- American black-and-white films
- Film noir
- Film scores by Victor Young
- Films directed by John Farrow
- Paramount Pictures films
- Films based on American novels
- Films set in New Orleans, Louisiana