Not so much a whodunnit as a whydunnit, 'The Long Night' opens with Vincent Price's fatal shooting at the hands of a distraught Henry Fonda and proceeds to trawl through the events leading to the killing during the long night of the title, whilst the lonely reflective Fonda is besieged by police bullets in his dismal apartment.
Inevitably, perhaps, the focus, though not necessarily the cause of his desperate plight is a woman (Barbara Bel Geddes). Fonda's seemingly on target romantic ambitions are thrown into disarray when she departs abruptly for 'an appointment.' He tracks her, at a distance to Al King's Jungle Club, where concern quickly becomes consternation as he observes her liaison with conceited, smarmy, oily, slick illusionist and serial liar Vincent Price. Has Fonda made the heart grow absent? He must have wished that the whole episode had been an illusion. The same is true of the make up department's attempt to turn the then 36 year old Price into a silver fox. Little did he know just how BAD a bad hair day lay ahead.
Narrative related in flashback was a common feature of film noir, but the flashback within the flashback seems akin to having a warning light which illuminates to inform you that there's a fault with the warning light. Long before the end enough lead has been pumped into Fonda's home as to render it uninhabitable. Great purchase for a scrap metal merchant though!
Not without its merits, The Long Night is in need of tightening up in several departments, coming across as a strong cast partially wasted on mediocre material. There is little in the way of razor-sharp dialogue and what ought to be a taut, suspenseful scenario, pulsating with nail-biting tension as the stand-off escalates simply sags in the middle like an old mattress. All too often 'The Long Night' is closer to the long yawn.
Inevitably, perhaps, the focus, though not necessarily the cause of his desperate plight is a woman (Barbara Bel Geddes). Fonda's seemingly on target romantic ambitions are thrown into disarray when she departs abruptly for 'an appointment.' He tracks her, at a distance to Al King's Jungle Club, where concern quickly becomes consternation as he observes her liaison with conceited, smarmy, oily, slick illusionist and serial liar Vincent Price. Has Fonda made the heart grow absent? He must have wished that the whole episode had been an illusion. The same is true of the make up department's attempt to turn the then 36 year old Price into a silver fox. Little did he know just how BAD a bad hair day lay ahead.
Narrative related in flashback was a common feature of film noir, but the flashback within the flashback seems akin to having a warning light which illuminates to inform you that there's a fault with the warning light. Long before the end enough lead has been pumped into Fonda's home as to render it uninhabitable. Great purchase for a scrap metal merchant though!
Not without its merits, The Long Night is in need of tightening up in several departments, coming across as a strong cast partially wasted on mediocre material. There is little in the way of razor-sharp dialogue and what ought to be a taut, suspenseful scenario, pulsating with nail-biting tension as the stand-off escalates simply sags in the middle like an old mattress. All too often 'The Long Night' is closer to the long yawn.