Movie Review: The Long Night (1947)

Genre: Crime Drama  

Director: Anatole Litvak  

Starring: Henry Fonda, Barbara Del Geddes, Vincent Price, Ann Dvorak, Elisha Cook, Jr.  

Running Time: 101 minutes  

Synopsis: A man is shot dead on the top landing of an apartment building. The suspect Joe Adams (Henry Fonda) barricades himself inside his apartment, resisting police attempts to flush him out as a crowd gathers on the street. Flashbacks reveal that factory worker Joe met and fell in love with greenhouse employee Jo Ann (Barbara Bel Geddes), but was crushed to discover that she is already in another complex relationship with smarmy magician Maximilian (Vincent Price). Joe seeks emotional refuge with the brassy Charlene (Ann Dvorak), but cannot shake his feelings towards Jo Ann.

What Works Well: A remake of Marcel Carné's Le Jour Se Lève (1939), this is a story about the descent from optimism to cynicism. A well-meaning and initially cheerful steel mill factory worker, Joe represents every man victimized by layers of lies and overlooked by women of similar class seeking upward mobility with slimy exploitive sophisticates. And when confronted by authority, Joe does not even expect due process. His tiny apartment is riddled with police bullets before he is even charged, and Joe's detached reaction confirms his lack of surprise. Henry Fonda brings thoughtful rage into the showdown with bleakness. 

 

What Does Not Work As Well: While Barbara Bel Geddes is fine in her screen debut, the script saddles Jo Ann with inconsistent emotions, including a frantic and shouty climactic outburst that misses the mark. Maximilian's character is cartoonish rather than real, his goading unbecoming of a celebrity who already has the girl. Finally, the light piercing the darkness is supposed to be solidarity with Joe from the crowd gathered in the street, but this element is weak due to underinvestment in neighbourhood characters.

Key Quote:

Maximilian (to Joe): You know, I always find it rather amusing, these conceptions you simple men have concerning women. But the lovely creatures, they're so much more complicated, thank heaven.

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