Night Must Fall
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Night Must Fall is a play, a psychological thriller, by Emlyn Williams, first performed in 1935.
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[edit] Play
The play tells the story of Mrs Bramson, a bitter, fussy, self pitying elderly woman residing in a remote part of Essex, England, with her intelligent yet subdued niece, Olivia. Mrs Bramson spends all her time complaining while sitting in a wheelchair (although it is revealed during the play that she has in fact no disability whatsoever). Her rude, demanding attitude causes her to be thoroughly disliked by her only two servants, Dora a young , sensitive maid and Mrs Terrence the cook, as well as Olivia, who also is treated as a servant by her bitter aunt. One day, Dora reveals she is pregnant, Mrs Bramson considers firing her but then decides to persuade the father of Dora's unborn child to marry her. The father turns out to be a suave handsome young man named Danny. Danny almost immediately charms Mrs Brmason, causing her to forget all about Dora's pregnancy and take Danny on as her private assistant. Olivia, however isn't as taken in by the charming Danny as her aunt is, she feels that he is putting on a huge facade and lying to hide something sinister. Her suspicions grow when a few days later it is reported that a local beauty has gone missing. Believing Danny to be involved, she along with the servants and her admirer the pompous Hubert, go through Danny's things when he is not around only to discover a picture of him and the missing woman buried among his belongings. This shocking discovery multiplies Olivia's suspicions, she tires to prove that Danny is not what he seems. The two have many banters and encounters and it becomes more apparent as the play progresses that Danny does have some ulterior motive. Then one night a horrid and disturbing discovery is made, there is a real human hand in the rubbish outside the house! Later on a body is discovered in the woods- it is the missing woman only without a head. Olivia now fears that Danny could be a murderer she also believes he keeps the head of the dead woman in a small hat box that he brought with him. Amidst all the chaos Hubert tries to convince Olivia to come away with him and be his wife, she refuses. One night, Mrs Bramson reveals to Olivia that she has hundreds of pounds locked away in a safe, in the middle of the living room. Olivia warns her that it is not wise to leave a safe in plain sight but Mrs Bramson refuses to listen. Later that night Olivia tries again to confront Danny and he tells her about his past, she tells him about why she puts up with her mean aunt even saying that she wished she could kill her to which Danny replies that she probably couldn't. The two share a brief moment of understanding which is quickly interrupted by Belsize, a police officer from Scotland Yard who has come to briefly question Olivia and Danny in connection with the murder of the woman whose hand was found in the rubbish. While interviewing Danny, Belsize discovers the locked hat box, he asks Danny for the key but Danny says it is not his. As Belsize grows more persisstent and suspicious Olivia comes in and states that the hat box is hers and puts it in her room. Later that night the servants get ready to leave to go home. Olivia also says she is leaving to stay with Hubert, she tells Mrs Bramson she is too frightened to stay in the house that night and warns Mrs Bramson to get out of the house too. Mrs Bramson again refuses to listen to her niece- thinking she is just being over excited. As Dora and Mrs Terrence prepare to leave Danny decides to accompany them. Mrs Bramson is left alone and for the first time, the audience sees that she too is terrified. Danny soon arrives and after going through the normal procedures of getting Mrs Bramson ready for bed, he reads for a while, as she drifts off to sleep he gets a pillow and smothers her to death, although this is not shown the audience see Danny with the pillow in his hand slowly drawing towards Mrs Bramson's face. Danny them proceeds to steal the key from Mrs Bramson and steal all the money from her safe, he then prepares to use paraffin to burn the house down only to be interrupted by Olivia who has apparently decided to come back and has discovered her aunts dead body, she tells Danny she has figured him out, Danny also confesses himself to her. Just then they see the lights of a police car coming to the house. Olivia says that the police mustn't get in, proving to the audience that she has fallen for Danny and doesn't want him to be arrested. Belsize and some other officers enter the house and arrest Danny, Dora and Mrs Terrence are also present, they too didn't leave after they heard Mrs Bramson calling for Danny when she was briefly by herself. Olivia tries to implicate herself in the crime as well but Danny won't let her, admitting it was all his own work. Before he is dragged away he looks in the mirror and talks to himself, proving he is in fact insane then he grabs Olivia and passionately kisses her, then he is led outside, Dora begins crying and Olivia falls onto the sofa in grief.
[edit] 1937 film
| Night Must Fall | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard Thorpe |
| Produced by | Hunt Stromberg |
| Written by | Emlyn Williams (play) John Van Druten (screenplay) |
| Starring | Robert Montgomery Rosalind Russell |
| Music by | Edward Ward |
| Cinematography | Ray June |
| Editing by | Robert Kern |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | April 30, 1937 |
| Running time | 116 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The movie was adapted by John Van Druten from the play, and was directed by Richard Thorpe.
It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Robert Montgomery) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Dame May Whitty).
Dame May Whitty had played the same role when the play was performed in London and in New York City.
[edit] 1948 radio play
The play was adapted into a radio play in March 1948 on the long-running radio drama series Suspense, with Robert Montgomery and Dame May Whitty reprising their original roles.
| Night Must Fall | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Karel Reisz |
| Produced by | Albert Finney Karel Reisz |
| Written by | Emlyn Williams (play) Clive Exton |
| Starring | Albert Finney Mona Washbourne |
| Music by | Ron Grainer |
| Cinematography | Freddie Francis |
| Editing by | Phillip Barnikel Fergus McDonell |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | March 18, 1964 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
[edit] 1964 film
A 1964 remake was directed by Karel Reisz from a script by Clive Exton, and starred Albert Finney, Susan Hampshire, and Sheila Hancock, but was not as successful as the original film.
[edit] Broadway revival
A Broadway revival in the 1990s starring Matthew Broderick, essaying an Irish accent (as did Montgomery), rather than a Welsh one, performed respectably at the box office.
[edit] External links
- Night Must Fall (1937) at the Internet Movie Database
- Night Must Fall (1964 remake) at the Internet Movie Database
- Suspense - "Night Must Fall" (1948 radio adaptation)
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