The Long Night (1947)

45% of users liked it
(524 ratings)

Based upon the French film Le Jour Se Lève, The Long Night opens in the in the midst of a dire situation: ex-serviceman Joe Adams (Henry Fonda) finds himself holed up in his apartment, surrounded by policemen who soon open fire in a relentless and determined manner. Adams has been accused of murder,… More Based upon the French film Le Jour Se Lève, The Long Night opens in the in the midst of a dire situation: ex-serviceman Joe Adams (Henry Fonda) finds himself holed up in his apartment, surrounded by policemen who soon open fire in a relentless and determined manner. Adams has been accused of murder, and as his apartment is riddled with bullets, he flashes back to how this all came about. It began when Adams met Jo Ann (Barbara Bel Geddes), who, it turns out, grew up in the same orphanage at the same time as he. They soon fall in love, but things are complicated when a magician named Maximilian (Vincent Price) enters the picture. He tells Adams that he is Jo Ann's father, but that he doesn't want her to know this. Maximilian begins spending a lot of time with Jo Ann, which makes Adams feel vaguely unsettled. He discovers that Maximilian lied -- that he is not her father but is someone who has been trying to seduce her for a long time. Maximilian goes to Adams' apartment to taunt him, with the result that Adams shoots him, thus bringing about the current state of affairs. As Adams has been recalling all of this, a crowd has gathered, including Jo Ann. She leads the crowd in protesting the police's actions, and a riot brews. With tension continuing to rise, Jo Ann desperately tries to find a way to rescue the man she loves. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 41 min.
Directed By: Anatole Litvak
Written By: John Wexley
Genres: Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1947 Wide
On DVD: Jul 18, 2000
Studio: Kino on Video

Critic Reviews

Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Litvak clearly unfolds the story and effectively taps into the needy emotional reservoir that drives the story, but the performances are the high point.
Douglas Pratt, DVDLaser
Henry Fonda had a number of classic film roles, but it is incredibly exciting to see the raw sensitivity and confidence he delivers in Long Night , which ranks among the very best of his performances, all the more so because of its relative obscurity.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Had the wonderful shimmering look of noir through cinematographer Sol Polito's wonderful black-and-white photography, but its story is flat.

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Featured Audience Ratings

jay n

It's not a bad noir but misses the mark somehow. Both Fonda and Price make something out of their characters as does the great Ann Dvorak but she is underused.
Michael G

If Frank Capra took a stab at film noir and was an absolute dipshit The Long Night is what you'd end up with. Henry Fonda is his usual great self but he had very very little to work with. Vincent Price does a great job at making you hate his character's pretentious ass but… More
If Frank Capra took a stab at film noir and was an absolute dipshit The Long Night is what you'd end up with. Henry Fonda is his usual great self but he had very very little to work with. Vincent Price does a great job at making you hate his character's pretentious ass but Barbara Bel Geddes was just kind of... there. Ann Dvorak was pretty cool and there were a few glimmers of snappy dialogue for whatever that's worth. Anatole Litvak's direction was kind of interesting but at the same time, how do you mess up a movie that's got both Henry Fonda and Vincent Price?
AJ V

I love Price, but I didn't think his performance in this movie was his best. The story was suspenseful at times, but boring at other times, and overall predictable.
Randy T

It takes about three minutes for Henry Fonda to shoot Vincent Price and a glorious hour and a half to find out why. A reworking of Marcel Carne's <i>Le Jour se lève</i> (1939).