A jewel in the rough. A small little movie with a great Edward G. Robinson. The loneliness of Triton is played with a big intensity by him. Story, actors and shooting of the film is both, film noir and drama of loneliness and being lost, quite as it is Woolrich's credo in a lot of his novels and screen adaptations. This is one of its best. Eight points.
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Sergeant-43 October 2000
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jjcremin-119 April 2008According to "The Films of Edward G. Robinson", this entry in the 2008 Film Noir Series at the Egyptian on April 18, was pretty much dismissed by critics and the star itself. After all, this came right after his masterful performance in John Huston's "Key Largo", for which he teamed up with Humphrey Bogart for the last time. This film barely shows up in Gail Russell's bio, who's probably best known as John Wayne's co-star in "Angel and the Badman", the first time he utters "pilgrim", as that was what she played. However, "Night" did generally get a positive response with modern audiences. Director John Farrow, father of Mia, provided a good atmosphere and generally kept the narrative at the good pace. It begins with John Lund, the third name above the title, saving Russell from suicide. From there, they meet Robinson at a restaurant and who has already ordered exactly what they want. Then, he tells in flashback that he actually knew her parents quite well. As played by Virginia Bruce and Jerome Cowan, hey manage his clairvoyant act in which he actually gets glimpses of the future. In fact, he actually quits when an unfortunate event happens that I won't give away. Where he retires to is of special notice to old time Angeleno fans. He's seen going to his Bunker Hill residence from taking Angel's Flight. It is from there he brings the audience back to the present. Of special interest among the cast is William Demarest, who appeared in just about every Preston Sturges comedy during this time period. Playing straight, he's nevertheless is quite comical as the dumb police detective. The ending is actually quite well written. It has an intriguing twist and some of the best prose Robinson's voice was ever given to speak. A great film noir.
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blanche-224 August 2019"Night Has a Thousand Eyes" from 1948 is a real gem of a noir starring Edward G. Robinson, Gail Russell, John Lund, William Demarest, Jerome Cowan, Virginia Bruce, and Charles Bickford.
Part of the story is told in flashback - in the first scene, Jean (Russell) tries to kill herself and is saved by her fiancee (John Lund). They meet Triton (Robinson) in a restaurant, and when talking with them, he gives them his background - which involved both of Jean's parents (Cowan and Bruce). Together, they had a mind-reading act.
Triton begins to get disturbing visions, sometimes on-stage, even at one point telling an audience member to leave because her son is in danger. Turns out, he was. These visions disturb him terribly, and he leaves the act and his two partners behind. They marry and have Jean.
Now he has come to believe that Jean is in danger of being murdered, and he is desperate to stop her. The police don't believe several of his predictions that came true - they think he is in collusion with someone - until one event convinces them that he may be onto something.
Really terrific film with a short running time of 77 minutes. This film was made four years after "The Uninvited," and Gail Russell looks to have aged ten years, her alcoholism already becoming acute. She is still lovely.
Robinson is wonderful as a confused man who doesn't understand why he has a "gift" if it's not doing any good.
Written by Cornell Woolrich, who wrote "Rear Window."
HIghly recommended. I love movies like this! -
harry-7610 June 2004"The Night has a Thousand Eyes" is a most engaging drama, with Edward G. Robinson giving his all to the role of a clairvoyant. A wonderful Robinson performance. Gail Russell is seen in one of her best film appearances. John Lund is well cast as Russell's doubting but supportive love interest.
The atmosphere created here has an almost hypnotic effect. Robinson is completely into his role and totally convincing.
That this film has not yet to date made it on video is incredible. Of all the lesser films that did so, this movie warrants attention. Paramount Pictures [us]--please take note. -
rmax30482329 June 2013File the case under "X". In this rather well done film, Edward G. Robinson is one of those night club "mind readers" who tells the audience things about themselves with the help of an associate who plays clues at the piano. By the way, one of the customers that he stuns with his amazing but phony powers is a pretty young lady named Agnes. Agnes has only one line but she became the mother of Sally Field, the flying nun. Few people are aware of this portentous datum (outside the Field family) but I pass it on to you as an act of personal generosity. That will be fifteen cents.
The first half is kind of interesting. Robinson is wheeling through his fakery when he's interrupted by a sudden vision. He urgently sends an audience member home because her house is on fire. After the show his puzzled assistants ask what it was all about and Robinson dismisses it as a passing thought he'd had, and after all what difference does it make? Later they find that the house really WAS on fire and a child was barely saved. Robinson is troubled but his partners aren't.
Eventually he leaves the act, holes up for twenty years, and reappears in time to save a girl who might well have been his own daughter except for an act of self sacrifice. The girl is Gail Russell and she's well worth saving. Russell was plucked out of a local high school because of her looks, hurriedly given a few acting lessons and thrust before the cameras. But she was self conscious and terrified of appearing in the movies, took to drinking to steady her nerves, wrecked her life, and died in her mid-30s, desolate. Any wrecked life is a misfortune but in her case it was a little more than that because she was almost infinitely appealing -- not gorgeous by Hollywood standards, but, with her tentative girlish voice, her mane of curly black hair, and her pale blue eyes, she radiated a combination of vulnerability and sex appeal. In this film she winds up with John Lund, which may have been a milestone along her downward trajectory -- or maybe the cause of it.
Robinson turns in a competent and thoroughly professional performance as the showman who changes from a free-wheeling bankrupt into a man genuinely tormented by the possibility that he himself -- through his visions -- is somehow CAUSING the disasters he predicts.
I'm not going through the plot because, if the first half is simple and neat, the second half has a loopy logic and turns into a high-budget Charlie Chan mystery. Well, I'll give one example. Robinson has had a vision of Russell being murdered under the stars (the titular "thousand eyes") at eleven o'clock at night. He's taken seriously enough that the police have guards all around her mansion. She's also attended by some skeptical business managers of her estate. The rooms are guarded, the doors locked, and all that. The tension increases as eleven o'clock approaches. At about fifteen minutes before eleven, a hand reaches slowly from behind a curtain and moves the time on the grandfather clock ahead by ten minutes. When the clock strikes eleven, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Whew. It's now past eleven and Russell still breathes. Of course the REAL eleven o'clock hasn't yet got here. So when the relaxed Russell wanders out alone into the garden a few minutes later, she's attacked by the murderer, who is a person of no significance whatever to the plot and who is just trying to stop a business deal from going through.
Okay. So why did the murderer move the hands of the clock ahead? Why didn't he wait until the REAL eleven o'clock had come and gone. After all, what the hell does HE care about what time he murders Russell? This is Charlie Chan territory.
But I enjoyed it. The hint of the supernatural is always fascinating. As Robinson observes, we've all felt something similar at one time or another -- we know who's on the phone before we pick it up, or we enter a strange room and we're certain we've been there before. And Robinson may be right about it. It was about twenty years ago that the American Association for the Advancement of Science finally added a Section H, covering paranormal phenomena. Who knows? -
evanston_dad29 August 2022I saw "Night Has a Thousand Eyes" after a double feature of "Flesh and Fantasy" and "Destiny" at a film noir festival in Chicago. Those first two films don't feel at all like noirs and weren't at all what I was in the mood for, so "Night Has a Thousand Eyes" felt like a palate cleanser. It's not the most noir of noirs, but it was much closer to the kind of thing I was looking for.
Plus Edward G. Robinson is just the best. He's so good in this, and Gail Russell is quietly mesmerizing as well. This movie has a great sense of humor, and if it all feels a little far fetched, well don't most film noir plots? The audience I saw this with had a lot of fun with it, me included.
Grade: B+ -
brogmiller8 December 2021Cornell Woolrich aka William Irish is not read much these days but lives on courtesy of films derived from his novels, most notably by Hitchcock, Truffaut, Siodmak, Tourneur and Delannoy.
Most probably taken from the title of a poem by Frances William Bourdillon, his 'Night has a Thousand Eyes' is only one of two works written by Woolrich under the name of George Hopley and is a decidedly disturbing tale of predestination.
Alas, even by Hollywood standards this version, capably directed by John Farrow, has little to do with the original, even to the extent of changing the fateful hour from midnight to eleven! It becomes in effect a film of two halves, the first infinitely better than the second and weakened by a contrived ending.
What is does have in its favour is the superlative chiaroscuro cinematography by John F. Seitz and the presence of one Edward G. Robinson. The character of the psychic tortured by his terrible gift of prophecy has been fleshed out here and Mr. Robinson is magnificent in the role. By all accounts he was none too keen on the finished product but heaven only knows what he thought of his next foray eight years later into Woolrich territory, 'Nightmare', a totally unnecessary remake by Maxwell Shane of his own 'Fear in the Night'.
The police procedural element of the novel has been trimmed down and we have a great turn by William Demarest as a befuddled detective. John Lund is well cast as a dullard for whom every phenomenon has to have a rational explanation whilst Gail Russell is suitably appealing as a character sorely in need of protection.
Before 'Film Noir' there was 'Roman Noir' and Mr. Woolrich takes us into the realms of what one astute observer has termed 'Paranoid Noir'. His view of a cruel and malignant fate from which there is no escape is more than somewhat unsettling, especially to advocates of free will. One thing of which we can be certain, the clock is ticking for us all........ -
edward-miller-121 June 2003I saw this on New York television as an impressionable thirteen year old in the early sixties. It's been on my top ten list of favorites ever since. Not only the expected intelligent, riveting performance from Robinson, but a touching, foreboding one from the luminous and tragic Gail Russell. This is my favorite Russell performance, followed by The Uninvited and Moonrise. What a waste that her life and talent was snuffed out at 36!
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kapelusznik1830 January 2014***SPOILERS**** Eddie Robinson, or Edward G. as he's known to his friends, as psychic John Triton has had these strange visions since back in 1928 that had turned his life upside down. The visions reveal the future to Triton in the most upsetting and frightening ways. Quitting his act as psychic "Triton the Magnificent" when he realized that he in fact did have psychic powers Triton has been living in the wilderness away from civilization in the slum drastic of Los Angeles for some time. That until he ran into both Jean Courtland and her pop Whitney, Gail Russell & Jerome Cowam, at a local L.A fund raising dinner and all of a sudden all these strange and terrifying visions started to come back to him. This lead to Jean attempting to kill herself by jumping in from of a speeding locomotive which her fiancée Elliott Carson, John Lund, saved her from doing.
We soon learn that all of Triton's troubles started when he was working on stage as a psychic with both Jean's parents Whitney & Jenny, Virginia Bruce, Courtland some 20 years ago. It was then that Triton suddenly developed these psychic powers in seeing the future that completely freaked him out. Now seeing what's in store for Jean he's doing his best to prevent that from happening. The story is a long one but it's all about Whitney's involvement in the oil business. Having made millions over the years he now wants to cash in his chips, or oil interests, but there's someone behind the scenes that's trying to prevent him from doing it. Going so far in fixing his plane to make sure that Whitney end up crashing in it on his coast to coast flight from NY to LA. And it's Triton who foresaw that and couldn't prevent it from happening. Now the very same person is trying to murder Whitney's daughter Jean to keep her from inheriting her father's millions so that he, by both father and daughter dead, can get his hands on it!
****SPOILERS*** No matter how accurate Triton's predictions are the police lead by Let. Shawn, William Demarest, feel that he's a phony and in fact is the one trying to murder Jean to get his hands on her father's money. This goes on throughout the entire movie until his predictions about her and who's behind her father's murder comes true with devastating accuracy! And it also ends up killing Triton in the process. A fact that Triton knew all along but kept from the police as well as himself ! In one of his most unusual roles Edward G. Robinson gives a realistic performance as psychic John Triton that knocks everyones socks off. He's so convincing as a man who can see the future that even his biggest detractors soon realize that there's something to his strange predictions even when there's no logic to them. Like at the very end the one about Jean's impending death, in being killed by an escaped lion, that's so on target that even the not so convinced Let. Shawn, who thought the guy was full of it, had to grudgingly admit that he's the real deal. -
I've seen this film only once & loved it! It shows just how versitile of an actor Robinson really was.
It tells the story of a man who discovers he really has the ability to see into the future. He becomes a recluse out of the fear that his predictions always come true. That same fear brings him out of reclusion when he seeks out the daughter of a woman he once loved to warn her of impending danger.
The only thing I dislike about this film? It never made it to video. For anyone that would like to see this film's plot, I recommend "The Clarivoyant" with Claude Rains. -
writers_reign12 June 2017Yet another Cornell Woolrich/William Irish off-the-wall yarn makes it to the screen. Apparently Eddy Robinson was scornful about this but that didn't prevent him taking on another Woollrich/Irish yarn eight years later with Nightmare. As it happens Robinson turns in a solid, convincing performance as the scamming mentalist who finds he really does have second sight, though it could be argued it's not hard to shine playing opposite Mr. Mahogany, John Lund, who keeps littering the set with sawdust. The female lead is the terminally lovely and ultimately tragic Gail Russell, who is given little to do but look desperate and carries it off to a fare-thee-well. John Farrow provides lots of atmosphere from the right bottle. Recommended.
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dbdumonteil20 September 2009William Irish aka George Hopley aka Cornell Woolrich (the latter appearing in the cast and credits,his real name) loved the subject so much that not only he wrote a short story but he also wrote a whole novel ,with the same characters .People complained that John Farrow sacrificed psychology to the plot.But it was not Woolrich's forte.His characters elude him,they are puppets ,not in his hands ,but in the hands of fate .This is his most revealing book:he did believe in the power of the stars (one of his short stories,one of his most desperate was called "no moon ,no stars"),he did believe that man's destiny is written before he lives and that he can't change it;the users who know about his miserable life remember that he spent his whole existence in a hotel room;he was gay but the only love he got was from his mother;he ended his life a disabled man ,diabetes leading to gangrene .
John Farrow modified the book ,but he remained faithful to Woolrich's spirit;in the novel,it's the father of the girl who has got to die in a lion's jaws .Read it,even if you watched the movie,cause Woolrich's sense of tragedy has no equal in the Roman Noir.Only the ending is a bit embarrassing ,being somewhat contrived and adding a wrong track which weakened the intense emotion :too bad they did not keep the final lines between the girl and her friend.
The opening scene on the railroad track can rival with the best films Noirs of the forties/early fifties,like those of Robert Siodmak (who took Woolrich's "phantom lady" to the screen) and Mitchell Leisen (whose "no man of her own" is a thousand times better than the pitiful FRench attempt called "J'Ai Epousé Une Ombre" ).Gail Russel,a relatively obscure actress has wonderful eyes which the director films in the scene in the car as bright as two stars in the night.
The-man-who-can-predict-future was a secondary character in the book ,but Edward G.Robinson made it a winner;he added a guilt feeling ,which overwhelmed him and his performance was extraordinary all along the way;this part was tailor -made for him:remember Lang's "woman in the window" ,Duvivier' s "flesh and fantasy" or Siodmak's "the strange affair of Uncle Harry",all tormented characters who have perhaps done nothing and who are feeling guilt.
A lot of bizarre details (the cushion,the gun which doesn't shoot,the flower under the shoe,the little boy on the street ,the strange music hall -a scene not unlike the contemporary adventure of Tintin:"Les Sept Boules DE Cristal") create a heavy atmosphere devoid of any providence. -
SAMTHEBESTEST12 October 2023Night Has A Thousand Eyes (1948) : Brief Review -
Haunting, superstitious, yet a subversive horror film noir not to be missed in thousands. I remember John Farrow for making that underrated thriller "The Big Clock" (1945), and here's one more film, which is even better. And he got the best man to do the main role - Sir Edward G. Robinson! Night Has a Thousand Eyes is not a realistic noir, at least for people who don't believe in superstitions and mythical stuff. But at some point in our lives, we hear or feel something unearthly that suddenly gives us goosebumps. You don't want to believe it because science has no proof of it, yet the thought exists. Who knows? It must be true and real for some people. Even my mommy had told me many mystical horror tales in my childhood. I may not believe them now since I am an adult, educated, and mature guy, but for some time I had that fear in my mind. Night Has a Thousand Eyes sees through that lens. It's a story about a man who can foresee disasters happening in the future. He loses his love lady, friend, and job, and yet he can't beat that unwanted gift. He comes back to the same spot after years to save his ex-lover's daughter, but educated and smart people around her don't believe in this superficial stuff. To prove his worth, he has to go through a lot, and I don't wish to spoil anything here. You watch it without spoilers for a better experience because noir elements are worth it. Full marks to the story and screenplay for keeping me hooked to the screen for 80 minutes. John Farrow's direction is sharp and skillful. The performances are top-notch, with my favourite, Edward G. Robinson, giving yet another solid performance. As a whole, it's a fantastic film noir and strongly recommended. I am cutting half a mark only for its semi-fictional theme. Had it been real to me, I would've tagged it a classic.
RATING - 7.5/10*
By - #samthebestest. -
bkoganbing6 August 2013Edward G. Robinson was not fond of this film. In his posthumous unfinished memoirs he said of Night Has A Thousand Eyes he said it was pure hokum. Robinson did this one as Burt Lancaster used to say 'for the poke'.
I don't think it was all that bad, but definitely could have used room for improvement. Sweethearts John Lund and Gail Russell seek out Robinson who was an old friend of her parents. Back in the day all three were involved in a phony mind reading act when Robinson started showing psychic powers for real. A tip on a horse and another tip on a burgeoning oil field made Russell's father Jerome Cowan a rich man. Robinson who is scared of these new and unwanted abilities just leaves it all to go into obscurity leaving Cowan to marry Virginia Bruce who dies in childbirth bearing Russell as Robinson predicted.
Now however Russell is feeling strangely threatened and seeks out Robinson. After this however the plot gets truly muddled.
The first half of the film is the best and the second half bad, so much so you would think it was two different films spliced together. Some mediocre directing is compensated for by the performances of Robinson and Russell. For Gail it was more of the same as she did in The Uninvited.
Fans of both of these players will probably like it more than Edward G. Robinson apparently did. -
theowinthrop2 December 2004Cornell Woolrich is best recalled (in movies) for the film version of one of his best tales, REAR WINDOW. However other stories of his, written under his real name or as "William Irish", became film. THE LEOPARD MAN, one of the first of Val Lewton's B-feature productions, was based on one of his stories. So is THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES.
Edward G. Robinson is a clairvoyant who worked with Jerome Cowan in a mentalist act. Only one problem - Robinson discovers he actually can predict the future. Unfortunately, in Woolrich's realistic view of the seen and unseen world, having a psychic power is not necessarily good. Robinson can foresee good things (he forsees that Cowan's buying into a potential oil field operation will make millions), but he also sees tragedy frequently. The woman he loves (the third person in the act) wants to marry him, but he suddenly refuses - he sees problems about her pregnancy. She marries Cowan - and dies giving birth to the daughter who becomes Gail Russell. Robinson soon discovers he cannot stop tragedy. When he warns a newsboy to be careful going home, he tries to reassure the boy by giving him a large tip. The boy starts running home, and gets hit (and presumably killed) by a car.
Robinson has contacted Cowan to warn him that he should not go flying. Cowan's plane crashes and he is killed. Robinson than contacts Russell to try to help her. Her boyfriend John Lund, at first, rejects Robinson's warnings, but as they uncannily come true becomes increasingly convinced that Robinson not a faker. But Detective William Demerest (in a curious mixed role, half serious and half comic) is not sure - it seems somebody tampered with the wiring of Cowan's plane.
So the movie progresses - is Robinson legitimately psychic, and trying to help Russell, or is he the evil genius in some plan to get control of the fortune. And as Cowan was in the middle of a major oil merger when he died, many others are interested in knowing the truth...or hiding it.
This film, for some reason, always gets mediocre reviews in the New York Times movie reviews. Actually it's quite compelling, and far more inviting a story about sixth sense powers than many more important, and expensive productions. I feel that it is close to Robinson's most sympathetic role, and the conclusion of the film certainly makes it almost Shakespearean in it's tragic denouement. -
I'll be frank. I do not believe in ESP, clairvoyance, reincarnation, ghosts, or other supernatural phenomena beloved by some people. Thus films like this irritate me on one level because I can picture the believers claiming fortune telling is legitimate because they've seen it work in a movie, like UFO believers who think "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" validates their beliefs.
True, there are lots of movies based on ghosts, reincarnation or ESP but they're usually played for laughs or else identified as fantasy or science fiction. This one plays it straight and the fact that it's a riveting well-made drama makes it a more compelling argument for what I consider superstition.
However, once you accept the premise that Edward G. Robinson's character sometimes gets glimpses of the future, including stock market and race track tips, it's a well-done variant on the ancient theme of the prophet who can foresee the future yet is powerless to change it, or even causes his prediction of tragedy to come true through his attempt to prevent it.
But the film does more than harp on that one note. The plot has enough twists and turns to hold your interests, along with occasional bits of comedy and romance.
Late in life Robinson seemed to specialize in characters racked with psychological torment and guilt, and his performance here makes the film's premise more believable. Rest of the cast fine too.
So if you believe in psychic powers, this is right down your alley, and if you don't, still plenty of fun and suspense. -
richardchatten22 April 2019Most people are more familiar with Bobby Vee's pop hit of 1962 than the original film, although they both make rather irrelevant use of such a terrific title.
Playing like a quickie rehash of Edmund Goulding's haunting gothic melodrama of the previous year, 'Nightmare Alley' - but with a more pronounced supernatural element - the film not very convincingly spans twenty years while John Farrow's restless camera and John Seitz's superb deep focus photography serve simply to heighten the sense of rather cramped theatricality as people stand around and talk. The action is rendered more garrulous still by the first half of the film being played out in flashback with Robinson narrating, before proceeding to an abrupt (but still talky) conclusion. -
nomoons116 January 2013Once again Edward G. Robinson turns a basic ordinary story into something very watchable....and suspenseful.
A former magic act sees things happen to people in the future. He then realizes that these things all happen. 20 years after his magic act has ended he sees a vision of a former friend and it's not a good one. He goes to tell his friend's daughter and the next day...it comes true. That same night she comes to visit him and he sees her death is....imminent. From this we get the suspense and a lot of it. Who's gonna get her?
This is a very suspense laden film. Edward G. plays the former magic man/mystic very well and you will believe everything he says. He had a way of turning any average film into something you remember for a few days...and not a few hours after you see it.
This is a really creepy little film to look out for. Jump on this one if you get a chance and tell me I'm wrong. -
hitchcockthelegend30 November 2012Night Has a Thousand Eyes is directed by John Farrow and adapted to screenplay by Barre Lyndon and Jonathan Latimer from the novel of the same name written by Cornell Woolrich. It stars Edward G. Robinson, Gail Russell, John Lund, Virginia Bruce, William Demarest, Richard Webb and Jerome Cowan. Music is scored by Victor Young and cinematography by John F. Seitz.
John Triton (Robinson) is a nightclub fortune teller who suddenly finds he really does posses psychic ability. As his predictions become more bleaker, Triton struggles with what was once a gift but now is very much a curse.
During a visually sumptuous beginning to the film, a girl is saved from suicide, it's an attention grabbing start and sets the tone for what will follow. Mood and strangulated atmosphere born out by photographic styles, craft of acting and Young's spine tingling score are the keys to the film's success, with the pervading sense of doom ensuring the narrative never falls into mawkish hell. It's a film that shares thematic similarities with a 1934 Claude Rains picture titled The Clairvoyant, only here we enter noir territory for Triton's cursed journey, where as the Rains movie was ultimately leading us to the savage idiocy of mob justice.
Farrow's (The Big Clock/Where Danger Lives) film falls into a small quasi supernatural group of black and whites that are formed around a carnival/psychic act. It's a situation for film that film noir makers sadly didn't explore more often, making the likes of Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Nightmare Alley and The Spiritualist little treasures to be cherished. Farrow gets as much suspense out of the story as he can, of which he is helped enormously by the great work of Robinson. At a time when the HUAC was breathing down his neck, Robinson turns in a definitive portrayal of a man caught in a trap, his fate sealed. His face haunted and haggard, his spoken words sorrowful and hushed, Robinson is simply terrific.
The world of prognostication gets a film noir make-over, death under the stars indeed. 8/10 -
SnoopyStyle14 March 2024Elliott Carson catches his girlfriend Jean Courtland just before she tries to commit suicide. She claims that the night sky has a thousand eyes and she's been told by mentalist John Triton (Edward G. Robinson) of her impending death. When Elliott confronts John, John recounts how he discovers his premonition skills which eventually becomes his curse.
I like the Twilight Zone story. I love EGR as usual. The flashback structure can be take it or leave it. I don't like the melodramatic tone especially the old musical score. It's a bit dark, but it could be darker. I feel like it could be a more paranoid thriller. In the end, it's more good than bad. -
edmc24162 February 2006This picture clearly is a classic noir picture. It is deadly serious, almost depressing. The Edward G. Robinson character is well-defined. His sadness and guilt over his "gift" is quite convincing. He is a man torn by his ability to foresee tragic events. His face is often contorted and Robinson's craggy face further emphasizes his angst. His raspy voice further emphasizes his sadness. The role is a tour de force for Robinson (who often portrays this type of internally focused, incredibly gnarled individuals). The role reminds me a bit of his portrayal of Barton Keyes in Double Indemnity - the little man who agonizes over the death of Dietrichson. Unfortunately, there is no femme fatale. Gail Russell is saccharine sweet, although prettier than in some of her other noir roles.
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HotToastyRag24 January 2024Night Has a Thousand Eyes has such a great opening scene! John Lund arrives at a train station in a hurry, and follows a trail of a car, a dropped purse, and gloves to find Gail Russell about to jump to her death. He stops her just in the nick of time, and she tells him the spooky, engrossing tale of what led her to suicide. Cool, huh? If you like eerie movies with a touch of psychic powers, fate, or premonitions, you'll love this oldie.
Before she was born, Gail's mother Virginia Bruce worked in a psychic act alongside her boyfriend Edward G. Robinson and their manager Jerome Cowan. It was all an act, until one night Eddie G got a vision and saved a little boy from dying. His premonitions became more frequent, until finally he couldn't handle the pressure and removed himself from the environment. He became a recluse, but twenty years later, Gail found him and learned of her own impending death.
I love the set up of the premise; even though I don't usually like flashbacks, it works in this movie because it echoes the feel of Eddie G's visions. There are some great attentions to details that will have you on the edge of your seat. Eddie is passionate and desperate, and you hope he can stop what he believes to be inevitable. Although I wished it ended differently, I enjoyed the ride. It was very exciting! -
dugfowlr7 December 1999I saw this movie as a 16 year old, and have only seen it once since, but I found it to be a spooky and suspenseful tale. Edward G. Robinson does his usual superb job of acting, and I liked Gail Russell in it very much.
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Lejink15 October 2023Here's a hoary old fantasy-noir I guess you might call it, featuring Edward G Robinson as the unusually-named Mr Triton who we see initially as a fortune-telling fairground attraction who gradually acquires true second-sight to the immediate advantage of his erstwhile business-pal, who promptly becomes mega-rich when he strikes oil on Ed's say-so.
However, our man is troubled by his seeming gift, especially as he starts to get bad vibes when someone's future isn't so bright and promptly hides himself away for twenty years alone in San Francisco. Of course one of the golden rules about any noir film is that you can't escape your past and sure enough when his path crosses with Gail Russell the grown-up daughter of his now millionaire ex-partner, you just know there's doom and gloom ahead for them both and there certainly is at least for the father.
As for the daughter, she finds herself at the centre of Robinson's most detailed forecast yet, right down to the date and time of her impending demise which sees her surrounded for protection at her palatial home by the most lunk-headed set of cops since the Keystone Constabulary as well as her sceptical boyfriend played by John Lund. So, the big questions are:- can the redoubtable Edward G a) save Russell, b) save himself and c) save the movie?
For parts a) and b), you'll just have to watch and see but reliably good as Mr R is, even he can't really rescue this load of old hogwash. It doesn't help that he's surrounded by some terrible acting, particularly by the guys playing the police officers or ill-served by a ridiculous script which seems to require exposition by someone or other every ten minutes or so and dialogue which is clunkier than a bag of ball-bearings.
Like Mr Triton, I wish I'd had the power to see this movie before I did so that I wouldn't have had to watch it at all, if you follow me. -
dougdoepke6 February 2013The movie's a riveting excursion into the occult. In fact, the production pulls off the difficult trick of making occult happenings seem almost plausible, something Hollywood rarely cares about doing. Robinson's turn is first-rate as a stage magician suddenly burdened with the power of pre-cognition. Watching Triton (Robinson) slowly succumb to the terrible reality of foreseeing the future amounts to a dramatic triumph. He has no control over these pre- visions and they're almost always of dark happenings, especially when involving the sweetly vulnerable Jean Courtland (Russell). The climax is a stunner as the clues to Jean's bleak future slowly come true, while there seems no alternative to fate having its evil way.
This is one of the darkest of noirs, both literally and figuratively. Generally, the lighting is too shadowy to catch the ethereal Russell's pale blue eyes, a feature that would have added to the overall mood. It's also nicely ironic that the real occult would step into the life of a magician who only pretends to conjure other dimensions for the delight of paying audiences. It's like a punishment for presuming to toy with the surreal. I also like the way others remain militantly skeptical since that would be a natural reaction.
In my book, the movie's clearly underrated by the professionals and I'm not sure why. If the production's got an overriding flaw, I can't find it, though I could have done with less of the theramin whose eerie sound is like gravy on soup. Nonetheless, for me, the overall result is one of the best to deal with a topic that's usually made hokey as heck by Hollywood, and that's besides having one of the most intriguing titles in movie annals.