The Night Of The Following Day — The Night Of The Following Day(Blu Ray)
The Night Of The Following Day is a taut-yet glum kidnap thriller from the late 1960s. It details the snatching and ransoming of an eighteen-year-old heiress by a rag-tag group of criminals, many of who have their own demons & kinks. The film is very much a slow-but-stead burn ‘n’ build, which is edged with moments of uneasy tension & jarring violence. Here from Powerhouse films is a new Blu-Ray release of the film- featuring a selection new & archive extras
The Night Of The Following Day was released in the year 1969- it’s a British/ American production, which was filmed on location in France, mainly around the stark & windswept coast of Brittany. The film was largely helmed by Istanbul-born Hubert Cornfield, though Richard Boone also has an uncredited directors role. In total Mr Cornfield had seven feature-length credits- these took in the likes of noir Sudden Danger (1955), Angel Baby(1961) a drama that featured Burt Reynolds in his first film role, and crime comedy Les Grands Moyens (1976).
The film opens in a fairly unconventional/ arty manner- as we see the films female lead Pamela Franklin( simply known as ‘girl’ in the credits) sitting in an aeroplane seat- with subtly overlaid/ hazed images on top, and just the ambient droning of the aircraft as its soundtrack. An Air stewardess (Rita Moreno) tells the girl to fasten her seat belt, as the plane comes to land in France. She quickly passes through customs to be met by a creepily grinning blond-haired Chauffer( Marlon Brando) who leads her to a car. All seems fine/ normal on their journey, until they stop at a crossroads, and in jumps Leer(Richard Boone) a heavy-set man, who quickly silences the girls' panic. The journey carries on down several more roads, with the group swapping cars in a wooded area before making the way to a seemingly isolated & stark beach. Just beyond the dunes is a single house- and this is where much of the film takes place.
As things unfold we meet the other gang members aside from Chauffer & Leer. These are the air stewardess from early on & her tubby and thinning-haired brother Wally (Jess Hahn). The gang insistent that this is going to be a smooth ransom & pay operation to the girl- with them seemingly having a well-laid-out/failproof plan for the drop.
From the off, there are growing tensions in the group. Leer seemingly enjoys giving the girl pain which he excuses as accidents, and later on, stares up her dress in one of the film's more claustrophobic/ unpleasant moments. The Airline Stewardess has a drug habit- with the Chauffer been on edge with both of these situations. Added to the mix a local town policeman/Fishman ( Gérard Buhr) is seemingly besotted with the Air stewardess, after briefly meeting her on the windswept & grey skied beach.
All of the small cast are perfectly selected, though I’d say Boone is the most memorable here- as he seems to be dripping with sleazed & unpleasant unease. With the film moving from its large house set first three quarters, onto the nicely tense drop & its aftermath. The film's jazzy & moody score by Stanley Myers( The Deer Hunter, Prick Up Your Ears, The Witches) is used in a skilful & effectively placed, with points of numb tension/ uneasy often left with just ambient sound- be it the plane noises, the wind, or car engine drone.
This new region B Blu Ray- features well balanced & even HD print of the picture, and this nicely enhances the moodier side of the film. On the extras side we get both new & archive- on the new side Dangerous to Know(19.18) which finds author and film historian Neil Sinyard discussing the film, and as always this is an excellent overview from Mr Sinyard. He begins by talking about the lukewarm reaction the film got on its first release- it was the eleventh box office failure for Brando. He talks about how the film still puzzles audiences today, and gets decidedly mixed modern critiques still. We find out that when he re-watched the film for this featurette it was the first time he’d seen the film in twenty-five years, and he still recalls its impactful elements. We find out that Brando and Moreno had an affair some years early, which might have amped up the onscreen tension between the pair. He discusses the qualities of each actor, the film's cryptic title, and the whole things strange at points surreally edged quality. We find out that Boone took over the film's directing later on in the shoot, as Brando and director Cornfield didn’t get on- a great featurette. As part of the release thirty-six-page booklet, we get a new essay from Jeff Billington.
On the archive side, we have the following- 2004 director's commentary, a sixty-three minute video interview with the actor and singer Rita Moreno. 2013 Joe Dante trailer commentary. Image gallery, and trailer. With the rest of the inlay booklet featuring archival interviews with Marlon Brando and Hubert Cornfield, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and full film credits.
The Night Of The Following Day is a skilfully made & well-cast slow-burn thriller, featuring effective undercurrents of taut uneasy & troubled glumness. This new Powerhouse release features a great HD print, and a good selection of interesting extras.