{"id":32355,"date":"2013-08-19T09:57:29","date_gmt":"2013-08-19T16:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=32355"},"modified":"2020-11-29T16:40:02","modified_gmt":"2020-11-29T23:40:02","slug":"so-dark-the-night-1946","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=32355","title":{"rendered":"So Dark the Night (1946)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Every pretty girl would like to go to Paris.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Poster-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-32356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Poster-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Poster.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA renowned Parisian detective (Steven Geray) vacationing in a small town falls in love with a beautiful local girl (Micheline Cheirel) &#8212; but when her jealous fiance (Paul Marion) threatens to harm her if she leaves him, Detective Cassin (Geray) finds himself unexpectedly embroiled in a serial murder case.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Detectives and Private Eyes<\/li>\n<li>Joseph H. Lewis Films<\/li>\n<li>Love Triangle<\/li>\n<li>Murder Mystery<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nDirector Joseph H. Lewis is best known for transforming mundane B-level scripts into stylishly atmospheric cinematic treats &#8212; as with his &#8220;breakthrough&#8221; film <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=50\"><em>My Name is Julia Ross<\/em> (1945)<\/a>, and his later cult hit <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24946\"><em>Gun Crazy<\/em> (1949)<\/a>. This follow-up to <em>MNIJR<\/em> isn&#8217;t nearly as compelling, suffering primarily from a less-than-charismatic performance by Hungarian character actor Geray &#8212; but it remains of interest simply as further evidence of Lewis&#8217;s directorial genius. Every scene is filmed strategically, with plenty of atmosphere (thanks in part to DP Burnett Guffey) and excellent use of low-budget locales; check out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tcm.com\/this-month\/article\/313732%7C0\/So-Dark-the-Night.html\">TCM&#8217;s article<\/a> for back story on how Lewis managed to transform studio sets into a small French town, despite never having been to one himself. The narrative itself generates some tension, and goes in unexpected directions, but eventually devolves into a silly, unsatisfying denouement; with that said, one remains glued to the screen simply out of curiosity and admiration for how Lewis and Guffey will frame and light each shot. It&#8217;s worth a look for that reason alone.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Impressive direction by Lewis<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Direction1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Direction1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Direction1.png 512w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Direction1-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Direction1-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Direction2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Direction2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32358\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Direction2.png 512w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Direction2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Direction2-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Atmospheric cinematography (by Burnett Guffey)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Cinematography.png 512w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Cinematography-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Cinematography-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Cinematography2.png 512w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Cinematography2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/So-Dark-the-Night-Cinematography2-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s recommended for one-time viewing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038958\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\">IMDb entry<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fantasticmoviemusings.com\/2016\/05\/10\/so-dark-the-night-1946\/\">SciFilm Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/90642\/so-dark-the-night#articles-reviews?articleId=313732\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/london\/film\/so-dark-the-night\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Every pretty girl would like to go to Paris.&#8221; Synopsis: A renowned Parisian detective (Steven Geray) vacationing in a small town falls in love with a beautiful local girl (Micheline Cheirel) &#8212; but when her jealous fiance (Paul Marion) threatens to harm her if she leaves him, Detective Cassin (Geray) finds himself unexpectedly embroiled in a serial murder case. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Detectives and Private Eyes Joseph H. Lewis Films Love Triangle Murder Mystery Review: Director Joseph H&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=32355\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32355"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55724,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32355\/revisions\/55724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}