Night of the Following Day, The (1968)
The Night of the Following Day (1968), produced and directed by Hubert Cornfield.
A teenaged girl, traveling alone, is quietly and smoothly kidnapped from the Paris airport and held prisoner at an isolated beach house. Object: ransom from her wealthy father.
This is a quirky crime film, not much liked but somehow sticking in the memory. Evocative of France outside of Paris in that year. It has no real ending, just one of those "was it all a dream?" epilogues.
Rather good cast:
Richard Boone is (obviously) the scariest member of the gang. Says he to the terrified girl: "We are professional criminals". And yet we vote him mostly likely to betray everyone else. He's a sadist operating without much restraint; don't leave him alone with with the captive.
Marlon Brando, still looking quite fit, is by comparison kindly, just wanting to do the job and get away.
Rita Moreno, last seen in West Side Story (1961), breaks my heart. Out of her depth, addicted to Brando and heroin. We judge her harshly for being in a gang that terrorizes another woman in this way.
Jess Hahn is her brother, a big ugly guy. This is his last chance for a big score. The actor was an American who worked entirely in French films. I don't remember seeing him before.
Pamela Franklin is the young victim, last seen as the little girl in The Innocents (1961).
When a minor director hires a big star like Brando, he has to let the actor loose to do his own thing. Which Brando does, excessively in spots, but not the whole time. He's very good when he reigns it in a bit.
Scenes with a persistently helpful policeman are straight out of Hitchcock.
Production was legendarily chaotic and painful. I've forgotten the details.
Intriguing score with a little bit of everything. Looks like it's never been available as a soundtrack album.
