Nightfall (1957)

An artist (the underrated Aldo Ray) on the run from both the law and a couple of murderous thugs (Brian Keith, Rudy Bond) seems to have found a haven in Los Angeles but he’s unaware that he’s being watched by an insurance investigator (James Gregory). Eventually, the thugs find him and he must make a stand. Based on the novel by David Goodis (whose DOWN THERE was filmed as SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER by Francois Truffaut) and directed by Jacques Tourneur (OUT OF THE PAST). This nifty noir-ish thriller doesn't quite deliver what it so promisingly starts. The film is hampered by a series of awkward flashbacks which give us background on why Ray is on the run and why the thugs are after him and Gregory is watching him. But really, all that exposition could have taken about five minutes of dialogue and freed the film from stopping dead in its tracks. Tourneur gives the film some nice touches (when Ray and Anne Bancroft are running away from the thugs, she’s wearing a tight evening gown and high heels which slows her down and Ray just swoops her up and continues running) but one can’t help wishing it weren’t so conventional. With Jocelyn Brando and a solid score by George Duning who, thankfully, didn’t have anything to do with the film’s dreadful title song.