Eyes in the Night (1942)

Director:

Fred Zinnemann

Writers:

Baynard Kendrick (book)
Guy Trosper (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 August 1943 (Sweden)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery

Tagline:

A Dark Labyrinth of Terror...And Murder!!!

Plot:

A blind detective and his seeing-eye dog investigate a murder and discover a Nazi plot.

Plot Keywords:

Blind Detective | Murder | Seeing Eye Dog | Nazi | Dog

Cast

Edward Arnold	...	Duncan 'Mac' Maclain
Ann Harding	...	Norma Lawry
Donna Reed	...	Barbara Lawry
Stephen McNally	...	Gabriel Hoffman (as Horace McNally)
Katherine Emery	...	Cheli Scott
Allen Jenkins	...	Marty
Stanley Ridges	...	Hansen, Lawry's butler (as Stanley C. Ridges)
Reginald Denny	...	Stephen Lawry
John Emery	...	Paul Gerente
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Vera Hoffman, Lawry's maid (as Rosemary de Camp)
Erik Rolf	...	Boyd
Barry Nelson	...	Mr. Busch
Reginald Sheffield	...	Victor
Steven Geray	...	Mr. Anderson (as Steve Geray)
Mantan Moreland	...	Alistair, Duncan's butler

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #8622) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

Some cast members in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. These were: Fred Walburn, Robert Winkler, Walter Tetley, Cliff Danielson and Frances Rafferty. In addition, a contemporary news item listed Hal Le Sueur and William Bailey as cast members, but they were not in the movie either.

Quotes:

[talking to Duncan Maclain's dog]
Alistar: I'm off to the Harlem Squash and Tennis Club to meet my dream girl.
[Alistar opens the door and the dog flattens him to pursue a female canine in the street]
Alistar: Why, you wolf!

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Hidden Eye (1945)

Nice Thriller

Eyes in the Night (1942)

*** (out of 4)

A woman (Ann Harding) fears that her stepdaughter (Donna Reed) is involved with an evil man so she goes to his apartment to ask him to leave her alone. Once at the apartment she finds the man dead and the step daughter catches her there and believes that she did the killing. The mother goes to her blind detective friend (Edward Arnold) who starts to investigate and learns that German spies were behind it. This was the first of a two part series for MGM and I'm really not sure why more weren't made as both proved to be good films. This film features a very attractive cast, a nice story and some very good direction by Zinnemann, which makes this a must see for fans of detective movies. Arnold is very good in his role making it very believable that his character is actually blind. The actor plays the part very well and has good chemistry with everyone in the cast. Harding comes off quite strong as well even though her character isn't the best written in the film. Stephen McNally, Katherine Emery, Allen Jenkins and Reginald Denny all add nice supporting performances as well. Reed actually steals the show as the 17-year-old step daughter with an attitude. Her attitude is so dead pan perfect that you'll have no problem hating the young lady who thinks she knows everything. Mantan Moreland is wasted in his few scenes though. The German subplot just works itself into the story and there's never a spotlight shined on it due to WW2, which is a nice twist for this type of film. Most movies from this era beat the war stuff to death but this film stays away from that.