And Soon the Darkness (1970)

Director:

Robert Fuest

Writers:

Brian Clemens (story) &
Terry Nation (story) ...

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot Keywords:

Kidnapping | Cycling | France | Psychopath | Police Officer

Cast

Pamela Franklin	...	Jane
Michele Dotrice	...	Cathy
Sandor Elès	...	Paul
John Nettleton	...	Gendarme
Clare Kelly	...	Schoolmistress
Hana Maria Pravda	...	Madame Lassal (as Hana-Maria Pravda)
John Franklyn	...	Old Man
Claude Bertrand	...	Lassal
Jean Carmet	...	Renier

Runtime:

99 min | USA:94 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:AA | UK:15 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC)

Trivia:

John Carson was originally cast as the police gendarme but had to withdraw from the movie owing to his inability to drive a motorcycle.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: (At 07:30) When the man is watching the two girls cycling past him on the road, the camera and camera operator can clearly be seen reflected in his sunglasses.

Movie Connections:

Remade as And Soon the Darkness (2010)

superb English suspense film set in rural France

Surprisingly good suspenseful mystery here! I watched a used copy of the full frame HBO Video VHS, and I'm tempted to upgrade to the widescreen DVD which also has a commentary track.

Two pretty young English women are bicycling across the French countryside using scenic backroads (shot on location). The blonde spots a young Frenchman with sunglasses at a café that she thinks is "dishy," and they keep encountering him on the road, since he speeds by on his scooter and they continually pass him when he stops somewhere (a cemetery, a café).

They rest off the side of the road on the edge of some woods, and have a spat. The brunette wants to stick to their schedule, while the blonde wants to sunbathe and perhaps even turn back around to find and talk to the young man. The brunette goes on ahead, while the blonde stays put.

The brunette feels guilty, though, and stops at a café and waits. Her friend doesn't show up. The proprietress tries to tell her something, but the English girl speaks very little French. The French that is spoken is appropriately not subtitled, putting those of us who also don't know French into her shoes. The café owner knows a tiny bit of English: "bad road." The girl decides to go back for her friend, and finds her missing, though her camera is still there.

There are a lot of suspicious people in the movie. The young man with the sunglasses is the first obvious suspect, but there's also a farmer in a field, the café owner and a man in overalls at her café, an older British lady, a gendarme, the gendarme's father.... The poor English girl doesn't know who she can trust.

I really enjoyed this movie a lot, and I didn't find it to be slow at all.