Endless Night (1972)

Based on an Agatha Christie suspense novel; a newly-wed couple are threatened after building their dream home on cursed land.

Director:

Sidney Gilliat

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel), Sidney Gilliat (screenplay)

Stars:

Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett, Britt Ekland

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hayley Mills	...	Ellie
Hywel Bennett	...	Michael
Britt Ekland	...	Greta
Per Oscarsson	...	Santonix
George Sanders	...	Lippincott
Aubrey Richards	...	Dr. Philpott
Ann Way	...	Mrs. Philpott
Patience Collier	...	Miss Townsend
Peter Bowles	...	Reuben
Lois Maxwell	...	Cora
David Bauer	...	Uncle Frank
Helen Horton	...	Aunt Beth
Madge Ryan	...	Michael's Mother
Windsor Davies	...	Sgt. Reene
Walter Gotell	...	Constantine

Storyline

Michael Rogers is a chauffeur with little money, but big dreams. Foremost of these is building his dream house on the perfect piece of land. Michael gets his chance when his new girlfriend, Ellie, turns out to be an extremely wealthy heiress. The two are wed and are soon living in a modern home on Gipsy's Acre. Their idyllic life shatters around them with a series of bizarre events and threats. Micheal comes under the disapproving eye of both Ellie's greedy family and her interfering best-friend Greta. On top of that, local legend says their property is cursed. What danger lurks for the young newlyweds, and is it a human plot or something supernatural?

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Plot Keywords:

house | eye | dream house | heiress | chauffeur | 

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Taglines:

Victim... or killer?

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 1972 (UK)

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie's Endless Night

Filming Locations:

Albergo San Pietro, Positano, Salerno, Campania, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

EMI Films, National Film Trustee Company, British Lion Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The lyrics that Hayley Mills sings to the tune of The Doors' song "End Of The Night" are from William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence" (ca. 1803). "Every morn and every night Some to misery are born. Every morn and every night Some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to sweet delight, Some are born to endless night."

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Goofs

A big plot point is made of the fact that all the windows in Mike and Ellie's dream house are one-way windows, allowing them to look out but no one outside to see in - yet in several exterior scenes characters can be seen looking out the windows.

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Connections

Remade as Marple: Endless Night (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Endless Night"
Sung by Shirley Jones

User Reviews

Very entertaining

I don't agree at all with the poor reviews of this movie. I first saw this movie years ago and it stayed in my mind and finally I had the pleasure of finding it on dvd so I ordered it. It's probably my favourite dvd I have so far. It's a low-budget movie but yet it's a movie with a lot of class. The actors give great performances, above all Hayley Mills, and Bernard Herrmans score is sensational. It's a beautiful production and at times it made me think of "vertigo", and not only because herrman wrote the theme to that movie too. I love this movie! Sure they could make a billion dollar remake of it with a lot of stars but it still wouldn't beat this. It's a piece of art.