The Night Digger (1971)

Effective psychological love story with a macabre twist not found in the original Joy Cowley novel. The dreary existence of middle- aged spinster Maura Prince takes an unexpected turn with ... See full summary »

Director:

Alastair Reid

Writers:

Joy Cowley (novel), Roald Dahl

Stars:

Patricia Neal, Pamela Brown, Nicholas Clay

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patricia Neal	...	Maura Prince
Pamela Brown	...	Mrs. Edith Prince - Mother
Nicholas Clay	...	Billy Jarvis
Jean Anderson	...	Mrs. Millicent McMurtrey
Graham Crowden	...	Mr. Bolton
Yootha Joyce	...	Mrs. Palafox
Peter Sallis	...	Reverend Rupert Palafox
Brigit Forsyth	...	District Nurse
Sebastian Breaks	...	Dr. Ronnie Robinson
Diana Patrick	...	Mary Wingate
Jenny McCracken	...	Jenny - Farmwife
Bruce Myles	...	Bank Clerk
Zoe Alexander	...	Stroke Patient
Christopher Reynalds	...	Young Billy
Elaine Ives-Cameron	...	Gypsy

Storyline

Effective psychological love story with a macabre twist not found in the original Joy Cowley novel. The dreary existence of middle- aged spinster Maura Prince takes an unexpected turn with the arrival of young handyman Billy Jarvis, but there is more to Billy than meets the eye. This well-crafted film, full of sexual tension and Gothic flavor, was Patricia Neal's second after her return to acting, her real-life stroke worked deftly into the story by then-husband Roald Dahl.

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Plot Keywords:

handyman | murder | mansion | blindness | gothic horror | 

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Taglines:

A lonely woman in a decaying mansion... A young stranger on a big, black bike.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 May 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Road Builder

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Film Studios, St Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios, Tacitus Productions, Youngstreet

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original length of the film was 110 minutes. Bernard Herrmann composed his score for 110 minutes version. But about 13 minutes were cut right before the film's official release. So some of Bernard Herrmann's cues didn't end up in the film. In the released version (97 - 98 minutes), small portions of Herrmann's cue close to the end of the film was accidentally edited out. Some of Herrmann's cues that he composed for certain scenes in the released version didn't end up in the released cut. One of the unused cues was a cue for the scene where the nurse walks back and enters into her car.

User Reviews

Pretty good movie

Roald Dahl has always been a good story-teller, and this movie, for which he wrote the screenplay, is no exception. It's a macabre love story with a somewhat unexpected ending. Very good acting and story-telling. I recommend this film for all Roald Dahl fans. 7/10.