Still of the Night (1982)

A Manhattan psychiatrist probes a patient's murder and falls for the victim's mysterious mistress.

Director:

Robert Benton

Writers:

Robert Benton (screenplay), David Newman (story)

Stars:

Roy Scheider, Meryl Streep, Jessica Tandy

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roy Scheider	...	Sam Rice
Meryl Streep	...	Brooke Reynolds
Jessica Tandy	...	Grace Rice
Joe Grifasi	...	Joseph Vitucci
Sara Botsford	...	Gail Phillips
Josef Sommer	...	George Bynum
Frederikke Borge	...	Heather Wilson (as Rikke Borge)
Irving Metzman	...	Murray Gordon
Larry Joshua	...	Mugger
Tom Norton	...	Auctioneer
Richmond Hoxie	...	Mr. Harris
Hyon Cho	...	Mr. Chang
Danielle Cusson	...	Girl
John Bentley	...	Night Watchman
George A. Tooks	...	Elevator Operator

Storyline

George Bynum, a patient of Manhattan psychiatrist Dr. Sam Rice, is brutally murdered. Soon afterward, Dr. Rice is visited by Bynum's co-worker and mistress Brooke Reynolds and by the investigating officer Detective Vitucci. As Dr. Rice reviews the case notes on his sessions with Bynum, he starts his own investigation. At the same time, he finds himself falling for enigmatic blonde Brooke, despite her increasingly suspicious behavior. The closer Rice comes to the truth, the more he puts his own life in danger...

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Plot Keywords:

psychiatrist | blonde | murder | hitchcockian | fatal attraction | 

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Taglines:

If looks could kill...

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 November 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stab

Filming Locations:

Boathouse Cafe, Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hitchcock films that this movie pays homage to include Psycho (1960) ; Vertigo (1958) ; Rebecca (1940) ; Rear Window (1954) ; The Birds (1963) ; North by Northwest (1959) ; Marnie (1964) and Spellbound (1945).

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Quotes

Doctor Sam Rice: Now listen to me! On account of you, I'm an accessory to something. I don't know what! I'm withholding evidence. I'm obstructing justice. I'm gonna get my license revoked if I'm not thrown into jail first. And on top of that, I've just spent fifteen thousand dollars for a painting I don't even like!

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Connections

References Vertigo (1958)

User Reviews

A quiet, underplayed thriller, with some excellent visuals and lighting.

Quiet thriller with great acting from Meryl Streep, taken a slightly different route with the paranoid performance from Roy Schnieder. Unfortunately some other of the other performances are quite poor, with the standard dumbed down cops. Slow to pick up, it's worth sticking with past the stock plot setup routines. There's some neat camera work to strengthen the guessing game and make you feel the paranoia and fear of the doctor. There's a fantastic sequence in central park where the Doctor follows a mystery woman, losing her beneath the light \ dark pools of street lights. Using the sound of her footsteps to pull your attention forward to a tunnel. The final moments of that sequence are brilliant. Throughout the lighting is used to great effect with all other senses and even performances extremely restrained. A good film which I'm sure has influenced many others of this genre.