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IMDbPro

The Night Fighters

Original title: A Terrible Beauty
  • 19601960
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
321
YOUR RATING
Robert Mitchum and Anne Heywood in The Night Fighters (1960)
ActionDramaRomance
In 1941, the IRA plans a campaign to coincide with the planned German invasion of England. Dermot O'Neill finds it easy to get into the IRA, but can he get out?In 1941, the IRA plans a campaign to coincide with the planned German invasion of England. Dermot O'Neill finds it easy to get into the IRA, but can he get out?In 1941, the IRA plans a campaign to coincide with the planned German invasion of England. Dermot O'Neill finds it easy to get into the IRA, but can he get out?
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
321
YOUR RATING
    • Tay Garnett
    • R. Wright Campbell(screenplay)
    • Arthur Roth(novel "A Terrible Beauty")
  • Stars
    • Robert Mitchum
    • Richard Harris
    • Anne Heywood
    • Tay Garnett
    • R. Wright Campbell(screenplay)
    • Arthur Roth(novel "A Terrible Beauty")
  • Stars
    • Robert Mitchum
    • Richard Harris
    • Anne Heywood
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 6User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos11

    Robert Mitchum in The Night Fighters (1960)
    The Night Fighters (1960)
    The Night Fighters (1960)
    Robert Mitchum, Richard Harris, Marianne Benet, Cyril Cusack, Tay Garnett, Anne Heywood, and Dan O'Herlihy in The Night Fighters (1960)
    Robert Mitchum in The Night Fighters (1960)
    Robert Mitchum and Richard Harris in The Night Fighters (1960)
    Robert Mitchum and Anne Heywood in The Night Fighters (1960)
    Robert Mitchum, Richard Harris, Cyril Cusack, and Dan O'Herlihy in The Night Fighters (1960)
    Robert Mitchum and Anne Heywood in The Night Fighters (1960)
    Robert Mitchum and Anne Heywood in The Night Fighters (1960)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Robert Mitchum
    Robert Mitchum
    • Dermot O'Neill
    Richard Harris
    Richard Harris
    • Sean Reilly
    Anne Heywood
    Anne Heywood
    • Neeve Donnelly
    Dan O'Herlihy
    Dan O'Herlihy
    • Don McGinnis
    Cyril Cusack
    Cyril Cusack
    • Jimmy Hannafin
    Niall MacGinnis
    Niall MacGinnis
    • Ned O'Neill (Dermot's brother)
    • (as Niall McGinnis)
    Marianne Benet
    • Bella O'Neill (Dermont's sister)
    Christopher Rhodes
    • Tim Malone
    Harry Brogan
    • Patrick O'Neill
    Eileen Crowe
    • Mrs. Kathleen O'Neill
    Joe Lynch
    • Seamus
    Marie Kean
    Marie Kean
    • Mrs. Matia Devlin (the publican)
    Geoffrey Golden
    • Sgt. Crawley
    Eddie Golden
    • Johnny Corrigan
    • (as Edward Golden)
    Wilfred Downing
    Wilfred Downing
    • Quinn
    J.G. Devlin
    J.G. Devlin
    • Const. Lauden
    • (as James Devlin)
    Hilton Edwards
    Hilton Edwards
    • Father McCrory
    T.P. McKenna
    T.P. McKenna
    • A McIntyre Boy
    • (uncredited)
      • Tay Garnett
      • R. Wright Campbell(screenplay)
      • Arthur Roth(novel "A Terrible Beauty")
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      One night after a hard day's filming, Robert Mitchum and Richard Harris went for a few drinks in Dublin. Late in the evening, a patron in one of Dublin's hostelries recognized Mitchum, and excitedly asked him for his autograph. Mitchum duly obliged and the delighted fan went to show it to his friends. Only then did he realize that Mitchum had signed it "Kirk Douglas". Furious at being made a fool of, the disgruntled fan threw a punch at Mitchum and apparently mayhem ensued. Dublin newspapers were only delighted to report the Hollywood star's barroom brawl.
    • Quotes

      Dermot: Which are we to serve first?

      Sean: Ireland, of course!

      Dermot: In doing so we stand to lose all the rest.

    User reviews6

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    5/10
    The Rising That Never Was
    The Night Fighters makes use of Robert Mitchum's marvelous gift for speech mimicry as he adopts and Irish brogue for a film set in Northern Ireland in 1941. The brogue would be put to better use later on in a far better film, Ryan's Daughter.

    To put in historical context, France has fallen and the British are waging war without allies on the continent for a year now. The Germans contact elements of the old Irish Republican Army and they're looking for a rising like Easter of 1916 that will drain British troops to defend the country and free the six counties who were left behind.

    So the local commandant Dan O'Herlihy raises such a force in his local area and recruits buddies Robert Mitchum and Richard Harris for the group. They do a raid and one of their number is killed and Mitchum and Harris are fugitives. All the worse because as history records the Nazis never did attempt an invasion of Great Britain, they went to the Soviet Union instead.

    Mitchum and Harris are a pair who would rather raise a tankard of beer than a country see this was for nothing. That leads to all kinds of complications down the road.

    I'm not sure what the point to The Night Fighters really was. The film ending was anti-climatic to say the least. I will say that Mitchum's character had a lot of Victor McLaglen's Gypo Nolan from The Informer in him. The Night Fighters never reaches to the dramatic heights that the John Ford classic did.

    In fact The Night Fighters is known primarily for the fact that after hours Robert Mitchum got into a pub brawl with some of the locals and he came out on top. Many different versions of the story got into the media around the world, but I suggest you read Lee Server's meticulously researched and delightfully written biography of Mitchum to get the real story. I can't repeat it here due to the language.

    Mitchum fans might like The Night Fighters, but it will never be at the top of his best screen performances.
    helpful•11
    1
    • bkoganbing
    • Apr 24, 2012

    Details

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    • Release date
      • May 1960 (United Kingdom)
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Ardmore Studios, Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland
    • Production companies
      • D.R.M. Productions
      • Raymond Stross Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 30 minutes
      • Black and White

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