The Nightcomers (1971)

Prequel to Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw", focusing on groundskeeper Peter Quint's slow corruption of the virtuous governess Miss Jessel and the children she looks after.

Director:

Michael Winner

Writers:

Michael Hastings, Henry James (based on characters from 'The Turn of the Screw' by)

Stars:

Marlon Brando, Stephanie Beacham, Thora Hird

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Marlon Brando	...	Peter Quint
Stephanie Beacham	...	Miss Jessel
Thora Hird	...	Mrs. Grose
Harry Andrews	...	Master of the House
Verna Harvey	...	Flora
Christopher Ellis	...	Miles
Anna Palk	...	New Governess

Storyline

Prequel to the Henry James classic "Turn of the Screw" about the events leading up to the deaths of Peter Quint and Ms. Jessel, and the the slow corruption of the children in their care.

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Plot Keywords:

exploding animal | animal cruelty | woman tied up | breast groping | sex scene | 

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Taglines:

Two Children. Two Adults. One Unspeakable Crime.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Winner loves Brando. "He took acting, which was basically stage oriented and he turned it into behavior." He adds that Brando's been imitated since by the likes of Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman.

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Quotes

Peter Quint: If you love someone, you want to kill them.

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Alternate Versions

For its original UK cinema release the film was heavily cut by the BBFC and removed most of the shots of the bound Miss Jessel during the sexual bondage scenes. Later video and DVD releases were fully uncut.

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Connections

Referenced in Brando (2007)

User Reviews

Forget Henry James, forget The Innocents and just enjoy

As with many Winner films it is necessary to not make the mistake of expecting his film to be exactly as you expect, or very much like it at all actually. Forget Henry James, forget The Innocents and just enjoy Mr Winner's take on how the children lost their innocence. The SM and bondage scenes were more explicit than I remember on a previous viewing and it may be that the earlier video had been trimmed. Certainly here there is no mistaking the powerful relationship between Brando and Beacham and I for one found the playing out of these scenes by the children fairly powerful. I suppose the pace is a little slow which is perhaps particularly noticeable because of how quickly does the effective ending unfold. Not for purists but if you are looking for that something just a little bit different……UPDATE 7.2.17 Just watched this again, on blu ray this time and enjoyed it even more. Once again I felt the bondage scenes more explicit than I remember from before! Funny thing memory.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 February 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Nightcomers

Filming Locations:

Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits, Fulbourn Rd, Cambridge CB1 9JL, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$440,654

Company Credits

Production Co:

Elliott Kastner-Jay Kanter-Alan Ladd Jnr Productions, Scimitar Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1