The Night Has Eyes

Last updated

The Night Has Eyes
Moonlight Madness poster.jpg
1949 US re-release film poster
Directed by Leslie Arliss
Written byLeslie Arliss
John Argyle
Based on The Night Has Eyes by Alan Kennington
Produced byJohn Argyle
StarringJames Mason
Wilfrid Lawson
Mary Clare
Joyce Howard
Cinematography Günther Krampf
Edited by Flora Newton
Music by Charles Williams
Distributed by Pathé Pictures International
Release date
1 June 1942
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£15,000 [1]

The Night Has Eyes, released in the United States as Terror House by Producers Releasing Corporation and re-released in the US by Cosmopolitan Pictures in 1949 as Moonlight Madness, is a 1942 British thriller film directed by Leslie Arliss starring James Mason, Joyce Howard, Wilfrid Lawson, Mary Clare. [2] and Tucker McGuire. It is based on the 1939 novel of the same title by Alan Kennington.

Contents

Plot

Two young teachers travel to the Yorkshire Moors where their friend disappeared a year before. Before long they have encountered the man they believe to be her murderer. [3] That night, they become stranded in the house where they are staying when a violent storm breaks out.

Cast

Critical reception

Leonard Maltin called the film an "OK mystery"; [4] Allmovie called it a "taut British chiller" ; [5] and TV Guide wrote "though melodramatic and soundstage-bound, Terror House is still quite effective and eerie. Fog covers almost every exterior; cinematographer Gunther Krampf spent long periods getting the artificial fog at just the right density...The final film was almost too effective, and after initially getting an A rating from the British censor and being booked on the biggest cinema circuit in Britain, the rating was suddenly changed to H (for "Horrific"), making it off-limits for anyone under 16 years of age. The big circuits had a policy of showing only A films, so the independent cinemas became the big winners, getting an excellent thriller starring Mason, Britain's top leading man at the time." [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog</i> 1927 silent film by Alfred Hitchcock

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog is a 1927 British silent thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, June Tripp, Malcolm Keen and Ivor Novello. Hitchcock's third feature film, it was released on 14 February 1927 in London and on 10 June 1928 in New York City. The film is based on the 1913 novel The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes and the play Who Is He? co-written by Belloc Lowndes. Its plot concerns the hunt for a Jack the Ripper-like serial killer in London.

<i>"Pimpernel" Smith</i> 1941 anti-Nazi thriller movie directed by Leslie Howard

"Pimpernel" Smith is a 1941 British anti-Nazi thriller, produced and directed by its star Leslie Howard, which updates his role in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) from Revolutionary France to pre-Second World War Europe. The British Film Yearbook for 1945 described his work as "one of the most valuable facets of British propaganda".

<i>The Spiral Staircase</i> (1946 film) 1946 film by Robert Siodmak

The Spiral Staircase is a 1946 American psychological horror film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, and Ethel Barrymore. Adapted from Ethel Lina White's British novel Some Must Watch (1933) by screenwriter Mel Dinelli, the film follows a mute young woman in an early-20th century Vermont town being terrorized by a serial killer who targets disabled women.

<i>Old Yeller</i> (film) 1957 film

Old Yeller is a 1957 American drama western film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney. It stars Dorothy McGuire and Fess Parker, with Tommy Kirk, and Kevin Corcoran. It is about a boy and a stray dog in post-Civil War Texas. The film is based upon the 1956 novel of the same name by Fred Gipson. Gipson also co-wrote the screenplay along with William Tunberg. The film's success led to a 1963 sequel, Savage Sam, which was based on a 1962 book by Gipson.

<i>Invisible Ghost</i> 1941 film by Joseph H. Lewis

Invisible Ghost is a 1941 American horror film directed by Joseph H. Lewis, produced by Sam Katzman and starring Bela Lugosi.

Dandelion is a 2004 drama film directed and co-written by Mark Milgard and stars Vincent Kartheiser, Blake Heron, Taryn Manning, Arliss Howard, and Mare Winningham. The director of photography was Tim Orr. The film premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and went on to play the festival circuit, screening at the Vienna International Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival. It was given a limited release in American theaters on October 7, 2005.

<i>Back-Room Boy</i> 1942 film

Back-Room Boy is a 1942 British comedy film directed by Herbert Mason, produced by Edward Black for Gainsborough Pictures and starring Arthur Askey, Googie Withers, Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott. The original story was written by J.O.C. Orton. A man from the Met Office is sent to a lighthouse on a remote Scottish island to monitor the weather, where he hopes to escape from women, but soon finds the island overrun by them.

Sarah Elizabeth Lawson is an English actress best known for her film and television roles.

<i>The Man in Grey</i> 1943 film by Leslie Arliss

The Man in Grey is a 1943 British film melodrama made by Gainsborough Pictures; it is considered to be the first of a series of period costume dramas now known as the "Gainsborough melodramas". It was directed by Leslie Arliss and produced by Edward Black from a screenplay by Arliss and Margaret Kennedy that was adapted by Doreen Montgomery from the 1941 novel The Man in Grey by Eleanor Smith. The film's sets were designed by Walter Murton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilfrid Lawson (actor)</span> English actor

Wilfrid Lawson was an English character actor of screen and stage.

<i>The Naked Edge</i> 1961 film by Michael Anderson

The Naked Edge is a 1961 thriller film starring Gary Cooper and Deborah Kerr. The film was a British-American co-production distributed by United Artists, directed by Michael Anderson and produced by George Glass and Walter Seltzer, with Marlon Brando Sr. as executive producer. The screenplay was written by Joseph Stefano and Max Ehrlich, the musical score was created by William Alwyn, the cinematography was handled by Erwin Hillier and Tony White and the production designer was Carmen Dillon.

Leslie Arliss was an English screenwriter and director. He is best known for his work on the Gainsborough melodramas directing films such as The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady during the 1940s.

Edward Black was a British film producer, best known for being head of production at Gainsborough Studios in the late 1930s and early 1940s, during which time he oversaw production of the Gainsborough melodramas. He also produced such classic films as The Lady Vanishes (1938). Black has been called "one of the unsung heroes of the British film industry" and "one of the greatest figures in British film history, the maker of stars like Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, John Mills and Stewart Granger. He was also one of the very few producers whose films, over a considerable period, made money." In 1946 Mason called Black "the one good production executive" that J. Arthur Rank had. Frank Launder called Black "a great showman and yet he had a great feeling for scripts and spent more time on them than anyone I have ever known. His experimental films used to come off as successful as his others."

<i>Hennessy</i> (film) 1975 British film

Hennessy is a 1975 British thriller film directed by Don Sharp and starring Rod Steiger, Trevor Howard, Lee Remick, Richard Johnson, Peter Egan, Stanley Lebor and Sir Patrick Stewart, the latter in his film debut.

Samuel George Herbert Mason was a British film director, producer, stage actor, army officer, presenter of some revues, stage manager, stage director, choreographer, production manager and playwright. He was a recipient of the Military Cross the prestigious award for "gallantry during active operations against the enemy." He received the gallantry award for his part in the Battle of Guillemont where British troops defeated the Germans to take the German stronghold of Guillemont.

<i>The Farmers Wife</i> (1941 film) 1941 film by Norman Lee

The Farmer's Wife is a 1941 British comedy drama film directed by Norman Lee and Leslie Arliss and starring Basil Sydney, Wilfrid Lawson and Nora Swinburne. It is based on the play The Farmer's Wife by Eden Phillpotts which had previously been adapted by Alfred Hitchcock for a 1928 film of the same name. It was produced by ABPC at Welwyn Studios, at a time when the company's main Elstree Studios had been requisitioned for wartime use.

<i>The Terror</i> (1928 film) 1928 American horror film

The Terror is a 1928 American pre-Code horror film written by Harvey Gates and directed by Roy Del Ruth, based on the 1927 play of the same name by Edgar Wallace. It was the second "all-talking" motion picture released by Warner Bros., following Lights of New York. It was also the first all-talking horror film, made using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.

The Lesser Evil is a 1998 thriller film directed by David Mackay.

<i>Tower of Terror</i> (1941 film) 1941 British film

Tower of Terror is a 1941 British wartime thriller film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Wilfrid Lawson, Michael Rennie and Movita. It was made at Welwyn Studios with location shooting on Flat Holm off the Welsh coast.

The Night Has Eyes is a 1939 mystery thriller novel by the British writer Alan Kennington. On the Yorkshire Moors a schoolteacher meets and become attracted to a distinctly odd young man living in isolation from the world.

References

  1. Wood, Alan (1952). Mr. Rank a Study of J.Arthur Rank and British Films. p. 106.
  2. Space_Mafune (1 June 1942). "The Night Has Eyes (1942)". IMDb.
  3. "The Night Has Eyes". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
  4. "Night Has Eyes, The (1942) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  5. Hal Erickson. "The Night Has Eyes (1942) - Leslie Arliss - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  6. "Terror House". TVGuide.com.