Still of the Night (1982)

"Still of the Night" has all the classic elements of Hitchcock, the murder investigation, the innocent bystander (Roy Scheider) who must solve the puzzle to clear his own name (and save his own life), the icy blond beauty (Meryl Streep) who may or may not be the killer, the creepy Long Island mansion where the clifftop climax takes place. Most of all, we have several examples of Hitch's most distinctive contribution to cinema, the suspense sequence that builds slowly to a payoff. The symbolic dream, the adventure in the creepy basement laundry room, the eerie midnight excursion into Central Park, the long section at the swanky auction house with the hero desperately trying to deflect the authorities who are closing in, these are pure Hitchcock, and Benton is better than most at making these classic ideas seem fresh and immediate. Meryl Streep provides the glamour and the mystery and her performance is simply stunning and a joy to watch. She also, I think for the first and only time to my knowledge, appears in the nude, but from a distance. She has a lovely figure and a cute rear end, which I think she should have showed off more often, so it is definitely adult entertainment, but also a classic whodunnit in the greatest tradition.What strikes me most strongly about "Still of the Night" is the loving care and dedication of everyone involved in the project, not just the direction and writing (Benton and David Newman) but the cinematography (Nestor Almendros), music (Broadway composer John Kander), and even the costumes (Albert Wolsky). And that cast can't be beat, from the glamorous stars right down to the extras. If you love Hitch as much as I do, give this film a look. This movie is worth it for the music intro alone and I can't agree with some of the reviewers. Sit back and just enjoy a great plot with great characters and a dynamite ending! Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Despite its Hitchcock influence (which is a benefit), Robert Benton provides a good job in directing actors.As an inevitable consequence of having used the techniques of the British Master, the film has quite disturbing scenes which keeps the viewer in suspense, due to the visual and dramatic tension. Roy Scheider and specially a young Meryl Streep, shine in their performances. There's a mystery surrounding Meryl Streep's role in this movie. She is attractive, insecure, it seems that she is looking for company, but at the same time she's unreachable.There is a significant dramatic and psychological aspects that make this thriller deserves more attention.7/10

This is exactly the kind of movie I most often try to catch from the few movie channels I subscribe to. 70's and 80's movies, which I was too young to see when they came out. I wouldn't necessarily buy or rent a DVD in case it was available and it's too unknown to be shown on national channels, but still well made and enjoyable. This was a perfect nostalgia trip to time when they made movies for adults. A thriller with very little action or violence.The plot is fairly simple and very much a homage to Hitchcock. A man falls for a "dangerous" blonde lady. In fact the biggest problem with the movie is that it's so obviously a Hitchcock homage that it's difficult to take it as a movie of it's own. For this kind of who dunnit, it might have also been nicer to have a bit more flesh around the bones, now the story is fairly short and they don't give away too many clues or herrings. At least not that I noticed.That being said, it is nicely stylish and 80's in a good way. All actors do a good job, especially Streep has a couple of very good scenes.One thing that picks the eye is that there is a lot of smoking in this movie. In this day and age it's pretty difficult to swallow, even tho I feel smoking is a way to create atmosphere in certain types of movies and it's not that much out of place here.If you are into movies which are not larger than life, this might be for you. It's a nice and slow little thriller which in the end is pretty forgettable, but enjoyable to watch.

"Still of the Night" is one of the more obscure entries in Meryl Streep's filmography, even though it came out in 1982 in between two of her greatest films, "The French Lieutenant's Woman" and "Sophie's Choice". (Until it turned up recently on British television I had never previously seen it or even heard of it). It is a psychological thriller, directed by Robert Benton who had earlier directed Meryl in "Kramer v Kramer". It has often been described as having been influenced by the works of Alfred Hitchcock, and one of the obvious signs of this influence is the fact that the main character, like the heroine of "Spellbound", is a psychiatrist. (Hitchcock was fascinated by psychology and psychiatry, and often makes reference to them in his films).Another Hitchcock touch is the idea of the "man in the street" who suddenly finds himself in trouble or in danger. When one of his patients is murdered Dr Sam Rice, a Manhattan psychiatrist, finds himself becoming emotionally involved with a young woman named Brooke Reynolds, who was not only a colleague of the dead man but also his mistress, and who is also a suspect in his murder. The plot is a complex one, involving Rice falling under suspicion with the police, who believe that he may be withholding evidence about the killing, and his placing himself in danger by his own attempts to solve the crime.The film makes quite deliberate reference to a number of Hitchcock films. Besides the general psychiatric theme, there is also a dream sequence reminiscent of the one in "Spellbound". The appearance of a bird during this sequence is a reference to "The Birds" and possibly also to "Psycho", where Norman's hobby is stuffing birds. A fall from a bell tower recalls "Vertigo" and, as in "North by North West", there is a scene set in an auction room. (The murdered man, George Bynum, was a senior employee of an auction house). There are also scenes reminiscent of "Rear Window" and "Marnie". Jessica Tandy who plays Rice's mother (also a psychiatrist) appeared in "The Birds". Many of Hitchcock's films, including "Notorious", "Strangers on a Train" and "Psycho", feature a strong, dominant mother-figure.Perhaps the most effective Hitchcock touch is the use of a trademark blonde heroine. Although this is far from being one of Meryl Streep's greatest films, she nevertheless gives a very accomplished performance as Brooke, portraying a woman who is clearly disturbed and frightened and who might just also be a psychopath, while leaving (as the conventions of the thriller genre require) that second point open to doubt. Had Meryl been twenty years older, she might have become one of the Master's great muses, along with the likes of Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly.And yet any number of Hitchcock references do not in themselves make a Hitchcock film. "Still of the Night" falls along way short of the great man at his best, or even at his second-best. Roy Scheider does not make a very charismatic hero and, except perhaps in the final sequences, Benton never succeeds in generating the sort of nail-biting tension that Hitchcock was so skilled at conjuring up, even in some of his lesser films. Whereas Hitchcock could normally relieve that tension with some effective use of humour, "Still of the Night" is a pedestrian and humourless film, no more than an average eighties thriller. 5/10, largely for Streep's performance.