Eyes in the Night

10/16/19421h 20m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Startling as a scream! ~

Overview:

Blind detective Duncan Maclain gets mixed up with enemy agents and murder when he tries to help an old friend with a rebellious stepdaughter.

Director:

Fred Zinnemann

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

espionage
world war ii
invention
theater play
b movie
blind
scientist
dog
female spy
german shepherd
private detective
guide dog
guard dog
enemy agent
war effort
spy ring
blind man
crooked butler
secret formula
industrial spy
industrial espionage
service dog
scientist's daughter
research scientist
dog hero
theatre producer
enemy spy
safe cracker
white butler
design plans
woman spy

Cast

Edward Arnold

~ as ~

Duncan 'Mac' Maclain

Ann Harding

~ as ~

Norma Lawry

Donna Reed

~ as ~

Barbara Lawry

Stephen McNally

~ as ~

Gabriel Hoffman

Katherine Emery

~ as ~

Cheli Scott

Allen Jenkins

~ as ~

Marty

Stanley Ridges

~ as ~

Hansen

Reginald Denny

~ as ~

Stephen Lawry

John Emery

~ as ~

Paul Gerente

Rosemary DeCamp

~ as ~

Vera Hoffman

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

John Chard
Written 6 year(s) ago
7
Now you are in my world-darkness!

Eyes in the Night is directed by Fred Zinnemann and adapted to screenplay by Guy Trosper and Howard Emett Rogers from Baynard Kendrick's novel The Odor of Violets. It stars Edward Arnold, Ann Harding, Donna Reed, Stephen McNally, Katherine Emery, Allen Jenkins, Stanley Ridges and Friday the dog. Photography is shared between Robert Planck and Charles Lawton and the music is scored by Lennie Hayton. Plot finds Arnold as blind detective Duncan Maclain, also a judo expert, he is always accompanied by his intelligent seeing-eye dog, Friday. Maclain is called on to a murder case for his friend, Norma Lawry (Harding), but the body is missing and there appears to be something very sinister going on at the Lawry family home.

A cracking little thriller boosted by a top cast (Donna Reed playing a bitch step-daughter!) and moody photography. What it lacks in simplicity of plot it more than makes up for in terms of execution and tone, with the added "gimmick" of the detective being blind further enhancing the effectiveness of the picture. In fact, that Arnold is so good, and his dog so brilliant (seriously, this is one great dog), it marks this out as ingenious considering the limits of the Wartime story. Zinnemann knits it together skillfully, never letting the pace sag or the tension drop, while there's some great scenes dotted throughout: such as one filmed in total darkness, lit up intermittently by the flash of pistol fire. With the film 99% set at night of in darkened rooms, this lets Planck (The Canterville Ghost/Moonfleet) & Lawton (3:10 To Yuma/The Tall T) dally in atmospheric shadows and murky low lights.

Clocking in at a slim 80 minutes with never a dull moment, Eyes in the Night is one of the more enjoyable film's of its type. Deserves a bigger audience. 7.5/10
CinemaSerf
Written 3 year(s) ago
6
This is quite an enjoyable thriller with a strong performance from Edward Arnold as "Jim McLain" - a blind detective who is sought out by his old pal "Norma" (Ann Harding) to try to help her put off one of her old boyfriends who is courting her 17 year old stepdaughter. When the cradle-snatcher is found murdered and his friend is the chief suspect, he arrives at her home with his agile guide dog "Friday" and soon discovers a complex Nazi plot to obtain secret papers from her husband. Frankly, the plot's all a bit far-fetched, but Arnold is on super form - especially on the organ, as is his very fleet-of-foot canine companion. Mantan Moreland also shows up now and again in his usual butler's guise to add a little humour to the proceedings and all in all this is a decent piece of wartime cinema.