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The Nightcomers (1971)
Rate:
3
Viewed:
6/17, 4/22
6/17:
Looking partly corpulent, Marlon Brando stars in The Nightcomers which can be safely described as a questionable choice.
Who cares if it's based on Henry James' The Turn of the Screw? I don't know what Brando saw in the script. Was he
pressed for money? Or was he merely interested in doing the S&M scene? Or did he like the name of his character: Peter Quint?
At any rate, it's interesting how this is sort of the original before
Last Tango in Paris came out.
To be fair, it's hard to take eyes off Marlon Brando whenever he appears. The first hour goes well, and he's a good raconteur. The
actor has one nice scene when he's shown running out of the woods to catch up with the carriage for small talk.
However, it's the last thirty minutes that dooms the picture when a loop is played endlessly: going
back and forth with the children with little of Brando. These kids are horrible actors, evincing no talent to carry a
film. No wonder why they barely worked afterwards.
All in all, as much of a jumbled mess as The Nightcomers is, Marlon Brando can thank his lucky stars because
The Godfather is just around the corner.
4/22:
My rating for The Nightcomers remains unchanged.
It's really bad because of Michael Winner who made a career out of directing crap movies. I don't get Hollywood's interest
in him. In his lifetime, he had been nominated for exactly one award which was for a shared screenplay credit for
The Sentinel. That's it despite having done thirtysomething films. Sure, there's
Death Wish, but the premise was so good that nobody could've fucked it up.
Believe it or not, Marlon Brando is actually in top form as Peter Quint based on the way he moves and looks. It's that there
isn't much of screen time allocated for him. Reversing this trend and getting rid of the annoying kids (they barely did much
work thereafter which is no surprise), the movie would've come out looking better. To Marlon Brando's credit, he tried to
have the whole script rewritten, but the request was made nine months too late and was therefore denied. The best part
is Quint telling a story about his father, a scene that Marlon Brando did while getting drunk on purpose.
I don't get the weird sex scene. It serves exactly what purpose? Then, Winner shoots himself in the foot by having the kids copy
the same act. Why? If they liked Peter Quint but not the maid, then why kill him but not her? At least, the photography,
which was shot on location in Sawton, Cambridgeshire, England, is lovely. The 16th-century Tudor manor house is Sawston
Hall, and The Nightcomers remains the only film to feature it.
All in all, save for Marlon Brando, The Nightcomers has absolutely nothing to offer, thanks to Michael Winner's
mediocre direction.