NIGHTFALL
1957,
Sony Repertory,
79 min,
USA,
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
One of the last true noirs of the classic era, this often-overlooked gem, based on a novel by noir legend David Goodis, features terrific direction from Tourneur and stunning cinematography by Burnett Guffey. Aldo Ray plays an artist whose life goes permanently haywire when fate interrupts a winter hunting trip. From then on it’s life on the run, dozens of double-crosses, psychotic killers on his trail, lots of de rigeur flashbacks, and a young Anne Bancroft decked out in sequins and lace.