Jim Vanning (Aldo Ray) is on the run.
A victim of tragic circumstance, he is the primary suspect in a murder.
The culprits - a pair of cold-blooded bank robbers, John (Brian Keith) and "Red" (Rudy Bond) - are still on his trail.
Will he be able to clear his name before they find him?
It is rare that I get to see a movie with absolutely no prior knowledge.
I did not even know this movie existed until I saw it advertised on a double bill with another film I will be reviewing.
I’m glad I went in cold (har har).
Nightfall is not a secret masterpiece but it is a solid man-on-the-run thriller
Aldo Ray is effective as the put-upon hero, while Ann Bancroft is well-cast a tough model who gets swept up by the excitement of his predicament.
The standouts are Brian Keith and Rudy Bond as the villains. Keith is the cold-blooded mastermind, completely at ease with any depravity if it gets him closer to his goals. Meanwhile, Bond is a giggling sadist.
It is a solid thriller - the script uses a few too many flashbacks, but otherwise it builds some effective tension.
Director Jacques Tourneur made his name with the classic horror film Cat People, and while this film does what it says on the tin, one wishes it had a little more imagination in the execution.
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