By Raymond Benson

Anything that originated from the mind of celebrated mystery novelist, Cornell Woolrich, is worth one’s perusal, and the 1948 film adaptation of the author’s 1945 work, Night Has a Thousand Eyes, mostly measures up.

Directed with confidence and style by John Farrow, Night is a film noir that ticks a lot of boxes that define that Hollywood cinematic movement of the late 1940s and early 50s. There’s a cynical and disturbed protagonist who is haunted by the past, cinematography (by John F. Seitz) that highly contrasts light and shadows, voiceover narration, flashbacks, and, of course, crimes. It’s short (81 minutes) and it’s intriguing. The picture’s faults might be that it can be overly melodramatic at times, and there are a couple of weak casting choices that prevent Night from being a classic. It’s good enough, though.

John Triton (Edward G. Robinson) is “The Mental Wizard,” one of those mentalist performers in nightclubs who “predict” or “reveal” things about members of the audience. He’s successful, too, until his predictions become dangerous premonitions. For example, he “sees” that the woman he wants to marry, Jenny (Virginia Bruce), will die in childbirth. He thus ends his relationship with her, fearing that he would be the cause of her ultimate death. His business partner, Whitney Courtland, marries her instead. Courtland also buys oil-enriched land after Triton predicts it will make the man rich. Later, Courtland dies in an airplane crash that Triton has foreseen. Twenty years after that, Triton lives as a recluse, afraid of his shadow, fearing his own “gift.” He then meets Jenny and Whitney’s daughter, Jean (Gail Russell), who will inherit her father’s wealth—but Triton predicts that she, too, will die on a specific night at 11:00pm. Her fiancé, Elliott (John Lund), believes Triton is a phony, but Jean knows of the man’s history with her parents. The police, led by Lt. Shawn (William Demarest), get involved to protect Jean on the fateful night—and Triton himself is suspected of plotting to kill Jean. Triton must convince everyone that he has no ulterior motives and wants to prevent the tragedy from occurring.

Robinson is effective as Triton, although it’s one of his seriously sincere roles (like in Scarlet Street) in which he wrinkles his brow a lot and seems to be on the verge of crying. Unfortunately, the two supporting actors, Gail Russell and John Lund, are both duds. They move through the picture with low energy, and Lund is especially wooden. Luckily, William Demarest livens things up when he enters the movie.

The story is compelling, although it’s not quite clear why Jean wants to commit suicide at the beginning of the film, the catalyst for the rest of the tale to unfold.

Kino Lorber’s new 2K master looks quite good, considering the picture’s relative obscurity. It comes with an audio commentary by film historian Imogen Sara Smith. The theatrical trailer, along with other Kino trailers, complete the package.

Night Has a Thousand Eyes is for fans of film noir, Edward G. Robinson, Cornell Woolrich, and mysteries with a supernatural bent.

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