I don't really know where to start with Night Without Sleep. I began with thinking I'd give it 5 stars, but worked my way down to three. Maybe it deserves a four, but I was so bored with this film I stood my ground.
On the positive side, it starts out fairly well. And the ending is quite downbeat...qualifying it as a bonafide film noir (although it tries very hard to extricate itself from that description by turning into a melodrama). The cast is impressive and the Roy Baker directed many fine films.
On the flip side: It is a total bore. It's not that the script is amateurish, but it is very uninteresting at best. 77 minutes feels like eternity. Gary Merrill endlessly talks to himself - out loud and in his brain - and to his dog(!). Overall, the acting does nothing to save the film. There is some typical (for the era) psycho-babble and a racist line (delivered by Merrill).
Apparently, this was filmed in 3 weeks. That probably didn't help, but it doesn't feel like a bad B film. It feels worse.
On the positive side, it starts out fairly well. And the ending is quite downbeat...qualifying it as a bonafide film noir (although it tries very hard to extricate itself from that description by turning into a melodrama). The cast is impressive and the Roy Baker directed many fine films.
On the flip side: It is a total bore. It's not that the script is amateurish, but it is very uninteresting at best. 77 minutes feels like eternity. Gary Merrill endlessly talks to himself - out loud and in his brain - and to his dog(!). Overall, the acting does nothing to save the film. There is some typical (for the era) psycho-babble and a racist line (delivered by Merrill).
Apparently, this was filmed in 3 weeks. That probably didn't help, but it doesn't feel like a bad B film. It feels worse.