A Cry in the Night

Director: Frank Tuttle Frank Tuttle

Overview

In this drama, a psychotic man stalks and kidnaps a woman after knocking out her boyfriend, with whom she had been making out in a car. The sicko takes her to an isolated brickyard. Beneath his grungy bed, she finds a dead puppy and this frightens her even more. Her father, the police captain and his partner go searching for her. They finally find the villain and during a violent interrogation the psycho begins begging for his mommy.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/26/2016
UPC:	0888574417659
Original Release:	1956
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[B&W, Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:15:00
Sales rank:	39,550

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Natalie Wood	Elizabeth
Edmond O'Brien	Capt. Dan Taggart
Raymond Burr	Harold Loftus
Brian Donlevy	Capt. Ed Bates
Richard Anderson	Owen
Irene Hervey	Helen
Carol Veazie	Mrs. Loftus
Mary Lawrence	Madge
Anthony Caruso	Chavez
George J. Lewis	Gerrity
Peter Hanson	Dr. Frazee
Tina Carver	Marie Holzapple
Herb Vigran	Jensen

Technical Credits

George C. Bertholon	Producer
Frank Tuttle	Director

Editorial Reviews

An uneven and at times irritating crime thriller with noir overtones (but lacking the complex existentialism of real noirs), A Cry in the Night is worth seeing for fans of police procedurals, Natalie Wood and/or Raymond Burr. This is the Burr that audiences knew before Perry Mason -- a sinister, frightening figure, usually a loner and an outsider. He's all that here, although Burr also engenders a bit of unwilling sympathy from viewers. He may clearly be the despicable villain, but he's such damaged goods from his mother and, most likely, from mental impairment that you feel a little sorry for him. That's not to say you're not sorry that he gets what's coming to him; just that your feelings are a bit ambivalent. Wood does very well in one of her on-the-brink of adulthood roles, although all her good efforts can't overcome some of the more ridiculous moments in the script. As her father, Edmond O'Brien fares less well, seeming a walking tough guy puppet manipulated by the screenwriters rather than anything really human. Even his genuine and understandable concern for his daughter comes off as forced and at times a bit creepy. Despite the script problems, Cry keeps the viewer's attention, even as it goes over the top; there's something luridly involving about the whole affair.