Monday, May 16, 2016

The Great Villain Blogathon 2016


So Ruth of Silver Screenings, Karen of Shadows and Satin, and Kristina of Speakeasy have teamed up for this blogathon where the objective is as followed:
All you do is pick a movie villain to cover, and then have a ball hailing the hateful and heinous, contemplating the corrupt and evaluating the evil. Villains from absolutely any era, country and genre of film are welcome.
My film felon of choice for this, you may ask?

Robert Montgomery in Night Must Fall (1937, dir. Robert Thorpe)

Why this performance? Well, a few reasons. One, it’s one of several forgotten Oscar-nominated performances that I consider a favorite. And two, I wanted to cover something a little more unconventional.


As was often the case with many stars of the era, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios didn't want Montgomery to take on the role of Danny. He had established himself throughout the 1930s as the debonair leading man. But aside from The Big House seven years earlier, he never got many chances to play against type prior to Night Must Fall.


Danny has the many marks of a sociopath: charming those around him (to get what he wants), slowly gains others' trust (before betraying them), arrogance...things that make Olivia suspicious of him from the moment she meets him. But as the film wears on, it’s clear there’s more to him than he lets on.


Pay attention to him early on when Olivia asks him about Mrs. Shellbrook, the woman whose disappearance kicks off the story. His manner of speaking slowly becomes more agitated as he describes the missing woman. It's this detail that shows something lurking beneath his innocent-looking features.


Olivia becomes more convinced of Danny's wrongdoings, his cheerful demeanor takes on a more stony nature. (Towards the end of the film, you can see the madness flickering in his eyes.) It's the calm rage boiling within him that makes Danny all the more frightening. And when he ultimately snaps, it's chilling.


Yes, Montgomery had the likes of Here Comes Mr. Jordan (which earned him his second and final Oscar nomination) and They Were Expendable (which gave him his first – albeit uncredited – foray as a director) in the decade to come. But it's his work in Night Must Fall that proved his staying power in Hollywood.

14 comments:

  1. Good one, the "nice guys" with charm are creepy. I recently saw the 60's version with Albert Finney and he was just as skeevy. Thanks for joining us!

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    1. Aren't they though? And the pleasure is mine. :)

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  2. Robert Montgomery is utterly mesmerizing in this film. The first time I saw it, I was unfamiliar with his work, and I kept asking, "Who IS this guy?" I've seen this film a few times since then, and his performance never gets old. He's everything you said – charming, cunning, manipulative... A Grade A villain!

    Thanks for joining the blogathon, and for bringing "Danny" with you!

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  3. I so want to see this film! So far, I've only seen him as the debonair leading man, but this performance you describe sounds thrilling (and chilling).

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  4. Never heard of this movie. Sounds interesting.

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  5. This film is my all time favorite (even edging out Casablanca!). It is one of the first psychological thrillers. The big draw to this film is of course Robert Montgomery. This superb actor never got the recognition he deserved and this is, in my opinion, his best performance. Soft spoken and charming, but with the underlying cunning and coldness of a sociopath. In one of the last scenes with Rosalind Russell (also a favorite of mine) his face totally changes and the coldness of it is chilling. A must see if you haven't caught this one.

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  6. "Danny" is a most unsettling performance and even more impressive considering Montgomery also took on uncredited directing chores for the film.

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    1. Ooh, I didn't know that bit about him directing. Nice.

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  7. All the pictures you have posted almost makes him seem like a villain to watch out for... Got to find such movies and watch. I want to thank Ruth and Kristina for giving me the chance to find such gems.

    A great post.. Thanks :)

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