Thehibikiew Not even bad in a good way

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

MBunge This is a noirish film about a kidnapping that goes wrong. I have to assume the filmmakers intended it to be some kind of postmodern and ironic commentary on the genre and the subject matter. I have to assume that because judged on its own merits, The Night of the Following Day is a hideously awkward and amateurish movie.A young girl (Pamela Franklin) flies into France and is almost immediately abducted by a band of 4 seasoned criminals. Wally (Jess Hahn) is a fat loser who's spearheaded the kidnapping as his final grasp at crime's brass ring. Bud (Marlon Brando) is a buff, beatnik hipster who wears a black turtleneck. Vi (Rita Moreno) is Wally's sister, Bud's woman and a junkie. Leer (Richard Boone) is the outsider brought into to the group for this job who quickly proves to be a vile and violent degenerate. They hold up at a French beach house with the girl and try to execute an overly complicated plan to get away with the ransom money from her rich father, all the while avoiding the local cop (Gerard Buhr) who keeps running into the kidnappers by unknowing chance. Things go wrong, there's a double cross and most of what you'd expect in this sort of story happens.I fervently hope these filmmakers and these actors were trying to do something different and unusual with The Night of the Following Day. I would like to think that there was some cultural or artistic point to the creative decisions they made. If there wasn't, then this is one of the most poorly made movies I've ever watched. It's even more graceless and anomalous than the cheap, videotape crap churned out since 1990.There are looooong stretches where there is no dialog and nothing interesting happening on screen. What dialog there is sounds like the first take of a bad improv session. Scenes are staged and shot like co-writer/director Hubert Cornfield's sole previous experience in show business was directing pre-school Christmas plays. There's one scene that goes on for a full minute where the camera is focused on the back of Marlon Brando's head. There's no dialog. Nothing's going on. It's just the back of Brando's head on screen for a full minute. The film ends with an epilogue that feels more like an editing mistake than anything intentional.I'm perplexed by this movie. It appears to be so thoroughly rotten and inexplicably crafted that I wonder if I'm not missing something. Was The Night of the Following Day responding to or referencing something in its own era that I don't appreciate or comprehend? Was the cast and crew all high when they were making this? Did someone kidnap Cornfield's or Brando's children and force them to make this film? I really want there to be some explanation for how dreadful this thing appears to be, because the alternative is just too depressing.

bkoganbing This is one of weirdest of film projects Marlon Brando ever got himself involved in. I'm still trying to figure out the point of it all.The Night of the Following Day was shot in France and it involves rich, young, and pretty Pamela Franklin being kidnapped and held for ransom. As is the usual the initial snatch goes off like clockwork, but the plan after that just doesn't come off.Jess Hahn, American expatriate actor, is the leader of the group that includes his sister Rita Moreno, Marlon Brando, and Richard Boone. Moreno is a junkie, a little trip with some nose candy and Brando and Hahn are left waiting at Orly Airport. An obliging POLICEMAN actually gives them a lift.In the meantime Richard Boone who's never bad even in the worst films is getting some lascivious desires about Franklin. Brando's got reason to be concerned about him.Al Lettieri plays a small role as a pilot who's also part of the plan and his work here led Brando to push for him with Francis Ford Coppola to give him a breakthrough role as Virgil Sollozo in The Godfather.I think the American players did this one for a hefty paycheck and a trip to Paris. There have been worse reasons for doing a film.As for its meaning, don't want to give anything away, but think Dallas as you're watching it.

dbdumonteil Among Marlon Brando's brilliant filmography,"night of the following day" remains one of his most mysterious .I saw the movie twice (it was a continuous programme) when it was theatrically released and since,I have never talked about it with anybody afterward.Yesterday ,when I finally saw it again after all those years,I realized I totally missed the point the first time:I had not understood the ending.It was a time unexpected twists were not that much common .Of course Fritz Lang's "Woman in the window" had already been made but I hardly knew Lang's name.But if the ending eluded me ,blame it on the script too.To make sense,the whole story should have been seen through Pamela Franklin's eyes!Her part is underwritten ,she hasn't even got a name.Anyway,Brando's smile on the last picture is really spooky and makes me think of many films of today.Cornfield's main asset is the perfection of his cast:apart from the two names I mention above,Richard Boone,Jess Hahn and Rita Moreno are first-class actors.Hats off to the latter who manages quite well in French: all the scenes with the cop are suspenseful ("Je vous ai fait peur?"=Did I scare you?)Cornfield's use of France is devoid of the usual clichés:no accordion tune,no Eiffel Tower,and,on the Champ Elysées ,we can't even see the Arc of Triumph.On the other hand,his depiction of the little bistros (French pubs) is accurate and the (Normandy?) beach where most of the action takes place is a good location.The house is wrapped in silence disturbed only by the sea.There's something bizarre which almost explains the eerie ending.This story of kidnapping has been told and told and told.And however Hubert Cornfield 's movie is unlike all the other ones.Marlon Brando assumes an indifferent air,which increases the strange atmosphere .Towards the ending,everything is happening at once and we sometimes wonder whether the criminals' plans are that much good (in the bistro,they make blunder after another).French director Robert Hossein certainly appreciated Cornfield's movie since he made "Point de chute" starring singer Johnny Hallyday which bore more than a distant resemblance to "night of...".Like Franklin,the victim has no name either !Hubert Cornfield infatuation with France took the form of a ...French movie in 1976 "les Grands Moyens" from an Exbrayat's novel which sank without a trace.

kikiloveslegwarmers I just saw this DVD for the first time. I couldn't believe that in 1968 at age 44 that Marlon Brando was in such outstanding shape. He was fit and trim and blonde. His acting was unbelievable. In one particular scene with Jess Hahn, Brando is at his best. This "kidnap" film has a strong supporting cast which gives equally impressive performances. Richard Boone gives a very creepy performance as a sadistic psycho. He reminds me a lot of Alan Arkin's role in Wait Until Dark. Jess Hahn is great as the pot-bellied brother of Rita Moreno. The Night Before The Following Day is one of Marlon Brando's top 10 acting roles.