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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 431840" data-attributes="member: 23">Still Of The Night (1982) <img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BY2FjYjc2N2MtOGQ5MC00Y2E2LTk4NTAtYjZlNGMwODVmMDc1XkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 753px" /> In a 2013 episode of What Happens Live, Meryl Streep played a round of Plead The Fifth and was asked to name one bad film she'd made. Her reply? "Still Of The Night".[MEDIA=youtube]-vuyZrZxn9Y[/MEDIA]Fortunately, not only did I discover this after watching the film in question, I'm fairly certain it wouldn't have put me off if I had seen it before. I mean, she's just one actress, isn't she? Besides, I've already watched that remake of The Life And Loves Of A She-Devil, so my stomach is strong.It's a moot point anyway, because I subjectively enjoyed it. In fact I thought it was pretty good. It helped that I knew absolutely nothing about the film other than it stars Roy Scheider, Streep and Jessica Tandy and the film's thumbnail suggested a thriller.Scheider, for me, was the biggest selling point. He's a fascinating actor, naturalistic, economical and immediate. This is a great performance from him and as I watched I found myself once again thinking I have to explore more of his filmography. The Seven-Ups and Sorcerer are near the top of my viewing bucket list, and I know his personal favourite was All That Jazz in which he played Bob Fosse, so that's a must-see as well. None are currently on Prime, which is a hindrance.. but I digress.Surprisingly, this is very much Scheider's film. Everything is seen from his character's point of view and he gets far and away the most screen-time. Jessica Tandy has a small-but-memorable supporting role as his mother, and Streep herself feels almost secondary (I wonder if this factored into her naming it above). In fact I'd wondered if it was before she was as well-known, but this came after Kramer vs. Kramer and The French Lieutenant's Woman and just before Sophie's Choice and Silkwood. She does have a Streepian actressy monologue towards the film's end where her eyes glisten and she cries real tears, one at a time. It's interesting to see her playing a neurotic, slightly flappy character, and the overall effect is "the part of Valene Ewing on this week's Knots Landing will be played by Meryl Streep", which brings an interest all its own.As it unfolded it felt more and more Hitchcockian, not only in its story and themes, but also its presentation, direction and even performances. Scheider is the archetypal everyman drawn by circumstances deeper into a murderous web where he himself becomes a potential target - in this case he's a psychiatrist, Sam Rice, whose patient is murdered after baring his soul, leaving Sam with enough clues to begin uncovering the mystery himself. Historically he'd  have been played by Jimmy Stewart or Cary Grant. Streep is the icy blonde with the mysterious background who may or may not be less innocent than she appears. She appears closer to Eva Marie Saint than Grace Kelly, but there's a definite touch of Tippi Hedren in there as well. Tandy's presence is tribute in itself, her having appeared in The Birds and everything, but her role as a sounding board with definite ideas of her own about the mystery put me in mind of Thelma Ritter in Rear Window.Anyone who has watched Hitchcock's films will recognise the homages here. One of the most effectively suspenseful scenes came near the beginning of the film when a detective visits and Sam realises the dead man's engraved watch is lying on his desk between them. There are an agonising few attempts to reach for it, each interrupted. Then he opens his diary to check a date, purposefully covering the offending item, only for the detective to ask if he can look at the diary, leaving the watch exposed again. As I watched I registered that it felt familiar, but it didn't go further than that. The Hitchcock feel solidified for me during the auction scene where Scheider's character starts bidding as a means to an end, just as Roger Thornhill did in North By Northwest.There are a number of jump scares that had me shaking my head for being cheap and schlocky even as I screamed and jumped. I think I was more angry at them for getting me (I do seem to be particularly jumpy at the moment. I screamed and jumped my way through the 2022 Scream film the night before).Long story short, one doesn't need to be au fait with Hitchcock to thoroughly enjoy this film. It's just that awareness will add another fun layer.</blockquote>

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