Snowfall

Nightfall (1957) is a nifty little daylight noir, with a great cast, directed by Jacques Tourneur. That was all it took to get us to watch.

It starts with Aldo Ray dropping into a bar, where Anne Bancroft tries to borrow $5. She claims that she lost her wallet and just wants to pay for her drink. They spar a little, then have dinner. Outside the restaurant, Brian Keith and Rudy Bond jump him, and tell Bancroft to get lost. They are looking for their $350,000. Ray assumes that Bancroft was bait to set him up.

Ray gets away, and we get a flashback - He had been on a fishing trip in Wyoming with his old doctor buddy. They come across Keith and Bond in a crashed car and help them out. It turns out they are bank robbers, and they shoot Doc and Ray, and take off with the loot. Except 1) Ray isn’t dead and 2) they took the doctor’s bag instead of the loot. When they come back, Ray runs into the snowy landscape with the money. The problem is, when he finally gets away, he’s so cold and exhausted, he never noticed that he had put the bag down, and doesn’t know where it is.

All along, Ray has been followed by the workman-like insurance investigator James Gregory, who could take him in at any time, but he doesn’t really believe he’s a bad guy. Also, he wants to get the money back.

There are a few things in the movie that don’t really pay off - the meet cute at the start, for instance. What was that about Bancroft’s wallet? That sparring/flirting thing kind of went out the window. But a lot does pay off, like the Wyoming and LA locations.

In conclusion, maybe not Tourneur’s best, but more than good enough.