Night Moves (1975)

Director:

Arthur Penn

Writer:

Alan Sharp (writer)

Release Date:

12 September 1975 (Finland)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

What private eye Harry Moseby doesn't know about the girl he's looking for... just might get him killed.

Plot:

Former footballer and present private detective Harry Moseby gets hired on to what seems a standard missing person case...

Plot Keywords:

Runaway | Private Detective | Murder | Actress | Missing Person

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Gene Hackman	...	Harry Moseby
Jennifer Warren	...	Paula
Susan Clark	...	Ellen Moseby
Edward Binns	...	Joey Ziegler
Harris Yulin	...	Marty Heller
Kenneth Mars	...	Nick
Janet Ward	...	Arlene Iverson
James Woods	...	Quentin
Melanie Griffith	...	Delly Grastner
Anthony Costello	...	Marv Ellman
John Crawford	...	Tom Iverson
Ben Archibek	...	Charles
Dennis Dugan	...	Boy
C.J. Hincks	...	Girl
Max Gail	...	Stud (as Maxwell Gail Jr.)

Also Known As:

The Dark Tower (USA) (working title)
Die heiße Spur (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
A döntés éjszakája (Hungary) [hu]
Bersaglio di notte (Italy) [it]
Dödligt utspel (Sweden) [sv]
Epta ainigmata gia ton detective Harrry (Greece) [el]
La fugue (France) [fr]
La noche se mueve (Spain) [es]
Natten skjuler alle spor (Norway) [no]
Skakmat (Denmark) [da]
Um Lance no Escuro (Portugal) [pt]
W mroku nocy (Poland) [pl]
Yön siirrot (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Australia:PG (TV rating) | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Sanibel Island, Florida, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Paula (Jennifer Warren) tells Harry (Gene Hackman) that the first boy who touched her breasts was named Billy Dannreuther, which is the name of Humphrey Bogart's character in Beat the Devil (1953).

Quotes:

Harry Moseby: Listen Delly, I know it doesn't make much sense when you're sixteen. Don't worry. When you get to be forty, it isn't any better.

Movie Connections:

References The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Hackman's greatest role

This is the perfect role for Hackman as the aging sports star unable to find his role in life once the playing days are over. He is the accidental jock, too sensitive to play the stereotype and so finding no sense of belonging. He has become a detective but he is a bumbling amateur compared to a Philip Marlowe type. He is shy and hestitant and is frequently made to feel discomfort by the seedy, untrustworthy people he comes into contact with. He has none of Marlowe's self assurance. It begs the question why has he become a detective? Maybe it is partly due to his abandonment by his father who years later Hackman tracks down only to fail in confronting him. He is condemned to search for people to whom he is of no importance.

This idea of the lonely seeker is Hackman's own turf. His affable charm conveys a sense of a lifetime's wrongheaded idealism. In the wrong job, deluding himself, looking for a way out. Eventually, he is able to see clearly and see how his drifting has allowed the people around him to manipulate him in their games. Unlike many of this film's peers such as 'Chinatown', 'Taxi Driver', 'The Long Goodbye', we are not left to be slightly repulsed by the lead actor's ways. Hackman plays the everyman character as an affable, amateur sleuth whose hestitancy and chronic lack of commitment give him a fallibility more recognizable to an audience.