''The Night Digger'' is a 1971 British
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
based on the novel ''Nest in a Fallen Tree'' by
Joy Cowley
Cassia Joy Cowley (; born 7 August 1936) is a New Zealand author best known for her children's fiction, including the popular series of books Mrs. Wishy-Washy.
Cowley started out writing novels for adults, and her first book, ''Nest in a Fal ...
about two women who are visited by a suspicious handy man. It was adapted by
Roald Dahl and starred his then wife
Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal, January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two ...
. ''The Night Digger'' was the American title; it was originally released in the United Kingdom as ''The Road Builder''.
Plot
Maura Prince (Patricia Neal) works part-time as a speech therapist and the rest of her time taking care of her blind, invalid mother, Edith (Pamela Brown). Billy Jarvis (Nicholas Clay) arrives, claiming he was sent there by a neighbor's nephew. He ingratiates himself with Edith, who puts him in Maura's bedroom and claims he must be a long-lost relative. Despite Maura's worries, Billy turns out to be a good worker.
While attending church with Edith, Billy notices pretty, young nursery school teacher Mary Wingate (Diana Patrick). That night, while having psychotic flashbacks of young girls tormenting him for impotency, Billy goes to her home and murders her, then buries her body at a construction site. She is the seventh victim he's killed. A nurse (Brigit Forsyth) visits Edith, and warns that Edith's heart is very bad. Having more psychotic visions, Billy follows the nurse home and murders her as well.
Edith calls out for Billy. When he doesn't answer, she tries to climb the stairs to his room and has a heart attack. Maura rushes her to the hospital. When Maura returns from the hospital, she almost catches Billy coming home from the murder. To placate her, Billy lies, claiming his mother died in a fire. He weeps, claiming he often doesn't know what he is doing, and begs Maura to never betray him.
The next day, Maura visits Edith at the hospital. Edith demands that Maura throw Billy out, but Maura breaks with Edith instead.
Maura takes all her savings, buys a new wardrobe, and returns home to tell Billy that she loves him. The two run off to Scotland, where Maura purchases a farm. After some months, Billy meets a young woman who is looking for her dog. Hours later, Billy returns to the farm, psychotic. Maura realizes he has killed again. Realizing he's broken Maura's heart, Billy drives off a cliff on his motorcycle, committing suicide.
Cast
*
Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal, January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two ...
as Maura Prince
*
Pamela Brown as Mrs. Edith Prince
*
Nicholas Clay
Nicholas Anthony Phillip Clay (18 September 1946 – 25 May 2000) was an English actor.
Early life
Clay was born in Streatham, London on 18 September 1946, the son of a professional soldier in the British Army's Royal Engineers. The famil ...
as Billy Jarvis
*
Jean Anderson
Jean Anderson (12 December 1907 – 1 April 2001) was an English actress best remembered for her television roles as hard-faced matriarch Mary Hammond in the BBC drama '' The Brothers'' (1972–1976) and as rebellious aristocrat Lady Jocelyn " ...
as Mrs. Millicent McMurtrey
*
Graham Crowden
Clement Graham Crowden (30 November 1922 – 19 October 2010) was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his many appearances in television comedy dramas and films, often playing eccentric "offbeat" scientist, teacher and doctor characters.
Ea ...
as Mr. Bolton
*
Yootha Joyce
Yootha Joyce Needham (20 August 1927 – 24 August 1980), known as Yootha Joyce, was an English actress best known for playing Mildred Roper opposite Brian Murphy in the sitcom ''Man About the House'' (1973–1976) and its spin-off ''George and ...
as Mrs. Palafox
*
Peter Sallis
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
as Reverend Rupert Palafox
*
Brigit Forsyth as District Nurse
*
Sebastian Breaks as Dr. Ronnie Robinson
*
Christopher Reynalds as Young Billy
*
Sibylla Kay as Whore
Critical reception
In a contemporary review, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote "It begs for empathy for its tortured principals, but despite the clearly dedicated contributions of Patricia Neal, Roald Dahl, her scenarist-husband; Pamela Brown and a young newcomer, Nicholas Clay, the strain on credibility is a good deal more notable than the impact on the emotions"; while more recently, a reviewer for ''
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
History
Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
'' wrote "''The Night Digger'' doesn't carry much of a reputation, but I found it highly unusual, and more than satisfying". ''
Cinema Retro
''Cinema Retro'' is an English magazine devoted to "celebrating films of the 1960s & 1970s". Founded in 2005 by Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worrall, it is subtitled "the Essential Guide to Cult and Classic Movies". The 64-page full-colour magazine is p ...
'' called it "an underrated gem"; and the ''
Radio Times'' concluded "director Alastair Reid's neo-Grand Guignol chamber piece exudes a peculiar fascination".
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Night Digger
1971 films
British thriller films
Films based on New Zealand novels
Films with screenplays by Roald Dahl
Films scored by Bernard Herrmann
Films directed by Alastair Reid
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
1970s thriller films
Films set in country houses
Films set in London
1970s English-language films
1970s British films