''The Short Night'' was a film planned by British director

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

. The project was originally announced in the late 1960s at the time of ''

Topaz Topaz is a silicate mineral made of aluminium, aluminum and fluorine with the chemical formula aluminium, Alsilicon, Sioxygen, O(fluorine, F, hydroxide, OH). It is used as a gemstone in jewelry and other adornments. Common topaz in its natural ...

'' and Hitchcock scouted locations in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. A romantic suspense thriller with espionage elements, the script was based on both a same-titled novel by Ronald Kirkbride, and the non-fiction book documenting the case of real-life double agent

George Blake George Blake ( Behar; 11 November 1922 – 26 December 2020) was a Espionage, spy with Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and worked as a double agent for the Soviet Union. He became a communist and decided to work for the Minist ...

titled ''The Springing of George Blake'' by Sean Bourke, the motion picture rights to both of which Hitchcock acquired.

Plot

Gavin Brand, a double agent, has escaped from London's Wormwood Scrubs Prison. An American named Joe Bailey, brother to one of Brand's victims, is called on by the CIA to kill Brand through finding his family. The objective, as put by CIA chief Zelfand, is to "find the wife and kids, find the husband." Bailey reluctantly accepts the assignment to kill Brand and finally tracks down Brand's family to a private island near

Savonlinna Savonlinna (, , ; ) is a town in Finland, located in the eastern interior of the country. It lies in the Finnish Lakeland, the South Savo region. The population of Savonlinna is approximately , while the Savonlinna sub-region, sub-region has a pop ...

, where they are watched over by Hilda and Olga, two Soviet minders. Bailey and Brand's wife, Carla, develop a romance as he waits patiently for Brand to show up. After they consummate their love, Brand arrives and attempts to kill both Bailey and Carla, leading to her becoming trapped in a gas-styled sauna. Bailey rescues Carla and, with the help of a Finnish police officer, they try to stop Brand making it to the Finnish-Soviet border on a train with his kidnapped children.

Production

Hitchcock commissioned screenplays by James Costigan and frequent collaborator

Ernest Lehman Ernest Paul Lehman (December 8, 1915 – July 2, 2005) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He was nominated six times for Academy Awards for his screenplays during his career, but did not win. At the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001 ...

, both of whom wrote several drafts. The script draft by David Freeman, reproduced in Freeman's book ''The Last Days of Alfred Hitchcock'', takes place after the prison break out of Gavin Brand (the screenplay's version of Blake). Hitchcock, comparing his intentions for the project to '' Notorious'', considered

Walter Matthau Walter John Matthau ( Matthow; ; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, known for his "hangdog face" and for playing world-weary characters. He starred in 10 films alongside his real-life friend Jack Lemmon, including '' The Od ...

, a onetime guest star on ''

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...

'', for the role of Brand. He also reportedly offered the same role to

Ed Lauter Edward Matthew Lauter Jr. ( ; October 30, 1938 – October 16, 2013) was an American actor and stand-up comedian. He appeared in more than 200 films and TV series episodes in a career that spanned over 40 years. Early life Lauter was born and ...

, who appeared in ''

Family Plot ''Family Plot'' is a 1976 American black comedy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in his final directing role. It was based on Victor Canning's 1972 novel '' The Rainbird Pattern'', which Ernest Lehman adapted for the screen. The f ...

'', as well as

Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

, and

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture, made him a top box office draw for his films of the late ...

. French international film star

Catherine Deneuve Catherine Fabienne Dorléac (born 22 October 1943), known professionally as Catherine Deneuve (, , ), is a French actress. She is considered one of the greatest European actresses on film. In 2020, ''The New York Times'' ranked her as one of th ...

and Norwegian star

Liv Ullmann Liv Johanne Ullmann (born 16 December 1938) is a Norwegian actress and filmmaker. Recognised as one of the greatest European actresses of all time, Ullmann is known as the muse and frequent collaborator of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, whom she date ...

were considered for the leading female role. The movie was to be filmed on location in Finland. Because of the director's ill health,

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

cancelled the project in 1979, and the film never got beyond the early pre-production stage with such Hitchcock associates as

Norman Lloyd Norman Nathan Lloyd (''né'' Perlmutter; November 8, 1914 – May 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, inc ...

Henry Bumstead Lloyd Henry "Bummy" Bumstead (March 17, 1915 – May 24, 2006) was an American cinematic Art director#Film, art director and production designer. In a career that spanned nearly 70 years, Bumstead began as a draftsman in RKO Pictures' art de ...

and Robert F. Boyle actively involved.

References

External links

Hitchcock's Unproduced ProjectsAdditional information on ''The Short Night''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Short Night, The Cancelled films Unproduced screenplays Alfred Hitchcock

Plot

Production

See also

References

External links