Eyes in the Night

Eyes in the Night
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Fred Zinnemann
Screenplay by	Guy Trosper Howard Emmett Rogers
Based on	The Odor of Violets 1941 novel by Baynard Kendrick
Produced by	Jack Chertok
Starring	Edward Arnold Ann Harding Donna Reed
Cinematography	Charles Lawton Jr. Robert H. Planck
Edited by	Ralph E. Winters
Music by	Lennie Hayton Daniele Amfitheatrof
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	October 16, 1942 (1942-10-16)
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$433,000
Box office	$978,000

L-R: Reginald Denny, Donna Reed, Edward Arnold, and Ann Harding

Eyes in the Night is a 1942 American crime mystery starring Edward Arnold, Ann Harding and Donna Reed. Directed by Fred Zinnemann, it is based on Baynard Kendrick's 1941 novel The Odor of Violets.

The film was followed by the sequel (also starring Arnold) The Hidden Eye.

Plot

New York private detective Duncan "Mac" MacLain is blind but has keenly developed all other senses. Skilled in self-defense, he pursues his work with the help of his faithful guide dog Friday and assistant Marty.

Retired actress Norma Lawry, an old friend, comes seeking advice. Her headstrong 17-year-old step-daughter Barbara, herself a promising actress, is enamored with her leading man, the much older Lothario Paul Gerente. Paul, who once had been Norma's lover, has convinced Barbara that Norma actually wants him for herself and only has married her father Stephen for his money. At Mac's urging, Norma tries to reason with Paul, but he insists that he loves Barbara and laughs her off. Barbara is equally disdainful of Norma, and to spite her calls Paul in front of her to set up a tryst with him that night at his apartment.

Norma's husband Stephen is a scientist leaving on a trip to test a secret invention he has been developing for the U.S. WW II war effort. Worried about Barbara, she uses a pretext not to accompany him. When Barbara gets to Paul’s apartment she finds him dead and Norma there, and concludes that Norma has killed him; Norma insists she'd found him that way. Barbara threatens to call the police unless she leaves Stephen.

Fearing that a scandal will hurt Stephen's efforts, Norma agrees to Barbara’s blackmail. Norma then turns to Mac, who goes to Paul's apartment with Friday and Marty, only to find the body and the rug under it missing. A man arrives to replace the rug, and Mac overhears him call to Norma's number saying it's "Gabriel" and asking for "Vera." Mac accidentally gives himself away, but with Friday's help overpowers the thug, who refuses to talk. Mac has Marty hide him to keep him under wraps.

Norma is out when Mac arrives at her house pretending to be her curmudgeonly "Uncle Mac" who has come for a visit. His blindness lulls any suspicions Hansen the butler - second in command of a German espionage ring seeking to get Steven’s secret plans - might have about him. Hansen had Gabriel kill Paul, whose affection for Barbara was beginning to limit his effectiveness.

When Gabriel fails to return home, his wife Vera, the Lawrys' maid, becomes hysterical with worry. Mac secretly asks her to meet him in the greenhouse. She is observed by the others, however, and is killed by Hansen before she can reach the detective.

Norma returns home, which interrupts the ring’s effort to break into Stephen's safe. Shortly thereafter, Barbara returns from an "emergency rehearsal" called to get her out of the house by her director, Cheli Scott, the spies' ringleader. She inveigled an invitation to spend the night at the Lawry home, and immediately suspects Mac is not what he seems.

The spies cut the house's telephone wires, and Cheli has Mac placed under guard. Using his blindness as a distraction, he overpowers his guard and sends Friday to fetch Marty.

Stephen arrives home and Cheli threatens to have Norma’s face disfigured if he does not surrender the final step to his invention. Barbara finally realizes Norma had not killed Paul, and how much her father cares for his wife. Mac tries to stall for time, but is locked in the cellar. When Hansen is sent to kill him, Mac knocks out the light there to gain an advantage in the total darkness, then overpowers him.

Marty and Friday return with the police. After the ring is captured, Stephen and Norma are off to Washington, D.C.. Barbara, however, remains cheerfully behind to paint the town with her new "Uncle Mac."

Cast

• Edward Arnold as Duncan "Mac" MacLain
• Ann Harding as Norma Lawry
• Donna Reed as Barbara Lawry
• Stephen McNally as Gabriel Hoffman (as Horace McNally)
• Katherine Emery as Cheli Scott
• Allen Jenkins as Marty
• Stanley Ridges as Hansen, Lawry's butler
• Reginald Denny as Stephen Lawry
• John Emery as Paul Gerente
• Rosemary DeCamp as Vera Hoffman, Lawry's maid
• Barry Nelson as Busch
• Reginald Sheffield as Victor
• Steven Geray as Anderson
• Mantan Moreland as Alistair, Duncan's butler

Reception

According to MGM records, the film earned $513,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $465,000 in other markets, making the studio a profit of $230,000.

External links

• Eyes in the Night at IMDb
• Eyes in the Night at AllMovie
• Eyes in the Night at the TCM Movie Database
• Eyes in the Night at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Eyes in the Night is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive