***SPOILERS**** Eddie Robinson, or Edward G. as he's known to his friends, as psychic John Triton has had these strange visions since back in 1928 that had turned his life upside down. The visions reveal the future to Triton in the most upsetting and frightening ways. Quitting his act as psychic "Triton the Magnificent" when he realized that he in fact did have psychic powers Triton has been living in the wilderness away from civilization in the slum drastic of Los Angeles for some time. That until he ran into both Jean Courtland and her pop Whitney, Gail Russell & Jerome Cowam, at a local L.A fund raising dinner and all of a sudden all these strange and terrifying visions started to come back to him. This lead to Jean attempting to kill herself by jumping in from of a speeding locomotive which her fiancée Elliott Carson, John Lund, saved her from doing.We soon learn that all of Triton's troubles started when he was working on stage as a psychic with both Jean's parents Whitney & Jenny, Virginia Bruce, Courtland some 20 years ago. It was then that Triton suddenly developed these psychic powers in seeing the future that completely freaked him out. Now seeing what's in store for Jean he's doing his best to prevent that from happening. The story is a long one but it's all about Whitney's involvement in the oil business. Having made millions over the years he now wants to cash in his chips, or oil interests, but there's someone behind the scenes that's trying to prevent him from doing it. Going so far in fixing his plane to make sure that Whitney end up crashing in it on his coast to coast flight from NY to LA. And it's Triton who foresaw that and couldn't prevent it from happening. Now the very same person is trying to murder Whitney's daughter Jean to keep her from inheriting her father's millions so that he, by both father and daughter dead, can get his hands on it!****SPOILERS*** No matter how accurate Triton's predictions are the police lead by Let. Shawn, William Demarest, feel that he's a phony and in fact is the one trying to murder Jean to get his hands on her father's money. This goes on throughout the entire movie until his predictions about her and who's behind her father's murder comes true with devastating accuracy! And it also ends up killing Triton in the process. A fact that Triton knew all along but kept from the police as well as himself ! In one of his most unusual roles Edward G. Robinson gives a realistic performance as psychic John Triton that knocks everyones socks off. He's so convincing as a man who can see the future that even his biggest detractors soon realize that there's something to his strange predictions even when there's no logic to them. Like at the very end the one about Jean's impending death, in being killed by an escaped lion, that's so on target that even the not so convinced Let. Shawn, who thought the guy was full of it, had to grudgingly admit that he's the real deal.

Triton (Edward G Robinson) has the gift of 2nd sight. He withdraws from life as his ability to foresee the future can be disturbing, especially when he sees people die. This happens on a few occasions but when he meets with his ex-partner's daughter Jean (Gail Russell), we have a countdown to her imminent death before the week is over. The place she will die is "under the stars".This film has a good story and a good cast. Elliott (John Lund) is pretty annoying as a doubter but by the end of the film he has changed his tune. The film starts well with a suicide attempt and we are then taken back in time through flashback sequences to understand the characters before returning to the present as we wait for the death of Jean. There are some omens we are told to look out for - a trampled flower, a gust of wind, a broken vase, lion's feet, some spoken words - and sure enough, they all come true until we arrive at the moment of death - 11pm.William Demarest has some funny lines as "Lt Shawn", the policeman in charge of stopping the tragedy from happening and the story is cleverly tied up. I wasn't too convinced by Gail Russell's ability to negotiate business deals - she seems far too fragile a character to be involved in the hard-edged corporate world. But so what. It's a good film.

According to "The Films of Edward G. Robinson", this entry in the 2008 Film Noir Series at the Egyptian on April 18, was pretty much dismissed by critics and the star itself. After all, this came right after his masterful performance in John Huston's "Key Largo", for which he teamed up with Humphrey Bogart for the last time. This film barely shows up in Gail Russell's bio, who's probably best known as John Wayne's co-star in "Angel and the Badman", the first time he utters "pilgrim", as that was what she played. However, "Night" did generally get a positive response with modern audiences. Director John Farrow, father of Mia, provided a good atmosphere and generally kept the narrative at the good pace. It begins with John Lund, the third name above the title, saving Russell from suicide. From there, they meet Robinson at a restaurant and who has already ordered exactly what they want. Then, he tells in flashback that he actually knew her parents quite well. As played by Virginia Bruce and Jerome Cowan, hey manage his clairvoyant act in which he actually gets glimpses of the future. In fact, he actually quits when an unfortunate event happens that I won't give away. Where he retires to is of special notice to old time Angeleno fans. He's seen going to his Bunker Hill residence from taking Angel's Flight. It is from there he brings the audience back to the present. Of special interest among the cast is William Demarest, who appeared in just about every Preston Sturges comedy during this time period. Playing straight, he's nevertheless is quite comical as the dumb police detective. The ending is actually quite well written. It has an intriguing twist and some of the best prose Robinson's voice was ever given to speak. A great film noir.

A jewel in the rough. A small little movie with a great Edward G. Robinson. The loneliness of Triton is played with a big intensity by him. Story, actors and shooting of the film is both, film noir and drama of loneliness and being lost, quite as it is Woolrich's credo in a lot of his novels and screen adaptations. This is one of its best. Eight points.