Night Must Fall by Emlyn Williams

Night Must Fall Reviews

• 
  Petra X

  This is absolutely destined for a high-camp made-for-tv Ealing movie. It's like being with slightly mad people. You can almost relate to them, but not quite and are perpetually surprised at what they do and what they believe which just leaves you incredulous.
  
  Every office has one, every school classroom has one, and this book has the Queen of them all.
  
  If you read the blurb, you get the idea, but the blurb goes too far, it spoils it (so I'm using my librarian privileges to take out the spoiler). Let's just say
  
  Mrs. Bramson, a fussy hypochondriac widow pays her niece Olivia to be her companion in a household consisting of a cook and a maid. The maid falls preggers and Mrs. B is determined the Dad should make an honest woman of her. But the boyfriend is not all he seems, or maybe he's a lot more. And none of it good. Murder, mayhem and a dark and lonely forest setting...
  
  Anymore would spoil this very fun play, the sort if you read it, you are going to have to read bits out loud to whoever is with you.
  
  Should be better known.
  
  Read Dec. 2013
• 
  Cathi

  I love reading plays, and this was one that my husband and I read together recently. It was a delight! Set in 1930s England, it's a murder mystery with a great cast of characters, both likable and not-so-likable. There's plenty of wit, charm, quirky humor, and intrigue, and it was easy to imagine this being performed on stage. I look forward to reading my next British suspense play soon!
• 
  Martin Denton

  A difficult, mean-tempered old hypochondriac, Mrs. Bramson is perpetually annoyed with her sharp-tongued housekeeper Mrs. Terrence and her smart but diffident niece-companion Olivia; and she is especially annoyed with her foolish serving maid Dora, who has not only broken several pieces of the china, but also revealed herself to be in an embarrassing and troublesome condition of pregnancy. Mrs. Bramson demands to meet the young man responsible, a local drifter named Dan. Her intent is to shame him into meeting his obligations, but when Dan appears, her agenda changes rapidly. Before the end of scene one, she has been won over entirely by this young man, the only person in the world, it seems, able to understand her sad and intolerable circumstances. By the time the next scene begins, she has hired Dan and he has moved in easily, to the consternation of Olivia, as her faithful retainer and surrogate son.
  
  Of course, you don't need a degree in dramatic literature to figure out that Dan is a murderer; a psychotic, in fact, as well as a pathological liar, with neither conscience nor scruples. It won't surprise you either that Olivia is the only one who suspects him; everyone else in Mrs. Bramson's household is entirely won over by the engaging young man. Even the Scotland Yard detective who pops up ominously from time to time fails to arrest Dan, despite his having made some clearly incriminating statements.
  
  Night Must Fall is a thriller of the classic model, and it's climactic final scenes--with Mrs. Bramson finding herself helpless and alone and realizing far too late that Dan's solicitousness has masked murderous intentions--are true to form.
• 
  Carolyn Page

  Two stars ONLY because I thought "hmm, I'll be this is like a Hitchcock movie where he sets up the guy to make you think he's a murderer and he's really not!" Well, he really was. No redeeming characteristics. The only character I truly, 100% liked and admired was the Cook. A lot of fuss over nothing.
• 
  Susan

  A passable play forthwith. ”Night Must Fall” was first presented in London by J. P. Mitchelhill at the Duchess Theatre on May 31, 1935, with the following cast: The Lord Chief Justice: ERIC STANLEY; Mrs. Bramson: MAY WHITTY; Olivia Grayne: ANGELA BADDELEY; Hubert Laurie: BASIL RADFORD; Nurse Libby: DOROTHY LANGLEY; et al. The play was produced by MILES MALLESON. Overall, this is a fairly good play.
• 
  Mary

  Tries to be a cut above the usual murder mystery, adding a level of psychology. Rather an odd one.
• 
  Shabbeer Hassan

  A dull and disappointing tale! You would guess the culprit probably when the character is introduced and this ain't Columbo.
  
  My Rating - 1/5
• 
  Classic reverie

  I had heard Emlyn Williams' "Night Must Fall" several times on different old time radio shows and included two links below to listen, if I remember where else I will post. When I saw the play available from Kindle, I wanted to read and compare. The radio version stays fairly close, but of course more information is given with the play, but the second link is 30 minutes longer and almost complete. The introduction mentions that Emlyn Williams being an actor, wrote this so he could play a villain like Dan. In the beginning of the play, a Court of Criminal Appeal, looks into a double murder with irrefutable evidence that a young man with his charm brings melodrama to the court room, but the appeal is denied. This was not in either of the radio versions, after finishing the play and wondering why this is the first scene and not the last, it seems Williams wanted to give a view for what is to come.
  
  Play in short- Olivia and others take care of insufferable Mrs. Bramson who is impossible to please, and then a missing woman comes into the picture.
  
  "NIGHT MUST FALL was first presented in London by J. P. Mitchelhill at the Duchess Theatre on May 31st, 1935, with the following cast: The Lord Chief Justice ERIC STANLEY Mrs. Bramson MAY WHITTY Olivia Grayne ANGELA BADDELEY Hubert Laurie BASIL RADFORD Nurse Libby DOROTHY LANGLEY Mrs. Terence KATHLEEN HARRISON Dora Parkoe BETTY JARDINE Inspector Belsize MATTHEW BOULTON Dan EMLYN WILLIAMS The play produced by MILES MALLESON"
  
  Molle Mystery Theater - April 12, 1946
  
  
  https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com...
  
  Best Plays - December 21, 1952
  
  
  https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com...
  
  
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  Olivia and Dan are the main characters because of the playing back in forth of analyzing and trying to understand each other, besides Olivia seems to be excited about Dan being a murder, multiple times she could have told the policeman but opted to save inquiry and her final remark to Dan about his killing her aunt, I will say I told you to do it. She did not even try to really want her aunt. She had turned down safe Hubert Laurie, when he proposed, and I can not see her marrying him. So little is thought of pregnant Dora, who Dan is the father, wonder how that child will turn out. It is funny Mrs. Bramson is 55, and is wanting to be an invalid.
• 
  Brian McCann

  A five scene well-made play from the 30s. Stilted at best.
• 
  Marcella

  A psychological thriller play from the 1930s with a creepy psychopath villain, new at the time.
• 
  Steven

  All rather predictable and dated in the end.
• 
  Lynn

  I was cast in this play (as Olivia Grayne) many years ago, and it still ranks as one of my favorite shows. It's far more successful as a kind of twisted psychological tour de force rather than a murder mystery. While today's readers may find it a bit naïve, predictable, and melodramatic - it was first published in 1935 - fans of old black-and-white movies and film noir will find much to appreciate. There is some good writing here - especially a couple of creepy monologues that I thoroughly enjoyed reciting - and some well-drawn characters.
  
  All in all, a quick, fun read if you like this kind of thing.
• 
  joan

  I played the lead in this piece and while the director insisted it was a drama, we, (the cast) disagreed and considered it a "dramady" because it was rather campy. All in all, a fun read.
• 
  Robert

  Read with Portland Playreaders.
• 
  Sophia Nicolopoulos

  One of my favorite plays. Literally, I read it and I was stunned. Well done, Mr Williams.