I watched Still of the Night at a cinema in central London, not too long after its release in 1982. Starring Roy Scheider, then a very big name, and Meryl Streep, who was already establishing a considerable reputation, it was a film in the Hitchcock vein. I recall enjoying it, without being absolutely bowled over by it, and I decided it was worth seeing it again. Would my reaction be very different?
The short answer is no. The film is quite stylishly made, and the quality of the acting is a real strength. The plotting? Not so much, although it's not bad. There are lots of hat-tips to the Master of Suspense, but the script, co-written by director Robert Benton and David Newman, does lack the energy of the best Hitchcock films. One bonus feature is the music, written by John Kander, whom I associate with musicals such as Cabaret.
There's a good opening scene, in which a wannabe car thief opens a car door - only for the body of a man to fall out. He's been stabbed to death. The deceased turns out to be George Bynum (Josef Sommer), a womaniser who was a senior employee at a famous auction house and a patient of psychiatrist Sam Rice (Scheider).
The police (Joe Grifasi is good as the cop in charge of the murder investigation) visit Rice, who is less than helpful, citing patient confidentiality even though his patient is dead. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn of Bynum's affair with a junior colleague, Brooke Reynolds (Streep), and soon Rice gets to meet Brooke. It's fun to see Streep playing an icy Hitchcock blonde; needless to say, she does it well.
I didn't really warm to Scheider's character, though this is largely because the script doesn't characterise him very strongly, and I felt this was a drawback. But it's a very watchable film. Not in the same league as Body Heat (which I'd watched a year or so before), but competent entertainment. And perhaps because of the homage elements, it certainly hasn't aged as badly as some other movies made around the same time.
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