Nunnally Johnson's Night People is a fine little gem of a film. It's a police thriller disguised as a Cold War spy story, told at a good pace. It's fast enough to get through many days of tense activity at the border in Berlin, but slow enough for us to savor the personalities and their interactions. Gregory Peck and Broderick Crawford are great. So is Rita Gam, underused, in a nuanced role that - my speculation - seems to have been a victim of the 1954 censors. The film could have been much more interesting, and an award-winner, if the seedier side and back-story of the relationships among Peck, Gam and Anita Björk had been brought to the screen. As it is, these are only hinted at obliquely, and most of the interesting hints come from Gam, with changes of intonation, sideways glances, sighs, etc. Walter Abel and Buddy Ebsen are great in supporting roles. One disappointment is the unrealistic change of heart from Crawford's character. Björk is a disappointment overall, cruising in one gear almost the entire film. But then, she's carrying a lot of baggage, and risk.
Review of Night People
