Brando plays it straight for a change
“The Night of the Following Day” involves kidnapping plans gone awry, unexpected twists, relationships among the kidnappers, and betrayal. The film has a surrealistic quality that sets it apart from typical crime thrillers and features one of Marlon Brando’s more subdued screen performances.<br /><br />When a teenaged heiress (Pamela Franklin) gets off a plane in Paris, she’s shown to a limousine chauffeured by Bud (Brando) and driven to a remote country beach house, where a band of kidnappers hold her hostage as they await her wealthy father’s payment of ransom. Bud’s collaborators are Leer (Richard Boone), Vi (Rita Moreno), and Wally (Jess Hahn). The kidnapping was engineered by petty criminal Wally and his junkie sister Vi, a stewardess on the same flight as the kidnapping victim. Bud is Wally’s  longtime pal and Vi is Bud’s lover. Wally has hired Leer (Richard Boone) to make sure their plans go off smoothly, not knowing he is a sadistic psychopath.<br /><br />A local gendarme (Gerard Buhr) sets the kidnappers on edge with innocent questions and inopportune appearances that threaten to reveal the crime in progress. The cop introduces tension into the proceedings as he makes the kidnappers get increasingly fearful of being found out. Suspense builds toward a climactic scene in which the girl’s father, ransom money in hand, follows their detailed instructions about delivering the money and getting his daughter back.<br /><br />Internal conflict derives largely from Leer’s sadistic treatment of the girl. After initially sitting down with her and quietly explaining that she won’t be harmed if she follows instructions, Leer shows his true colors as a loose cannon whose pathological impulses may undermine and shatter the plan.<br />In addition, halfway through the film Bud makes clear he wants out of the plan, but loyalty to his old friend Wally keeps him reluctantly in the gang.<br /><br />Brando, 43 at the time, wears a blonde wig, was down to 165 pounds and looks great. He even wears a black T-shirt at one point, an item he vowed never to wear again on film after being so closely identified with it in “A Streetcar Named Desire.” He plays the chauffeur straight, with no annoying tics, distracting mannerisms, odd line readings, dramatic pauses, or quirky use of props.<br /><br />Moreno’s Vi is a crucial member of the gang. The role is a good one for the actress, who made only three movies since her Academy Award-winning performance in “West Side Story.”<br /><br />Boone, best known for the TV show “Have Gun Will Travel,” has a showcase role as Leer. Seen first as an organized, reassuring voice of authority but later revealed to be an Achilles heel who enjoys inflicting pain, he is a frightening presence, mostly because he is unpredictable.<br /><br />As the film progresses, it seems Wally has been included because of his relationship with Bud. First Bud, then Leer, appear to be the mastermind. Only later does it become clear that the kidnapping is Wally’s plan. His role is the least showy, so his eventual revelation was probably meant to be a surprise. During most of the film, Wally’s part in the kidnapping is lumbering, not-too-bright muscle.<br /><br />Pamela Franklin (“The Innocents,” “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”) has little to do other than look scared, scream a bit, and make foiled attempts to escape. Her character exists to give the criminals a rich girl to hold for ransom. Aside from Leer’s brutal treatment of her, she has little direct interaction with the kidnappers  and is absent for a good part of the film’s second half.<br /><br />Director Hubert Cornfield tells the early part of the film largely in visuals. From the airport abduction to the arrival of the girl and her kidnappers at the French beach house, only a jazz score highlighted by solo flute is heard, adding a weird sense of foreboding. The overcast sky, grey endless ocean, and deserted sandy beach convey the isolated location. Though Cornfield does shift locations for visual variety, much of the action takes place in the beach house and in a cafe during the film’s climax. He maintains viewer interest throughout, partly out of concern for the girl, partly to see how the kidnapping plot will end. Watching the scheme deteriorate is critical to the movie’s intrigue.<br /><br />Bonus materials on the R-rated Blu-ray release include two audio commentaries, “Trailers From Hell” with Joe Dante, and several theatrical trailers.<br /><br />“The Night of the Following Day” carefully traces the kidnapping plot and deals with the interactions among the kidnappers but spends little time in characterization. The film doesn’t provide backstories for the characters and the credits don’t list the characters by name, though they refer to each other by name in the film. Brando is always interesting to watch, though it’s curious that he decided to make a crime thriller. His star power enhances the film’s appeal. The windswept beach is an excellent location, evoking loneliness and desolation. The movie blends deja vu, predestination and dream-like perceptions into the plot, though perhaps a bit too subtly.
The movie title "The Night of the Following Day [Blu-ray]," available on Movies & TV, has received an average rating of 4.4 from 122 reviewers. 
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 {"Genre": "Mystery & Suspense", "Format": "NTSC, Anamorphic", "Contributor": "Richard Boone, Rita Moreno, Hugues Wanner, Hubert Cornfield, G\u00e9rard Buhr, Pamela Franklin, Jess Hahn, Jacques Marin, Al Lettieri, Marlon BrandoRichard Boone, Rita Moreno, Hugues Wanner, Hubert Cornfield, G\u00e9rard Buhr, Pamela Franklin, Jess Hahn, Jacques Marin, Al Lettieri, Marlon Brando  See more", "Language": "English", "Runtime": "1 hour and 33 minutes", "MPAA rating": "R (Restricted)", "Package Dimensions": "6.73 x 5.31 x 0.47 inches; 2.08 Ounces", "Director": "Hubert Cornfield", "Media Format": "NTSC, Anamorphic", "Run time": "1 hour and 33 minutes", "Release date": "May 25, 2021", "Actors": "Marlon Brando, Richard Boone, Rita Moreno, Pamela Franklin, Jess Hahn", "Studio": "Kl Studio Classics", "Country of Origin": "USA", "Number of discs": "1"}

Here is a brief synopsis of the title : The Higher the Stakes, the Higher the Terror! Screen greats Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront) and Richard Boone (The War Lord) star in this taut psychological thriller that examines the darkest impulses of the human psyche. A gang of four professional criminals brazenly kidnaps a wealthy teenage girl (Pamela Franklin, The Innocents) from an airport in Paris in a meticulous plan to extort money from the girl’s father. Holding her prisoner in an isolated beach house, the gang’s scheme runs perfectly until their personal demons surface and lead to a series of betrayals that culminate in a furious and explosive climax. The film that Time called “a keenly conducted seminar in the poetics of psychological terror” is a must-see for Brando fans. Co-written, produced and directed by Hubert Cornfield (Pressure Point) and co-starring Rita Moreno (West Side Story), Jess Hahn (Bad Man’s River) and Al Lettieri (Mr. Majestyk)..