Night Watch

Kaftans at the ready: Elizabeth Taylor ventures into Grand Guignol territory in this London-set chiller about an unstable woman who may have witnessed a murder.

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  • Director

    Brian G. Hutton

  • With

    Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Billie Whitelaw, Robert Lang, Tony Britton, Bill Dean

  • UK 1973. 99min

  • 35mm

  • Certificate

    18

After the sell-out screening of Ash Wednesday at the 2023 festival, we’re back with another lost star-vehicle from Taylor’s most underappreciated era – the 1970s. Reuniting with Zee and Co director Hutton, and BUtterfield 8 co-star Harvey, Taylor throws herself with gusto into the role of a woman recovering from a nervous breakdown who insists she’s glimpsed a murder in the abandoned house opposite her home. This adaptation of a 1972 play by Lucille Fletcher came courtesy of Brut Productions, a short-lived filmmaking offshoot of Fabergé cosmetics. Boasting a sumptuous array of Valentino kaftans, a cracking supporting turn from Whitelaw and gaslighting-a-go-go, it’s a lot of fun and a must-see for ‘late Liz’ fans. Some very minor magenta fading aside, the BFI National Archive’s Eastmancolor print is in fantastic condition.

Simon McCallum