The Night My Number Came Up

source: The Night My Number Came Up

Trailer—The Night My Number Came Up

The Night My Number Came Up

I saw the movie for the first time only two days ago (12/01/2002) and really liked it. For a black & white movie, it had a good story line, suspense and a good selection of characters. It was typically British as in The Dam Busters and Reach For The Sky, bt then again, somethings the British do better than America. Its a movie I could watch again. It also shows a young Denholm Elliott, still highly recognizable as the same person who starred in the Indiana Jones Movies. Very enjoyable and highly recommended.

Why on earth is this not available on DVD? A Brilliant film that fully deserves a DVD release. One wonders if any trails or out takes survive too? Redgrave is - as always - excellent and the supporting cast are superb. An intriguing story - that has already been described by other reviewers, so I won't repeat that. It used to play regularly on UK TV but has now disappeared. Does anyone know who now owns it? Could they be persuaded to re-master it and release it on DVD? Being directed by BBC TV film critic Barry Norman's dad should give it a little extra interest for the market.

The Night My Number Came Up has quite an engaging tale, with the right sprinkle of humour. Each character's amused by the notion, but is then affected at some point. The dialogue's good, but there needed to be more of it, since there's nothing physically happening other than the plane flying. Denholm Elliott the standout, his character finds it all incredibly amusing, but gets serious when Mary starts mentioning it to the pilot.

All the reviewers recognise this as great story telling with lots of snippets all over the place to add interest: the framing of the story between Michael Hordern's first arrival at air traffic control, and his chilling final remarks to the controller; Denholm Elliott's background as the Battle of Britain ace who cracked, Alexander Knox's unpleasant internment in Hong Kong during the war, the jokes about officers and civilians between the squaddies, Alfie Bass and Bill Kerr (Hancock's famous sidekick). But a practical reason to keep coming back to this film is the early shot of making the approach to Kai Tak (once the world's greatest real-life white knuckle ride) in the days before the surrounding hills were covered with high rise apartments which you looked up to as you banked to starboard on finals.

I originally saw this great film not long after it was released in 1955. I remember sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the climax to come and make the prophecy come true. When the climax came I remember heaving a huge sigh of relief, so great was the tension created by the cast and directors. This is the type of film that 'sneaks up on you' because it was not released here as the main attraction (In the days when a black and white film was shown first and I thought it was far better than the film I had gone to see. I have seen it only once since then and it captured my attention just as much then. I wish a film company or TV channel would release it. I would dearly like to obtain a video copy of it as this seems to be the only way I'll ever get to see it again. Ron Sawers.

This is a film which will stay with you for a long time. Its title sets the tone for what follows : a flight which, as it continues, looks more and more to be one that will end in disaster and thus, apparently, mean that a man's dream regarding it will come frighteningly true. The increasing sense of foreboding is alleviated at one time or another by a development that appears to be at odds with the dream, that is, until something else transpires which then sees the exact circumstances of the dream restored. It is a film which, not unnaturally, gives rise to tension-laden conversations about whether there is such a thing as fate, but that is not the main impact of this film, which is that one's attention is riveted from the opening scene to the final shocking end. until

The seediness of the post-war colonial Far East and that rather morbid fascination with death and fate that pervades the consciousness of people who have been through a world-shattering conflict flavours this film. A great script (by RC Sherriff of 'Journeys End' fame) and a great cast - headed by that master of actorly understatement, Micheal Redgrave - slowly build the story, bit by bit. The exotic setting, where strange things could happen. The drab ordinariness of military outposts - which hightens the surreality of the events. A sense of a military and aristocratic world giving way with poor grace to the brash 'modern' future - epitomised by the crass Brummagem scrap dealer (accompanied by his effete elderly public-school personal assistant). The sense of dread is created by the pure spoken word and performance - of a good tale well-told. MR James in the age of Dakotas.