Night Moves (35mm)
classified 18part of Out of Their Depth: Corruption, Scandal and Lies in the New Hollywood
Please note: This was screened in July 2024
The search for a missing teenage girl leads to a devastating emotional reckoning in this 1970s film noir starring Gene Hackman.
Hackman gives another defining performance of the period as Harry Moseby, capturing the confusions and complexities now facing this all-American hero. Traditional American values were not only being tested by a corrupt President in the White House but also even culturally – watch out for Harry’s dig at the French New Wave!
A new case searching for the missing teenage daughter (Melanie Griffiths in her debut) of a former movie star leads Moseby from Hollywood to the Florida Keys and an emotional reckoning.
Scripted by Alan Sharp, Night Moves is as elegant plotted and deadly as the chess game Harry keeps pondering where a champion unaccountably didn’t see checkmate coming, and, like Chinatown, has one of the most emotionally devastating endings delivered in a Hollywood film.
With thanks to Warner Bros and Park Circus.