The Short Night
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The Short Night was a film planned by Alfred Hitchcock as a follow-up to Family Plot (1976). An espionage picture, the script was based on both a same-titled novel by Ronald Kirkbride, and the case of real-life double agent George Blake.
The script, featured in David Freeman's "The Last Days of Alfred Hitchcock", takes place after the break out of Gavin Brand (the screenplay's version of Blake). Joe Bailey, brother to one of Brand's victims, is called on by the CIA to kill Brand through finding his family. The objective, as put by CIA chief Zelfand, is to "find the wife and kids, find the husband." Bailey reluctantly accepts the assignment to kill Brand and finally tracks down Brand's family to a private island near Savonlinna in Finland, where they are watched over by Hilda and Olga, two Russian minders. Bailey and the wife, Carla, develop a romance as he waits patiently for Brand to show up. After they consumate their love, Brand shows up, and attempts to kill both Bailey and Carla, leading to her becoming trapped in a gas-styled sauna. Bailey rescues Carla and, with the help of a Finnish police officer, they try to stop Brand making it to Russia with his kidnapped children.
Hitchcock considered both Walter Matthau, a onetime guest star on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and French international film star Catherine Deneuve for lead roles. The films was about to be shot Finland. Because of the director's ill health, the film never got beyond early pre-production.
