
About the film
- Directed by
- Curtis Harrington
- Released
- July 1, 1961
- US theatrical
- June 6, 1963
- Certification
- NR
- Country
- United States of America
- Starring
- Dennis Hopper, Linda Lawson, Gavin Muir, Luana Anders, Marjorie Eaton
More credits
- Language
- English
- Origin
- US
- Studios
- Phoenix Films, The Filmgroup, American International Pictures
- Written by
- Curtis Harrington
- Produced by
- Jules Schwartz, Aram Katarian
- Cinematography
- Vilis Lapenieks, Floyd Crosby
- Music
- David Raksin, Paul Horn
- Also starring
- Tom Dillon, H.E. West, Marjorie Cameron, Chaino, Kirby Allan
A lonely sailor on shore leave falls for a beautiful young woman who works the pier as a sideshow mermaid. He learns that the men who loved her before him drowned, and that she half-believes she is a Siren, fated to doom everyone who gets close.
NIGHT TIDE (1961) was the first feature by Curtis Harrington, an experimental filmmaker who came up in the avant-garde underground alongside Kenneth Anger. This is a dreamy, black-and-white fever dream somewhere between a Val Lewton chiller and a beatnik poem.
The sailor is Dennis Hopper, baby-faced and gentle, in his very first leading role, years before he became the wild man of American film.
The score is by David Raksin, who wrote "Laura." Raskin loved Harrington's project so much that he scored it for a fraction of his usual fee.
How to see Night Tide (1961)
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Source: JustWatch
Physical media
More editions
Movies they don’t want you to see
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6 commentsThe Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
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Peeping Tom (1960)
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I remember seeing this when I was about 10 and it certainly made an impact on me.
Let’s!
I like it: https://noirsville.blogspot.com/2017/06/night-tide-1961-fringe-noirquasi-noir.html
I have to check this out.