Rent During One Night (1961)

Psychological war. - During One Night review by Steve

Subdued, low budget moral tale set around a US air base and the nearby English village during WWII. It is not a war film, but an intimate staging of personal insecurities. The director Sidney J. Furie came from broadcasting and this looks like the television plays of the period, except for the sexual themes and brief nudity.

Don Borisenko plays an American bomber pilot in England faced with one last mission. His natural anxiety reaches a crisis when his buddy kills himself after being emasculated in a raid. The flyer is unbalanced by the fear he may die on his final flight while still a virgin. It's mostly a two-hander with Susan Hampshire as the compassionate girl who tries to reach him.

The two teenagers share a long night of the soul. The dialogue is scarcely frank, but the themes are unusual. The boy is damaged by having to continually pretend everything is ok. While inevitably wordy, this is an unusually sensitive drama. Some attitudes now feel dated, as does Borisenko's laborious channeling of the Method.

While the acting is clumsy, it conveys a touching impression of vulnerability. There's a haunting harmonica score which accentuates the sadness of their experiences. These are lost spirits, traumatised by history. It's Furie's British debut and he wrote, produced and directed a melancholy chamber piece which is raw and sincere.