The Night Walker

The Night Walker (1964) by William Castle, starring Robert Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck, Hayden Rorke

In The Night Walker, a woman’s inventor husband is killed in an explosion. Or is he? Someone is trying to drive her mad. Who is it? And why?

Summary

In The Night Stalker, Irene Trent (Barbara Stanwyck) is trapped in a loveless marriage to Howard, a brilliant inventor, although blind. He’s also paranoid, controlling, suspicious of everyone and everything. He’s convinced that Irene is unfaithful to him, and has recording devices hidden all over the house, to catch “them” in the act. But, she’s not.

Then Howard is killed in an explosion, in the labratory in his house. And someone, or something, is stalking Irene, trying to drive her mad. Is Howard not dead? She is attracted to Howard’s lawyer, Barry (Robert Taylor), who’s dragging his feet on paying her Howard’s money. And Howard hired a private detective, to spy on Irene — is it him? She has weird, recurring dreams of her “dream man”. And the longer it goes on, the stranger it gets.

Product Description 

Trapped in a loveless marriage, Irene Trent (Barbara Stanwyck, in her final theatrical film) retreated into vivid fantasies of an imaginary paramour. When her blind researcher husband (Hayden Rorke) perishes in a lab accident, however, her dreams take on a terrifying turn that threaten her sanity. Disturbing effort from director William Castle and screenwriter Robert Bloch co-stars Robert Taylor, Lloyd Bochner, Judi Meredith, Rochelle Hudson. 86 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English; Subtitles: English.

Cast of characters

• Robert Taylor (Quo Vadis) … Barry Morland. The handsome lawyer, who’s very slow to hand over the inheritance. Is he hero or villain?
• Barbara Stanwyck (Double Indemnity; Titanic 1953) … Irene Trent. The widow, hated by someone or something after her controlling husband’s death. Is she losing her sanity? or is it a ploy by someone?
• Judi Meredith (Queen of Blood) … Joyce Holliday. The young lady, working at Irene’s beauty parlor. A friend in need? Or something else?
• Hayden Rorke (Project Moonbase; I Dream of Jeannie) … Howard Trent. The blind, suspicious, controlling husband. Who seems to be very dead.
• Rochelle Hudson (Les Miserables (1935)) … Hilda
• Jess Barker (Scarlet Street) … Malone
• Marjorie Bennett (36 Hours) … Manager
• Lloyd Bochner (The Naked Gun 2) … The Dream. The mystery man Irene keeps seeing in her dreams. Including a bizarre wedding, that’s borderline hallucinogenic.
• Tetsu Komai (Island of Lost Souls; Adventures of Captain Marvel) … Gardener

Additional Cast

• Paulle Clark … Pat (uncredited)
• Paul Frees (The Time Machine; Here Comes Peter Cottontail) … Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
• Kathleen Mulqueen … Customer (uncredited)