User Reviews

As it stands Nightmare for a Nightingale sits at the bottom of the ratings here for individual Thriller episodes, a little unfairly I think, it really isn't the best of episodes, but it's rather enjoyable.

The story is great, I really like it, it has dramatic appeal, and creates the sense of passion, a passion for love, passion for money, and an overwhelming passion for success, not necessarily from the person you expect. The acting is pretty good, Susan Flannery is great as Anne, Stuart Damon and Ronald Leigh Hunt are also good. The trouble is that Keith Baxter is shocking is Tony Risanti I hate to say, his accent is like something out of Allo Allo, and when supposed to be dead he can clearly be seen breathing and fidgeting, how they allowed that scene through without re-shooting is baffling. The start is dire, but it gets better as it gets going, the middle is good, and the end is great.

Overall it's a real mixed bag, lacking the smooth sophistication of the earlier episodes, but it lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in menace.

Not bad, 7/10

'Nightmare For A Nightgale' is a reasonably entertaining installment from Thriller's final series. By this point it was proving difficult to sustain the original and gripping tales that had prevailed for most of the opening five series. However this remains an engaging story which is certainly worth a look.

Susan Flannery plays Anna Cartell, a renowned opera singer, who is shocked when her supposedly dead husband, Tony, pays her visit one evening. He quickly establishes his motives - money - but an argument ensues and she accidentally kills him.

Problem solved? In a script not unlike 'Once The Killing Starts', Anna starts to receive flowers in the style that Tony used to send and a trip back to the scene of the crime reveals a missing body. She confides in her manager Sam with whom there is more than meets the eye...

The conclusion is reasonably cut and dried but is somewhat woolly in its execution. Certainly not the worst episode but not that memorable either.

One of the final stories within the "Thriller" anthology. Although it doesn't reach any particular heights it is a very professional offering with much to commend it.

It opens with opera singer Tony Risanti decrying his own ability to a tramp he has met. He tells the tramp that he will kill him and use his body to fake his own death but the tramp is too drunk to take any notice. Soon after he knocks him out.

Action then switches to a starring performance by opera singer Anna Cartell. Anna seems to have the musical world at her feet and is soon to marry high-flying American diplomat Hal Bridie. So far, so good. The only slight problem is tension with her protective manager Sam when she tells him of her plans to retire when she marries Hal.

However when inspecting a new house she hears a man singing and is shocked to see her husband Tony whom she had presumed long dead. He tells her that he faked his death and now intends to return, spelling scandal for Anna and her husband-to-be. He will disappear though if she pays him - blackmail. In a struggle she pushes him and he falls and bangs his head. There is no response and she fears she has killed him.

From this point her composure disintegrates. Matters become far worse when she sees Tony at her concerts. She goes back to the house but can find no trace of his body. Eventually she tells Sam. He offers to help. It is help that will have a high price.

Although rather low-key this is still an intriguing tale. The operatic setting is an unusual one and quite well-done. Susan Flannery is a very engaging presence as Anna and the performances of Stuart Damon as Hal and Keith Baxter as Tony are good. The honours though are taken by Sydney Tafler as Sam. The English Tafler is a very convincing American and contributes impressively to an enigmatic character.

The US movie version is much the most likely to be seen. It opens with a very violent scene that bears only a tangential relationship to the later action and is out of tune with the understated attitude to violence of the show. This sort of liberty was rather typical of the American titles added in post-production and was ill-advised. However there is the virtue of excellent dark, atonal piano music over the end titles. The US version also benefits from a better title than the original British one with its clumsy alliteration.

The ending may come across as a little flat and undramatic, as well as being rather abrupt, but it has the virtue of breaking with the clichéd climaxes that typify the genre. Although there are better episodes to see this is still worthy of examination.