Nightmare in Chicago

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Nightmare in Chicago
Title card
Also known as"Once Upon a Savage Night"
Based onDeath on the Turnpike
by William P. McGivern
Screenplay byDonald Moessinger
Directed byRobert Altman
StarringCharles McGraw
Robert Ridgely
Ted Knight
Philip Abbott
Barbara Turner
ComposerJohn Williams
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
CinematographyBud Thackery
EditorsDanford B. Greene
Larry D. Lester
Running time81 minutes (TV movie version)
Production companyRoncom Films
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseApril 2, 1964 (1964-04-02)

Nightmare in Chicago is a 1964 suspense thriller crime television film produced and directed by Robert Altman, based on the novel Death on the Turnpike by William P. McGivern.[1] It was originally filmed as an episode of the NBC series Kraft Suspense Theatre titled "Once Upon a Savage Night" before being expanded into the TV movie.

Plot

The film takes place over the course of a single winter's day and night some time before

toll roads in Chicago to trap the killer, shining a flashlight in the eyes of all drivers who pass through, but a nuclear missile convoy codenamed "Long John" moving through the Chicago area also needs to get through at the same time, greatly complicating matters. "Georgie Porgie" parks his car sideways in the middle of the road, causing multiple crashes until he is picked up by a good Samaritan, whom he kills in order to steal his car. Concerned about the convoy, Harry Brockman suggests stopping it at the Hinsdale oasis but Commissioner Lombardo rejects the idea. "Georgie Porgie" returns to the oasis where he saw a blonde waitress who intrigued him but instead kidnaps her brunette coworker Bernadette as she is leaving. When she pleads with him not to kill a man he is strangling, he listens and lets the man live, locking him up before stealing his Illinois Tollway maintenance truck. He merges with the convoy, pretending that he needs to remain with it until it passes through the checkpoints. The police note that the maintenance truck is not authorized to be part of the convoy and stop it at the next checkpoint. When a policeman shines a flashlight in his eyes, "Georgie Porgie" screams in pain and leaps out of the car but is caught by policemen with flashlights surrounding him on all sides. As he is put in the police car he continuously cries out for his dead sister. Bernadette takes his sunglasses from the floor of the truck and the policemen plan out the rest of their morning as the sun rises. Commissioner Lombardo plans on playing handball
while Brockman and McVea head back to the office to file reports.

Cast

Production

Nightmare in Chicago was originally filmed as an episode of the

Chicago, Illinois, with high-speed 35mm positive color stock.[3] During filming, Barbara Turner met her second husband, producer and director Reza Badiyi.[4][5] The Associate Producer was Robert Eggenweiler, who worked as an Associate Producer with Altman on several other films such as Brewster McCloud, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Nashville, and Buffalo Bill and the Indians.[6]

References

  1. – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "TV 'Noir' Features Rare, Seminal Programs". 13 August 1996 – via LA Times.
  3. – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Huttner, Jan Lisa (December 5, 2003). "Jan Chats with Screenwriter Barbara Turner". Films for Two (FF2 Media). Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  5. OCLC 53709872
    . Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  6. ^ Konsmo, Michael (21 March 2000). "Robert Eggenweiler".

External links