Themes: Mothers and Daughters, Dangerous Attraction
Main Cast: Patricia Neal, Pamela Brown, Nicholas Clay
Release Year: 1971
Country: UK
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Adapted by Roald Dahl from a novel by Joy Crowley, The Road Builder is better known by its American release title: The Night Digger. Patricia Neal, then Mrs. Dahl, stars as the repressed middle-aged adopted daughter of blind and elderly Pamela Brown. Both women are drawn to Nicholas Clay, a seriously disturbed young handyman whom they shield from the authorities. Neal and Brown are particularly fascinated by Clay's mysterious nocturnal forays. When Neal decides to offer herself sexually to Clay, she learns to her horror just why Clay spends so much time outdoors at night. An eerie Bernard Herrmann score enhances the stomach-churning tension. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Jean Anderson - Mrs. McMurtrey; Sebastian Breaks - Dr. Robinson; Graham Crowden - Mr. Bolton; Yootha Joyce - Mrs. Palafox; Peter Sallis - Rev. Palafox; Bruce Myles - Bank Clerk; Sibylla Kay - Whore; Brigit Forsyth - District Nurse; Elaine Ives-Cameron - Gypsy; Diana Patrick - Mary Wingate
Credit
Anthony Pratt - Art Director, Mary Selway - Casting, Gabriella Falk - Costume Designer, Michael Dryhurst - First Assistant Director, Alastair Reid - Director, John Bloom - Editor, Bernard Herrmann - Composer (Music Score), Ernest Gasser - Makeup, Alex Thomson - Cinematographer, Alan D. Courtney - Producer, Norman S. Powell - Producer, Roald Dahl - Screenwriter, Joy Crowley - Book Author
The Night Digger also known as The Road Builder is a 1971 film, based on the novel Nest in a Falling Tree by Joy Cowley. It was adapted by Roald Dahl and starred his wife Patricia Neal.
