Johnny Drake, a sailor on shore leave in Santa Monica, meets a young woman named Mora in a local jazz club. Mora tells him that she makes her living appearing as a mermaid in a sideshow attraction on the boardwalk, operated by Captain Murdock. She lives in an apartment above the amusement park that houses the merry-go-round. Johnny becomes acquainted with the merry-go-round operator and his daughter, who warns Johnny that Mora may be dangerous, as her two previous boyfriends both drowned under mysterious circumstances. As Mora and Johnny become closer, Mora tells him that she believes she is a Siren, one of the legendary creatures who lure sailors to their deaths under the influence of the moon. Johnny witnesses Mora being followed by a mysterious woman whom she believes is one of the Sirens, calling her return to the sea to fulfill her destiny. However, Johnny doesn't believe that Mora is capable of killing anyone, and thinks she must be suffering from a delusion. During a scuba dive on the day of the full moon, Mora cuts Johnny's air hose, forcing him to the surface. She remains below and swims away. Johnny is devastated, but returns to the boardwalk the following evening and goes to the sideshow, where he finds Captain Murdock at the entrance as usual. Peering into the mermaid tank, he sees Mora's corpse on display. Captain Murdock appears brandishing a gun, admitting to Johnny that he killed Mora's boyfriends because he couldn't bear the thought of her leaving him. Murdock fires at Johnny, but misses. The gunshots attract the attention of two policemen on the boardwalk, and Murdock and Johnny are taken into custody. At the police station, Murdock confesses, saying he found and adopted Mora when she was a young orphan on a Greek island. He planted the idea that she was a mermaid, incapable of living the life of a normal woman, as a way of binding her to him forever. When she matured and began to attract the attention of young men, Murdock murdered them and let Mora think that she had caused their deaths. However, Captain Murdock denies any knowledge of the strange figure Mora believed to be a Siren. As Johnny's shore leave ends, the merry-go-round operator's daughter, who has taken an interest in him, visits the police station to bid him goodbye. He tells her that he will try to return in the future.
Production
Development
Harrington sold his original script, called The Girl from Beneath the Sea, to Corman in 1956.
Casting
The role of Mora the Mermaid was originally to be played by Susan Harrison, who had been the lead inSweet Smell of Success. Harrison, at the time a friend of director Harrington, initially agreed to take the role, but then reneged due to a personal relationship. Harrington had previously worked with actress Cameron; his 1956 documentary The Wormwood Star is about her and her artwork.
Filming
In order to film some of the underwater sequences in Night Tide, director Curtis Harrington gave detailed instructions to a cameraman who then shot the scenes underwater at the director's request.
Release
Night Tide premiered at the Spoleto Film Festival in Spoleto, Italy in July 1961, where it was named the top American film that year. The film's production company, Virgo, defaulted on their Pathé Lab loan of $33,793 and Pathé was preparing to foreclose on the picture. Roger Corman asked the lab to hold off on their legal actions to allow Filmgroup to distribute the film, guaranteeing Pathé $15,000 within 12 months of the film's release. Pathé agreed, and Filmgroup released it through American International Pictures. It was given a general theatrical release in the United States two years after its initial premiere, opening in Detroit on February 13, 1963. It later screened in New York City on May 25, 1964. The film was restored by the Academy Film Archive in 2007.
