A Night of Terror (1937)
"Love from a Stranger" (original title)

A lottery winner breaks up with her fiancé and marries a fortune hunter who proves to be dangerous.

Director:

Rowland V. Lee

Writers:

Agatha Christie (story), Frank Vosper (play),

Stars:

Ann Harding, Basil Rathbone, Binnie Hale

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ann Harding	...	Carol Howard
Basil Rathbone	...	Gerald Lovell
Binnie Hale	...	Kate Meadows
Bruce Seton	...	Ronald Bruce
Jean Cadell	...	Aunt Lou
Bryan Powley	...	Doctor Gribble
Joan Hickson	...	Emmy
Donald Calthrop	...	Hobson
Eugene Leahy	...	Mr. Tuttle

Storyline

Carol wins the lottery, but unfortunately her sudden wealth leads to a disagreement with her fiancé Ronald, and the two break up. Carol quickly falls in love with the romantic and mysterious Gerald, and marries him despite the warnings of her friends. It is not long before Carol begins to see that Gerald is disturbed and perhaps even dangerous, and she soon realizes that she is in great peril.

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Plot Keywords:

lottery | fortune hunter | friend | lottery winner | sudden wealth | 

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Taglines:

How much do you know about the man you love?

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Night of Terror

Filming Locations:

Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Trafalgar Film Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Remade as Love from a Stranger (1947)

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Soundtracks

"Rumba"
(uncredited)
Music by Philip Green

User Reviews

It's Rathbone's show

All right, it creaks a bit, now, and suffers from the staginess which afflicted many if not most British films of this period, but the Agatha Christie plot (with a strong family resemblance to that other hyper-theatrical melodrama, "Gaslight") is gripping, and the necessary claustrophobic atmosphere is established and maintained -- with help from the excellent score from a very youthful Benjamin Britten (I have, by the way, never come across a reference to this early effort in any Britten biography; it is unmentioned in the long article in Grove's Dictionary). Most of all, it's worth seeing for the terrifying performance by Basil Rathbone, which again reminds us what an accomplished and versatile actor was all-but obliterated in his later absorption into Sherlock Holmes. No goalie-mask, no retractile steel claws, no camera-tricks, he scares the pants off you using only an actor's equipment, and you'll never forget his portrayal of a psychotic, obsessive Bluebeard.