Dead of Night (1945)

An architect senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality. The guests at the country house encourage him to stay as they take turns telling supernatural tales.

Directors:

Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton,

Writers:

H.G. Wells (original story), E.F. Benson (original story),

Stars:

Mervyn Johns, Roland Culver, Mary Merrall

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mervyn Johns	...	Walter Craig
Roland Culver	...	Eliot Foley
Mary Merrall	...	Mrs Foley
Googie Withers	...	Joan Cortland
Frederick Valk	...	Dr. Van Straaten
Anthony Baird	...	Hugh Grainger (as Antony Baird)
Sally Ann Howes	...	Sally O'Hara
Robert Wyndham	...	Dr. Albury
Judy Kelly	...	Joyce Grainger
Miles Malleson	...	Hearse Driver
Michael Allan	...	Jimmy Watson
Barbara Leake	...	Mrs O'Hara
Ralph Michael	...	Peter Cortland
Esme Percy	...	Antiques Dealer (as Esmé Percy)
Basil Radford	...	George Parratt

Storyline

Architect Walter Craig, seeking the possibility of some work at a country farmhouse, soon finds himself once again stuck in his recurring nightmare. Dreading the end of the dream that he knows is coming, he must first listen to all the assembled guests' own bizarre tales.

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Plot Keywords:

dream | house | architect | nightmare | recurring dream | 

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

15 February 1946 (Finland)

Also Known As:

A Dança da Morte

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ealing Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

US distributors thought that the original print of the film was too long. Therefore, the golfing tale and the Christmas ghost tale were cut. This confused American audiences who could not understand what Michael Allen, from the Christmas ghost tale, was doing in the linking story.

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Goofs

During the dummy sequence, when sitting and talking with Mr. Kee, the dummy's hand changes position from table to knee.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Eliot Foley: Ah! Walter Craig?
Walter Craig: How do you do? You're Eliot Foley.
Eliot Foley: That's right. So glad you were able to come, let's have your bag.
[takes Craig's bag]
Eliot Foley: We'll put the car away afterwards. You know it struck me after I'd telephoned you, rather a cheek on my part asking a busy architect like yourself to come down and spend the weekend with a set of complete strangers.
Walter Craig: Not a bit.
Eliot Foley: You see we're pretty cramped for space here, we need at least two more bedrooms.
Walter Craig: And with only one living room.
Eliot Foley: Yes, only...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in EastEnders: Episode dated 14 March 2000 (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Light of Foot"
(uncredited)
Music by Carl Latann

User Reviews

Grandfather of the multi-horror story film genre

Dead of Night is one of those movies that actually started a genre. Tame to today's standards many of its short stories can be traced to horror plots today; most notably the ventriloquist dummy come to life (Michael Redgrave sequence). This movie takes horror where it should remain...the suspense film. We can see all the blood and gore today but why do films like The Six Sense (1999) or What Lies Beneath (2000) remain a success? Everyone has their own fears and thoughts of horror; and the thought of that fear and horror adds to the suspense film in all ways more thansay the breed of horror slasher films...probably best portrayed by Psycho, Halloween and the Scream Films. Dead of Night isn't a Hitchcock film but it uses the same actors of his England days and uses the same suspense techniques seen in his tv series. Check this film out and watch it from the perspective of the 1940s viewers eyes and see why it was popular. Also check out Cat People (1942)and M (1931)