Dead of Night (1945)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Writers:

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

Release Date:

15 February 1946 (Finland)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Architect Walter Craig, seeking the possibility of some work at a country farmhouse, soon finds himself once again stuck in his recurring nightmare...

Plot Keywords:

Dream | Architect | Nightmare | Recurring Nightmare | Psychiatrist

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

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

Runtime:

103 min | USA:77 min | Germany:95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | USA:Approved | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Norway:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Ealing Studios

Trivia:

Parratt and Potter, the very-English characters portrayed by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in the Golfing Story are derivatives of Charters and Caldicott, created for Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938). The double-act proved to be so popular that Radford and Wayne were paired up as similar sport-obsessed gentlemen (or occasionally reprising their original rôles) in a number of productions, including this one. The name-change neatly sidestepped any copyright issues.

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Walter Craig drives up to Foley's farmhouse and looks around with an expression part suspicious and part dumbfounded]
Eliot Foley: Ah! Walter Craig?
Walter Craig: How do you do. You're Eliot Foley.
[They shake hands]
Eliot Foley: That's right. So glad you were able to come. Let's have your bag. I'll put the car away afterwards. You know, it struck me, after I'd telephoned you, rather cheek on my part to ask a busy architect like yourself to come down and spend the weekend with a set of complete strangers.
Walter Craig: [to himself] Not complete.
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 one living room. However, we'll go into all that in the morning, shall we?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 100 Greatest Scary Moments (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Hullalooba

Round Robin of Ghost Tales

Walter Craig goes away for the weekend to relax to a place suggested by a friend. When he arrives he finds that he's has been to this place before, but in his dreams, and the host, his mother, and the 5 other guests he has also encountered in his dreams (though never in person), but as Craig later puts it, they should be called nightmares. One of the guests, Psychologist Dr. Van Straaten, believes there is a logical explanation for Craig knowing the house and of the guests, but the remaining guests debunk Van Straaten's theory but telling of their supernatural encounters, but Craig later believes the longer he stays at the manor, the greater chance, tragedy will occur. This is the movie that Tales of the Crypt could not ever hope to become. The film starts off slowly (its lone drawback), but as the film progresses, it become more mysterious and eerie. The Hearse Driver segment is wooden, the Christmas party is the weakest, the Haunted Mirror is a great spook tale, and the Golfing Story is a nice humorous change of pace, however the Ventriloquist's Dummy segment, the one the film is known for, is clearly the best of the lot, with Michael Redgrave giving the performance of his life as Frere. Mervyn Johns is very good as the tormented Craig, and the linking narratives are add its own spookiness as well. Great ending. Rating, 10.