IMDb RATING
6.4/10
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A New Orleans musician has a nightmare about killing a man in a strange house but he suspects that it really happened.A New Orleans musician has a nightmare about killing a man in a strange house but he suspects that it really happened.A New Orleans musician has a nightmare about killing a man in a strange house but he suspects that it really happened.
Ralph Brooks
- Oscar - the Bartender
- (uncredited)
Jack Chefe
- Nightclub Waiter
- (uncredited)
John Mitchum
- Onlooker at Stan's Suicide Attempt
- (uncredited)
Cosmo Sardo
- Nightclub Patron
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen Stan goes out walking the morning after his nightmare, he passes by a place with a sign that says "New Orleans' Most Famous Coffee Drinking Place". That would be the Morning Call Coffee Stand that was on Decatur Street in the French Quarter. Opened in 1870, it moved to Metaire in 1974.
- GoofsAccording to the elevator there are only 15 floors in the hotel, but the shot of the building from outside shows more than fifteen.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Out of this World Super Shock Show (2007)
- SoundtracksWhat's Your Sad Story
Words and Music by Richard M. Sherman (as Dick Sherman)
Performed by Connie Russell / Billy May Orchestra
Featured review
Kevin McCarthy stars as a musician who wakes up one morning to find tangible evidence of something he thought he'd done in a dream. Things really gets going when good old Edward G. Robinson appears as the musician's brother-in-law who also just happens to be a police detective. There's just something about Eddie G. that compels us to watch him, whatever he's in.
McCarthy's character, Stan, thinks he may have committed a murder, and is tortured by the fact that he has no recollection of doing so, except in his "nightmare".He can't reconcile what he knows as reality with what he remembers from his dream and the evidence he found afterwards. (Intriguingly, a button and an odd-looking key.)
Oh, there's also a few female characters, none of them of the fatale variety. One of them is just a pick-up in a seedy all-night bar (interesting and kind of fun scene, though), the other two are his sister and his "girlfriend". I put girlfriend in quotation marks because Stan doesn't seem to have much regard for the poor girl, who's a jazz singer and devoted to him. Poor Gina, Stan has not the least interest in confiding his troubles to her, or in fact talking to her at all, as far as I could tell. He's always telling her he'll get back to her later, when he's straightened some things out.
Some noirs have a smart and sympathetic girlfriend or secretary (who of course later becomes the girlfriend) who helps the main character sort out his troubles, but Nightmare isn't one of those. It's all about Edward G. and his crime-solving abilities. But who's complaining when Edward G. solves or even commits a crime in any movie?
The story is set and filmed on location in New Orleans, which is a major strength of the film. There's one scene where Stan goes on a desperate search through the nightclubs and all-night bars of the city, trying to find a musician who's heard the mysterious melody he heard in his nightmare. I love all the neon lights flashing on and off, proclaiming the alluring names of the nightclubs - scenes like this are what noir is made of.
Another memorable scene is when Stan, the long-suffering Gina, and Edward G.Robinson and his wife (Stan's sister) go on a picnic and get caught in a rainstorm. They take refuge in a deserted house, where they light a fire and make themselves tea ! It just struck me as funny that they were making themselves so much at home in a complete stranger's house. Now, there is a reason for this, but that would be spoiler territory.
McCarthy's character, Stan, thinks he may have committed a murder, and is tortured by the fact that he has no recollection of doing so, except in his "nightmare".He can't reconcile what he knows as reality with what he remembers from his dream and the evidence he found afterwards. (Intriguingly, a button and an odd-looking key.)
Oh, there's also a few female characters, none of them of the fatale variety. One of them is just a pick-up in a seedy all-night bar (interesting and kind of fun scene, though), the other two are his sister and his "girlfriend". I put girlfriend in quotation marks because Stan doesn't seem to have much regard for the poor girl, who's a jazz singer and devoted to him. Poor Gina, Stan has not the least interest in confiding his troubles to her, or in fact talking to her at all, as far as I could tell. He's always telling her he'll get back to her later, when he's straightened some things out.
Some noirs have a smart and sympathetic girlfriend or secretary (who of course later becomes the girlfriend) who helps the main character sort out his troubles, but Nightmare isn't one of those. It's all about Edward G. and his crime-solving abilities. But who's complaining when Edward G. solves or even commits a crime in any movie?
The story is set and filmed on location in New Orleans, which is a major strength of the film. There's one scene where Stan goes on a desperate search through the nightclubs and all-night bars of the city, trying to find a musician who's heard the mysterious melody he heard in his nightmare. I love all the neon lights flashing on and off, proclaiming the alluring names of the nightclubs - scenes like this are what noir is made of.
Another memorable scene is when Stan, the long-suffering Gina, and Edward G.Robinson and his wife (Stan's sister) go on a picnic and get caught in a rainstorm. They take refuge in a deserted house, where they light a fire and make themselves tea ! It just struck me as funny that they were making themselves so much at home in a complete stranger's house. Now, there is a reason for this, but that would be spoiler territory.
- How long is Nightmare?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 29 minutes
- Color
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