Dead of Night.

Review #2119: Dead of Night.

Cast: 

Overarching story at farmhouse: Mervyn Johns (Walter Craig), Anthony Baird (Hugh Grainger), Roland Culver (Eliot Foley), Renée Gadd (Mrs. Craig), Sally Ann Howes (Sally O'Hara), Judy Kelly (Joyce Grainger), Barbara Leake (Mrs. O'Hara), Mary Merrall (Mrs. Foley), Frederick Valk (Dr. van Straaten), and Googie Withers (Joan Cortland) Directed by Basil Dearden.

"The Hearse Driver" segment: Anthony Baird (Hugh Grainger), Judy Kelly (Joyce Grainger), Miles Malleson (the hearse driver/ bus conductor), and Robert Wyndham (Dr. Albury) Directed by Basil Dearden. "The Christmas Party" segment: Michael Allan (Jimmy Watson), Sally Ann Howes (Sally O'Hara), and Barbara Leake (Mrs. O'Hara) Directed by Alberto Cavalcanti.

"The Haunted Mirror" segment: Ralph Michael (Peter Cortland), Esmé Percy (Mr. Rutherford), and Googie Withers (Joan Cortland) Directed by Robert Hamer. "The Golfer's Story" segment: Basil Radford (George Parratt), Naunton Wayne (Larry Potter), and Peggy Bryan (Mary Lee) Directed by Charles Crichton (#428 - A Fish Called Wanda and #953 - The Lavender Hill Mob). "The Ventriloquist's Dummy" segment: Michael Redgrave (Maxwell Frere), Allan Jeayes (Maurice Olcott), Magda Kun (Mitzi), Miles Malleson (The Jailer), Garry Marsh (Harry Parker), Hartley Power (Sylvester Kee), Frederick Valk (Dr. van Straaten), and Elisabeth Welch (Beulah) Directed by Alberto Cavalcanti.

Review: 

The tale told fourways is best told once. Basil Deardin started his feature work at Erling in 1942 and directed a wide variety of genre films, perhaps most notably with The Blue Lamp (1950). As for the Brazilian-born Cavalcanti, he went from studying architecture to doing set designs to eventually making his own films before eventually making his way to England with the GPO Film Unit and then Ealing. In his various years as a filmmaker, he traveled abroad and made various films until his last in 1976. Hamer actually had an interest first in economics but later found his first steppingstone to film as a cutting room assistant. He worked at GPO alongside Cavalcanti (who at one point led the unit for a time) before the departure of the latter led to an invitation for the former to join Ealing. The final director with Crichton started as a film editor in the 1930s (ranging from Things to Come [1936] to The Thief of Bagdad [1940]) before he became a feature director in 1944. As you might have expected, Dead of Night is an unusual feature for Ealing, which became noted for their comedy films in Britain. When it came to an American release, two of the five segments were cut for time (for a film that already runs at 103 minutes): "The Christmas Party" and "The Golfer's Story". 

The wraparound segment that starts and ends the film to go with setups for each of the five stories (as headlined by one or two actors, generally) is actually interesting because it is more of a story rather than just filler (so yes, one guy has apparently dreamed of these folks who happened to be involved with stuff such as mirrors). One only wonders just how much influence it had on the idea of dreaming of potential doom came through with this one. The first story in "The Hearse Driver" is based on "The Bus-Conductor" by E. F. Benson that was published in The Pall Mall Magazine in 1906. It probably is the second-most sluggish segment, but at least it has a semi-decent punch for cutting right to the end. The second in "The Christmas Party" was written by Angus MacPhail, who apparently based it on a real murder that happened involving Francis Saville Kent. Speaking of sluggish stories, this is the slowest despite being one that lasts less than 20 minutes, where only the climax seems to not drag. Thankfully the next three are livelier. The third story in "The Haunted Mirror" was written by John Baines and is probably the most interesting when it comes to eerie possibilities. It looms in fear and doubt when it comes to the idea that seeing really can be believing, particularly since Michael and Withers make for a suitable pairing of mirror-dwellers, and the ending seems deserved. The fourth and perhaps most comedic in "The Golfer's Story" is actually based on "The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost" by H. G. Wells. It is a bit silly, considering that it is presented as if someone really was there experiencing the tale as viewer/participant when it comes to golf games and bitter ghosts, but Radford and Wayne (familiar to those who watched The Lady Vanishes) do make an amusing pair together when it comes to competitive spirit and the inevitable question that comes with ghosts that can't just come and go. Baines wrote the final story in "The Ventriloquist's Dummy". It is headlined by Redgrave and the eternal struggle with a subject that would done a handful of times over in other TV/films about ventriloquism, but one can't knock the one that came first, especially since it manages to hold one's tension about just where it can all lead when it comes to who is behind who (of course, the jokes told beforehand are, well, corny, but that is the point). By the time the film lumbers to the ending about perception vs. reality in terms of what seems right in the telling of these stories, nightmare or no nightmare. As a whole, when it comes to horror anthologies, it wasn't the first to come around for audiences (Waxworks [1924] comes to mind), but it sure made its impact on future makers of them or beyond, which means one has a pretty decent experience to have with the stories that come out in wavering quality of interest headlined by the vibrant middle and latter half to make it all worth it in a spooky little time.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Next: The Vault of Horror.

The Lady Vanishes.

Review #2014: The Lady Vanishes.

Cast: 

Margaret Lockwood (Iris Henderson), Michael Redgrave (Gilbert), Paul Lukas (Dr. Hartz), May Whitty (Miss Froy), Cecil Parker (Mr. Todhunter), Linden Travers ("Mrs." Todhunter), Naunton Wayne (Caldicott), Basil Radford (Charters), and Mary Clare (Baroness) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock (#219 - Rope, #223 - North by Northwest, #446 - Spellbound, #447 - Psycho, #450 - Vertigo, #455 - Rear Window, #553 - Strangers on a Train, #800 - Shadow of a Doubt, #910 - Notorious, #963 - The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, #964 - The Ring (1927), #965 - Downhill, #970 - Mr. and Mrs. Smith, #977 - Frenzy, #1343 - The 39 Steps, #1739 - The Birds, and #1828 - Rebecca)

Review: 

Admittedly, I haven't covered many British films in the line of Alfred Hitchcock, but the man made a film in six different decades, so clearly there will be time yet to cover more of his films, especially when doing 18 of them isn't even covering half of his filmography. The Lady Vanishes is the penultimate film that Hitchcock made in his native England, as he would move to the States to direct in Hollywood after Jamaica Inn (1939). He had attracted attention with previous British classics such as The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and The 39 Steps (1935), and American producer David O. Selznick believed he had talent waiting in America. However, Hitchcock still had a contract to go through with Gainsborough Pictures (with this being the 12th and final film with the studio), and it just so happened that a film idea called "The Lost Lady" fell into his lap, as plans to do the film with Roy William Neill fell through when background filing in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia ended in embarrassment. The film is based on the novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White, with a screenplay by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder. The book has been adapted once more in film in 1979 (a Hammer production with Cybill Shepherd and Elliott Gould as stars) and it has been adapted to television (most recently as 2013 on BBC One) and radio. The nature of the book was shifted by Hitchcock and company, most notably with the climax, since the book did not have a gunfight resolution. There have also been thriller films released with premises that sound a bit similar to the one presented here, such as with So Long at the Fair (1950), about a suddenly missing hotel room and Flightplan (2005), which involved a missing daughter on a plane.

The patience one has with an innocent being thrust into peril will determine just how much of its exhilarating attempts at mystery thrills work for you, with most of it being set on a train filled with a few characters that have evident reasons to maintain the status quo no matter what. With a 97-minute runtime, it does a reasonable job with building the eventual confrontation that comes with trying to confront bold-faced statements without cheating. Lockwood makes a useful lead to follow with when it comes to a archetype familiar in a handful of Hitchcock films: an innocent thrust into a situation with little choice but to dig their way out. Granted, dealing with oddball hotel people that either won't shut up about cricket or music is pretty mundane when compared to missing old ladies, but I'm sure you get the picture of seeing how an ordinary person like her could get swept up in a sea of people being human in "decision-making"; Hitchcock once described her having a gift for both "expressing her beauty in terms of emotion" when it comes to camera shots and also the insight to get the feel of lines, and she became a prominent British star for several years. Redgrave was in his first film role after spending time in the theater, and he does pretty well here in general conviction for wavering belief when spent with Lockwood (whether the belief to mess with her or to be on her side). Lukas and his veteran presence makes a quality adversary in swift conviction that keeps the viewer occupied. Whitty makes a quality presence to serve as the title character, which goes over better when compared to Wayne and Radford, who actually played these "characters" (comedy relief) for a handful of other movies- eh, theyre okay. The funniest thing that happens is probably when one of the characters gets shot the hand when stumbling into a standoff. That, or the attempt at trying to get a "nun" away quietly.

Honestly, I wish I liked it more, but I suppose being a "good" film that just meets expectations is better than being a supposed great film that flounders if one expects way too much. The climax is when the film tries to play neat and tidy with resolving things in clever fashion, which does work out fine. As a whole, it certainly is a movie worth recommending for those quite familiar with the famed director Alfred Hitchcock, especially if one wants to see exactly where the line went from his British roots in directing to taking on Hollywood came with this particular film. You will find plenty to like if you are in the mood for it, and some have even called it one of his best films, so take that for what it is worth.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.