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.

Never Let Go.

Review #2044: Never Let Go.

Cast: 

Richard Todd (John Cummings), Peter Sellers (Lionel Meadows), Elizabeth Sellars (Anne Cummings), Adam Faith (Tommy Towers), Carol White (Jackie), Mervyn Johns (Alfie Barnes), Noel Willman (Inspector Thomas), David Lodge (Cliff), and Peter Jones (Alec Berger) Directed by John Guillermin (#726 - King Kong (1976), #1231 - Shaft in Africa, #1447 - The Towering Inferno)

Review: 

The temperamental director may be a tough one to rein in, but when they excel in multiple genres or continue to get dependable work, they deserve everything they do. What does one expect from a man called many things from having an "irascible streak" to being a "pain in the ass"? John Guillermin was born to French parents in London. The dawn of World War II saw him join the Royal Air Force before his childhood interest in film got him into documentary filmmaking (with a few bits for a perfume company) and eventually features before he turned 30. He did his time with modest budgeting for Robert Jordan Hill, Vandyke Productions, television productions, and so on; the films that gave him first notice beyond the usual small expectations were Town on Trial (1957) and I Was Monty's Double (1958). He was then hired to do Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959), which was also pretty successful. The basis for the film came from a real event that I would hope doesn't happen to you: a man finds his car was stolen. Guillermin had his car stolen and told Peter de Serigny about it, with the latter happening to be a producer. They had a discussion about what if one had their whole livelihood dependent on their car. They made a brief story outline and then approached Alun Falconer to do a full script, with the result being the film here. This was the second of two films released in 1960 with Guillermin as director, after The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960).

Admittedly, it is a tantalizing kind of "kitchen-sink noir", one that shows just how far a man can go if they are pushed to the brink of what they deem to be unfair. You know, I actually did suffer a robbery once. It was October 20, 2022, when I foolishly went a path I probably should have thought twice about going in broad daylight. I may have been robbed of some money, but I'll be damned if they were going to steal my cell phone. The point I want to make (aside from not merely asking them to go to hell) is that some things are easy to take for granted until you have to fight for them to stay in the right place. Far from being just a movie about wanting their car back, it also is a movie about wanting to assert themselves as a man once again. For a time, Todd was a name actor with reputation in studio features (such as Disney and 20th Century Fox) after The Hasty Heart (1949) had him in demand. It is clear to see why, because he proves palatable in the panic shown without turning into a whimpering caricature. His refusal to give in becomes our refusal, one that we firmly believe in despite one's thoughts for how sad it all seems when shown up close with Sellars, who can only watch in blistering shock. If you can believe it, Sellers was actually approached to play the lead but asked if he could play the villain instead. Already a presence in various comedies (such as The Goon Show), this would stand out as a distinct dramatic role in his career that had seen him play a few roles making light of authority figures. He excels pretty well here, one who manages to achieve the conniving task of arrogance without being just a bland heavy, one who is more than a guy who at one point smashes a turtle. He never breaks once in his tension as a gritty portrayal of ruthlessness, which works right to where the film must lead to in the final climax (evidently, he was unable to stop from letting the performance not seep into his homelife, which resulted in a tense recollection from his wife). Faith was a pop singer teen idol who tried to make something within acting while only just in his twenties, and he makes a decent showing in the tension of youth and rough reality (as one expects from him and White). I do love the final sequence right after the fight, where a bruised and battered man in triumph drives off with his badly desired car, one who could care less about procedure or anything when being off to rest at his home, one who sits in the dark and finds a surprise awaiting him. With an efficient runtime of 90 minutes and a somewhat interesting music score from John Barry, this results in a pretty neat effort for all involved, one that is wrapped in sincerity in the heart of stubborn nature above all else that rewards the viewer in solid performances that really does not let go of your attention.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Scrooge (1951).

Review #076: Scrooge.

Cast
Alastair Sim (Ebenezer Scrooge), Kathleen Harrison (Mrs. Dilber), Mervyn Johns (Bob Cratchit), and Hermione Baddeley (Mrs. Cratchit). Directed by Brian Desmond Hurst.

Review
This may not be the first film based on A Christmas Carol, but it is the first one I've seen (There will be a review of another adaptation) This movie is a grim tale that tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his greed. It's a story that is entertaining and saddening too. This film has good acting, a story that entertains you and frightens you with brilliant pacing and a classic story that will make you cry with tears of joy at the end.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.