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<table width="778" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td class="filmmastbg" valign="bottom"> <div class="mastheadfilm">Dead of Night (1945)</div> </td> </tr> </table> </td></tr> <tr><td width="30"> </td> <td valign="top"> <table width="740" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr><td colspan="3"></td></tr> <tr><td width="435" valign="top"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr><td colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="435" height="20" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2" height="24"><p class="smg">Courtesy of STUDIOCANAL </p></td></tr> <tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="149"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" width="417"> <tr> <td colspan="3" height="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="10" alt="" border="0" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="32" valign="top" rowspan="2"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/1075126.jpg" alt="Main image of Dead of Night (1945)" /></td> <td><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" width="10" height="10" alt="" border="0" /></td> <td valign="top" width="366" height="12"> <table width="95%" border="0" style="font-size: 0.6em;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="credsum"> <tbody><tr style="display: none;"><td colspan="2"> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">35mm, black and white, 104 mins</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"> </td></tr><tr><td>Directors</td><td>Alberto Cavalcanti, Robert Hamer, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden</td></tr> <tr><td>Production Company</td><td>Ealing Studios</td></tr> <tr><td>Producer</td><td>Michael Balcon</td></tr> <tr><td>Screenplay</td><td>John Baines, Angus Macphail</td></tr><tr><td>Additional Dialogue</td><td>T.E.B.Clarke</td></tr> <tr><td>Photography</td><td>Stan Pavey, Douglas Slocombe</td></tr> <tr><td>Music</td><td>Georges Auric</td></tr></tbody> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> <div class="castsum"> <p>Cast: Mervyn Johns (Walter Craig); Michael Redgrave (Maxwell Frere); Googie Withers (Joan Cortland); Ralph Michael (Peter Cortland); Frederick Valk (Dr. Van Straaten)</p><a href="credits.html" class="smg-link">Show full cast and credits</a> </div> </td></tr> <tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> <div class="plotsum"> <p>Visiting a country house, architect Walter Craig realises that it and his fellow guests are familiar from a recurring nightmare. As the guests share their own tales of the supernatural, Craig is filled with a growing dread.</p><a href="synopsis.html" class="smg-link">Show full synopsis</a> </div> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> <p><cite class="party">Ealing Studios</cite>' <cite>Dead of Night</cite> (1945) is one of just a handful of 'true' horror films of British cinema's first half-century, and certainly the most important film in that genre until the beginning of <cite class="party">Hammer</cite>'s horror cycle a decade later. Released in September 1945, just a month after the formal end of the War, it marks a break from the documentary-influenced realism which had dominated wartime films, particularly <cite class="party">Ealing</cite>'s.</p> <p>The film was a truly collaborative venture, including many of the figures who dominated <cite class="party">Ealing</cite>'s output during and after the War. Directors <cite class="party">Charles Crichton</cite> and <cite class="party">Robert Hamer</cite>, writer <cite class="party">T.E.B. Clarke</cite> and cinematographer <cite class="party">Douglas Slocombe</cite> represent the popular <cite class="party">Ealing</cite> comedies; writer <cite class="party">Angus McPhail</cite> was active at <cite class="party">Ealing</cite> as early as 1939; <cite class="party">Basil Dearden</cite> would pioneer the postwar 'social problem' film; veteran <cite class="party">Alberto Cavalcanti</cite> had already made his mark with <cite>Went the Day Well? </cite> (1943) and was a hugely influential figure at <cite class="party">Ealing</cite>, despite directing only one further film there. Another studio mainstay, director <cite class="party">Charles Frend</cite>, was forced to pull out early in the production due to other commitments. The cast included <cite class="party">Ealing</cite> regulars <cite class="party">Mervyn Johns</cite>, <cite class="party">Googie Withers</cite>, <cite class="party">Ralph Michael</cite>, <cite class="party">Basil Radford</cite> and <cite class="party">Naunton Wayne</cite>.</p> <p><cite>Dead of Night</cite> stands up well despite the passing years. The linking narrative, directed by <cite class="party">Dearden</cite>, holds the film together effectively, building up the sense of dread towards the suitably delirious conclusion. The five supernatural tales may be uneven, but <cite class="party">Cavalcanti's</cite> story - a talented ventriloquist is driven to attempted murder by his apparently conscious dummy - is eerie and gripping, and features a powerful performance by <cite class="party">Michael Redgrave</cite> as the troubled and finally unhinged ventriloquist. Even better is the story by first-time director <cite class="party">Hamer</cite>, in which an antique mirror with a dark history exposes the cracks in the relationship of smug middle-class couple Peter (<cite class="party">Michael</cite>) and Joan (<cite class="party">Withers</cite>).</p> <p> The film sets up a classic horror genre opposition between science and the supernatural, and makes it clear from the outset which side it is on. Psychiatrist Dr van Straaten (<cite class="party">Frederick Valk</cite>) is quickly isolated; his attempts to offer a rationalist interpretation of his fellow guests' stories are dismissed and, finally, he pays for his scepticism with his life.</p> <p>Despite its success, <cite>Dead of Night</cite> was a dead-end for <cite class="party">Ealing</cite>, which never really dabbled in horror again; the genre largely went back underground until the <cite class="party">Hammer</cite> era.</p> <p class="bricksrc">Mark Duguid</p> <img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="10" border="0" alt="" /> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"></td></tr> </table></td> <td width="1" class="verticaldots"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td> <td width="312" valign="top"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr><td colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="312" height="20" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="3" height="1" border="0" /></td><td><p class="smg">Click titles to see or read more <img src="../../../images/film/icon_arrow.gif" class="noblock" border="0" alt="" /></p></td></tr> <tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="15"><img src="../../../images/gt/GT_film_clips.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="" border="0" /></td> <td class="rh-headcell-film"><span class="thumbhead-film">Video Clips</span></td> </tr> <tr><td><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="3" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../../../media/stream.jsp?id=600116" class="clipmenu-link"><img src="../../../images/icon_film.gif" alt="" vspace="2" class="clipmenu-icon-right" border="0" />1. The mirror (3:21)</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../../../media/stream.jsp?id=600117" class="clipmenu-link"><img src="../../../images/icon_film.gif" alt="" vspace="2" class="clipmenu-icon-right" border="0" />2. Dummy in the cell (2:40)</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../../../media/stream.jsp?id=600118" class="clipmenu-link"><img src="../../../images/icon_film.gif" alt="" vspace="2" class="clipmenu-icon-right" border="0" />3. The nightmare (1:48)</a></td></tr> <tr><td valign="top"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" width="10" height="25" alt="" /></td></tr> </table></td></tr> <tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="../../../images/gt/GT_articles.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="" border="0" /></td> <td class="rh-headcell-film"><span class="thumbhead-film">GALLERY / SCRIPTS / AUDIO</span></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="3" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../../../media/gallery/634903/index.html" onclick="gallerypopUp(this.href);return false;" class="clipmenu-link"><img src="../../../images/icon_camera.gif" alt="" vspace="2" class="clipmenu-icon-right" border="0" />Production stills</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../../../media/mfb/1000082/index.html" onclick="scriptpopUp(this.href);return false;" class="clipmenu-link"><img src="../../../images/icon_document.gif" alt="" vspace="2" class="clipmenu-icon-right" border="0" />Monthly Film Bulletin review</a></td></tr> <tr><td valign="top"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" width="10" height="25" alt="" /></td></tr> </table></td></tr> <tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"> <tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="20"><img src="../../../images/gt/GT_tv_clips02.jpg" alt="" class="rh-thumbpic" border="0" /></td> <td class="rh-headcell-film"><span class="thumbhead-film">SEE ALSO</span></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="3" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../504811/index.html" class="clipmenu-link"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" vspace="2" class="clipmenu-icon-right" border="0" />Halfway House, The (1944)</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../../../people/id/840536/index.html" class="clipmenu-link"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" vspace="2" class="clipmenu-icon-right" border="0" />Auric, Georges (1899-1983)</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../../../people/id/833762/index.html" class="clipmenu-link"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" vspace="2" class="clipmenu-icon-right" border="0" />Banes, Lionel (1904-1996)</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../../../people/id/446878/index.html" class="clipmenu-link"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" vspace="2" class="clipmenu-icon-right" border="0" />Cavalcanti, Alberto (1897-1982)</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../../../people/id/447729/index.html" class="clipmenu-link"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" vspace="2" class="clipmenu-icon-right" border="0" />Clarke, T.E.B. 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