Saturday 27 October 2018

Dead of Night (1945 Cavalcanti, Hamer, Crichton, Dearden)

John Baines and Angus MacPhail wrote it (they both contributed original stories - Baines 'The Haunted Mirror' and MacPhail 'Christmas Party' and 'Ventriloquist'), with additional dialogue by T.E.B. Clarke. E.F. Benson originally authored 'Hearse Driver', H.G. Wells wrote a version of 'Golf'.

As well as being an early example of the portmanteau film it's also perhaps unique in that it gave each episode to a different director, something which became popular in European cinema in the sixties, and more recently with the Je T'Aime.. series.

Cannot tire of performances, which are uniformly excellent, stylish direction, crazy good music.

To antique dealer: "You might have told me all this when I bought the mirror."


1974 film of same name is by Bob Clark (Black Christmas) and looks good (aka Deathdream).



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