And So To Death
My interest in noir literature and film noir led over the years to an interest in Cornell Woolrich (1903 -- 1968). Woolrich was a prolific writer, and many of his novels and stories became adopted in noir films. I have seen adaptations of Woolrich's works in the annual D.C. Noir Film Festival. I have also seen other adaptations on my own. Looking for a film to pass a dreary evening, I found this 1947 film "Fear in the Night" which is now in the public domain. The film is an adaptation of a story "And so to Death" Woolrich wrote in 1939 under the pseudonym of William Irish. He retitled the story "Nightmare" in 1943. With two titles and two named authors, it is fitting that there are two versions of the film. The second, titled "Nightmare" was released in 1956 by Maxwell Shane, who also directed this 1947 film.
As with other film adaptations of Woolrich,, "Fear in the Night" relies heavily on surreal scenes of hallucination. The film opens with a young man, a rather bland, boring bank teller, Vince Grayson, having a nightmare in which he kills a man in a large, isolated house in a room filled with mirrors. The film gets inside Grayson's mind through the use of voiceovers. Grayson becomes increasingly troubled and goes to his brother-in-law, Cliff Herlihy an older man who is a police detective. At first, Cliff tries to persuade Grayson not to worry about the nightmare, but through a series of events Cliff realizes his guilt. When the tormented Grayson attempts suicide, Cliff gets to the bottom of the crime and realizes that Grayson has been the victim of a criminal hypnotist.
The film is a character study of a likeable if shallow man who does not know the depths of evil. The movie has many of the classic features of noir including black and white angular cinematography, rainy nights, deserted old homes and back roads, and ever-present fedoras and cigarettes. DeForest Kelly portrays Vince Grayson in his first film role while Paul Kelly portrays Cliff. The acting is adequate but wooden. The film develops character, a sense of lurking fear and depravity, and suspense.
"Fear in the Night" is a B grade low budget film. I enjoyed it and found it worth seeing. The major attraction of the film was seeing another film adaptation of Cornell Woolrich. He is a noir writer I have come to admire.
Robin Friedman