Dead of Night (1945)

Dead of Night is a British comedy horror film first released in 1945, directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer.  The film is based on a story by H.G. Wells and E.F. Benson and stars Mervyn Johns, Roland Culver, Mary Merrall, Googie Withers and Frederick Valk.  Our overall rating for this film is: excellent.


Wanting to make some changes to his farmhouse, Eliot Foley invites the architect Walter Craig to spend the weekend with him and his family.  As soon as he enters the house, Craig has a strong sense of déjà vu.  Not only is the building familiar to him, but so are the people he meets inside.  When Craig makes this revelation, each of his fellow guests recounts an incident in which he or she had a brush with the paranormal.  Dr van Straaten, the only scientist present, is sceptical of what he hears and suggests a rational explanation for each of the seemingly supernatural occurrences.   However, Craig is increasingly convinced that he has lived through all this before, in a dream, and that this dream is about to become a nightmare...

Often cited as the first and finest horror film made in Britain, Dead of Night is also one of the best – if not the best - example of the anthology film.  Unlike many films of its kind, the various pieces of the film – five short tales set within a linking narrative – fit together perfectly, and the overall effect is both compelling and chilling, and also darkly comical.  

Dead of Night was the first film made by Ealing Studios to be released after WWII.  It was a collaborative effort involving some of the most significant figures at Ealing at the time – Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton and Basil Dearden had directed or would go on to direct some of the company’s greatest films, including: Went the Day Well? (1942), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and The Blue Lamp (1950).

The two segments of the film that stand out are The Haunted Mirror and The Ventriloquist’s Dummy, both of which still send a shiver down the spine in spite of the fact that they have both been emulated many times since.  In the former, Ralph Michael plays a man who sees a room reflected in a mirror which looks nothing like the room he is standing in.  In the latter, Michael Redgrave plays a ventriloquist whose dummy appears to have taken on a life of its own.  Not only do both stories have excellent central performances – Redgrave’s descent into neurotic hysteria is particularly disturbing – but both are directed and filmed with more than a touch of twisted genius.

The only segment that is out of place is the humorous Golfing Story, which now looks like the inspiration for the TV series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).  Two golfing buddies play a round of golf to decide who will marry an attractive woman.  One of the golfers wins by cheating; the loser commits suicide and returns as a ghost to taunt the other.   Whilst this part of the film provides a few easy laughs and has a certain charm, it cuts against the grain of the rest of the film and feels like an unnecessary comic interlude.  Interestingly, this sequence, along with the creepy Christmas Party segment, was cut in the American release of the film.

Despite the immense success of Dead of Night, this was to be Ealing’s one and only venture into the horror genre.  Horror would remain pretty dormant in British cinema for over a decade until its glorious resurrection by Hammer Film Productions in the late 1950s.  The influence of Dead of Night can be seen in many of Hammer’s films and remains one of the most satisfying films of its kind.

© James Travers 2008

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