Fear in the Night (1946) User Reviews

Reality Check

[sol1218 · 7/10 · 11 May 2004]

****SPOILERS**** Remade nine years later in 1956 as "Nightmare" with Kevin McCarthy and Edward G. Robinson "Fear in the Night" is a neat little thriller about a man who has a nightmare that seems too real and turns out to be more then just a figment of his imagination.

Waking up in a cold sweat one morning at his room at the Commodore Hotel bank teller Vince Grayson, Deforest Kelly, realized that he has thumb marks, like he was being strangled, an his throat and blood on his hand as well as a strange key and a button in his coat pocket that was in his nightmare. Vince had a dream where he got into a fight with someone in what looked like a hall of mirrors. The man that Vince was fighting was handed a steel bore by the women in the dream with him but Vince grabbed it and stabbed the man to death. With his attacked dead Vince ran out of the hall of mirrors and blacked out; it's then when he woke up in his hotel room.

Eerie mystifying and frightening film about an innocent man who thinks that he murdered someone only to find out later that he was used by the real killer Lewis Belknap/Harry Byrd, Robert Emmett Keane. Belknap put Vince under hypnosis to get him to commit the murder, or murders, of his wife Mrs. Belknap, Janet Warren, and her lover Bob Clune, Michael Harvey. It was a murder that Belknap not only planned but manipulated Vince into thinking that he committing and then having him take he blame for it.

Very unusual movie for that time, 1947, about mind manipulation and murder and it comes off very well. Deforest Kelly, Vince Grayson, is the poor and innocent dupe who doesn't have a clue to what he did and how he did it and that confusion almost drives him to kill himself.

Cliff Herlihy,Paul Kelly, is very effective as Vince's brother-in-law as well as police detective. Cliff at first suspects Vince of murder but as the facts slowly comes out realizes that there's more to what happened in the murder of Mrs. Belknap and Bob Clune then what Vince has been telling him.

Later Vince being is again put under hypnosis by Lewis Belknap inducing him to kill himself by drowning and then leaving a suicide note confessing to Belknap's murders. That attempt by Belknap goes haywire with Cliff having the entire scheme ,to frame Vince by Belknap, audio taped as evidence of his crime of where he had Vince kill Bob in self-defense. With Bob out of the way Belknap then ran down his wife in the driveway killing her.

The ending with Belknap trying to get away from the police and having his back tire shot out and his car plunge down a gully to his death was about the only action scene in the movie. The mind games played by Lewis Belknap on Vince as well as the movie audience was more then enough to keep everybody watching interested.

I Dreamt I Killed In Mirrored Halls

[boblipton · 6/10 · 1 March 2019]

Deforest Kelley has a nightmare in which he kills a man. He can't go in to work, so he goes driving with his sister and girl friend and brother-in-law Paul Kelly... to the house in which he dreamt the murderer.

It's a film noir from a story by Cornell Woolrich, so you know up front that it's going to be overwrought. It's also Kelley's first feature, and screenwriter Maxwell Shane's debut as director. Given the poor condition of the copy I looked at -- plenty of hiss on the audio track, as well as looking as if it was made from a 16mm. TV print -- I was not able to evaluate cinematographer Jack Greenhalgh's visuals, so important for a movie with extensive dream sequences.

Even with those handicaps, I was able to see the basic competence of this Pine-Thomas production. There's little that fancy about the production, but the ripeness of the source material, the solid actors (Ann Doran has a solid role, and old Demille hand Julia Faye an uncredited bit) make this an agreeably disagreeable noir.

Swampy, Minor Noir Of Interest to Dr. McCoy Fans

[secragt · 6/10 · 23 March 2006]

Okay, I admit it, a lot of the charm of this really low budget effort comes from Deforest "Bones" Kelley. Kelley's homely mugg was made for b-picture third bananas / villains and this rare, unlikely turn as the goodguy lead (his first credit) is as much the source of FEAR IN THE NIGHT's enjoyment as anything. Kelley gives a nice try in a role he wasn't really built to play, overcoming several overly melodramatic moments with generally naturalistic and believable reactions to the rather ridiculous and murky situation he finds himself in. Direction and other performances are unremarkable, though a little bit of stylistic cinematography in the flashbacks isn't bad.

NIGHTMARE was the slicker remake which came about nine years later with Edward G. Robinson, Kevin McCarthy, and slightly more money, but I would suggest that this earlier version has more suspense and rooting interest (Kelley is far more sympathetic than McCarthy.) More importantly, the flimsy plot holds together better in FEAR IN THE NIGHT, omitting the poorly motivated Edward G. Robinson character entirely. This is far from a great movie; it's not even really a good noir, but Kelley's rare lead performance is fascinating and he makes us care about what happens. Anyone who is into Star Trek classic will probably be as quickly hypnotized by his young non-baggy-eyed presence as Deforest is by the badguys.

Leaves Its Mark

[dougdoepke · 21 June 2015]

What the movie lacks in believability it makes up for in sheer visual imagination. That opening sequence is a real grabber. Just what the heck is going on with the fuzzy focus and dreamlike images. People are going here and there in front of a bank of mirrors. Then, all of a sudden, someone hands Vince a drill. But Vince doesn't stick it into a chunk of wood. Instead he plunges it into a man's heart! Good thing Vince wakes up in bed, maybe sweaty, but at least inside a focused reality. Must have been a bad dream, but then why the bloody wrist and where did that weird key come from. From what we see, it's almost like he's come back from a strange parallel world.

So did Cliff actually kill someone or was it just a bizarre subconscious. Good thing he's got Mr. sober-sides Cliff as a cop brother-in-law. Maybe Cliff can figure it out since it's driving Vince nutty. Trouble is Cliff thinks his in-law really did kill someone, but in the interest of family harmony resists turning him in. So how will all this weirdness turn out, and what's suddenly the big deal about a candle.

Kelley really nails his part as the hapless Vince. Catch his many shaded expressions as he suffers through the nightmare. Paul Kelly too nails his part with a no-nonsense demeanor that keeps things anchored. But the real star is the production itself that manages to dangle us between two worlds with the many off-center effects. Sure, too much storyline stretches over the edge. Still, it's pretty gripping stuff, straddling the murky line between noir and horror. The premise was loaded enough to get re-made a few years later, Nightmare (1956). But this one, I think, is better. So don't let it slip by.

good noir done on the cheap

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 28 April 2012]

DeForrest Kelley has "Fear in the Night" in this 1947 low-budget B film, also starring Paul Kelly and Ann Doran. Kelley plays Vince Grayson, who has a vivid dream that he has committed murder. In fact, he wakes up and finds a key and a button, which were part of the dream, and also blood on his wrist. He tells his cop brother-in-law Cliff about the dream, but Cliff brushes it off as just that, a dream.

Later on, Vince goes on a picnic with his sister Lil (Ann Doran) and husband Cliff. When the rain starts coming down in buckets, they jump in the car and Vince directs them to a house, which turns out to be the murder house, down to the octagonal mirrored room that Vince described to Cliff. Cliff now believes that Vince committed murder and lied when he described the dream.

Very good story that makes use of hypnosis as part of the plot. It is very well done, but you can't help thinking of what someone like Hitchcock would have done with the story. Instead, we have grainy film and footage of downtown Los Angeles, including, I think, the Commodore Hotel. The shots of old LA are wonderful - sometimes when films are done cheaply there is city shooting and use of the city in process shots, which always adds authenticity to the movie.

When I showed my sister one of the screen shots and announced it was DeForrest Kelley, I thought her eyes would bug out of her head. Yes, he was once that young. He does a very good job, too.

Well worth seeing, and if you're a fan of "Star Trek," it's a must!

Decent film Noir with Modest Budget

[ThreeGuysOneMovie · 6/10 · 22 September 2011]

OK, this is a little film noir from 1947. You can stream this one for free on Netflix or for free at Archive.org. Fear in the Night is about a man (Vince) who has a terrible nightmare in which, he kills a man in a strange mirrored room.

When he wakes up he discovers that he has blood on his wrist on bruises on his neck just like in his dream. Slowly Vince begins to realize that he may have actually committed the murder that he dreamed about. In a panic Vince enlists the aid of his brother in law Cliff and the two of them try to figure out what happened before Vince is arrested for murder.

You can tell right away that this was made on a modest budget and some of the acting is pretty atrocious but, it's an interesting crime drama and was an enjoyable watch.

This movie was re-made with the same director in 1956 with Edward G. Robinson. This time it was called Nightmare.

This is the feature film debut of DeForest Kelley who later went on to play "Bones" on Star Trek.

A solid bottom half for a double bill, thanks to Paul Kelly and Cornell Woolrich

[Terrell-4 · 7/10 · 1 March 2008]

Fear in the Night may be just another B movie designed to fill out a double bill, but it has some good things going for it. And that makes it a watchable, interesting noir.

Vince Grayson (DeForest Kelly), a pleasant, unexceptional young bank teller, wakes up one morning after a horrendous nightmare. He dreamed he was in a mirrored room, locked in a terrible fight with a strange man. He finds himself with a sharp-pointed awl in his hand and he drives it into the other man's chest. Then he drags the body into one of the small rooms behind one of the mirrored doors. When he wakes he's covered with sweat. He makes his way to the bathroom in the small hotel room he rents and finds thumbprints on his throat and blood on his hand. In his coat pocket he finds a blue button and an odd-shaped key. He makes his way to his sister's house to talk with her husband, Cliff Herlihy (Paul Kelly), a police detective. Herlihy just puts Cliff's story down to stress. But a couple of days later, driving out for a picnic with his girl friend, his sister and Cliff, Vince suggests they go to Salado Canyon, a place he's never been to before. In a downpour, Vince directs them to a large, dark house he's never seen. He knows where the key is under the mat. The house is empty, with the furniture and curtains covered by large, white drop clothes. He goes upstairs with Cliff and finds a small, mirrored room, and behind one of the mirrored doors, bloodstains.

Vince's nightmare is just beginning. Did he kill a man in the house? Why would he? Who were the two people killed there when Vince and Cliff talked with a local cop? Cliff Herlihy now is convinced that murders took place, that Vince wasn't responsible...and that Vince still might be a killer. Clever deductions take place, traps are set, and Vince almost pays with his life.

The movie may have been made to be the bottom half of a double bill, but is still is a lot of fun to watch. First of all, it's efficient. At just 72 minutes, the movie doesn't waste a moment. Blink your eyes and you'll lose a clue, miss a motivation or lose out on some affectionate by- play between the detective and his wife. Second, the movie has several nicely constructed moments. Vince's nightmare is well-handled. The house where the murder took place is big and a little creepy. Vince's hotel, the New Commodore, and the downtown street where it's located looks exactly like a lot of similar places in the late Forties. Vince's encounter with a man who is holding a candle is odd and unsettling. The relationship between Vince's sister, Lil Herlihy (Ann Doran) and her husband is a nice combination of affectionate bickering and genuine love. Third, while all the actors do nice jobs, Paul Kelly as Cliff Herlihy is a standout. Kelly was a fixture in B movies and he almost always was better than his material. He played bad guys and good guys, but his style was confident and tough. And he was tough. In the Twenties he spent two years in San Quentin for killing a man in a fist fight. He was a fine actor who, if given a chance, was just as good playing off-kilter or cowards. The scenes he has with Gloria Grahame in Crossfire are weird and memorable.

Most of all, the story has that terrific pulp noir feel; not great, perhaps, but satisfying. The story came from "Nightmare" by Cornell Woolrich writing as William Irish. Woolrich's pulp mysteries are still among the best, and I doubt if anyone had more noirish movies made from his books and stories. Here are some, from Wikipedia:

Original Sin (2001 film) (novel "Waltz into Darkness"); Union City (1980 film) (short story "The Corpse Next Door"); Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972 film) (novel Rendezvous in Black); Nightmare (1956) (story); Rear Window (1954) (story "It Had to Be Murder"); No Man of Her Own (1950) (story "I Married a Dead Man"); The Window (1949) (story "The Boy Who Cried Murder"); Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) (novel); I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes (1948) (novel); The Return of the Whistler (1948) (story); Fear in the Night (1948) (story "Nightmare") (as William Irish); The Guilty (1947) (story "He Looked Like Murder"); Fall Guy (1947) (story "Cocaine"); The Chase (1946 film) (novel The Black Path of Fear); Black Angel (1946 film) (novel); Deadline at Dawn (novel) (as William Irish); The Mark of the Whistler (1944) (story); Phantom Lady (1944) (novel) (as William Irish); The Leopard Man (1943) (novel Black Alibi).

Read 'em and enjoy. See 'em and enjoy.

Enjoyable B suspense

[funkyfry · 6/10 · 22 May 2008]

Although I wouldn't rate or recommend this movie hugely, for those like myself who are fans of suspense movies and don't mind a lower budget this one is quite enjoyable and interesting. The film stars DeForest Kelly, of Star Trek "Bones" fame. I've seen him before in supporting roles but never in the leading man role. I thought he pulled it off quite well, especially since so much of the action involved him doing stuff silent and then narrating it later, that can get thin fast if the actor isn't good at physical aspects of acting and if their voice isn't interesting as well. He reminded me a bit of Ray Milland in "Lost Weekend." There are other similarities to "Weekend" in the hallucinogenic imagery accompanying the main character's hypnotic experience as well. But the story here is much more of a straightforward psychological mystery.

Kelly plays Vince Grayson, a bank teller who dreams of a murder that turns out to be real -- and in the dream, he is the murderer! The dream is very strange, incorporating all kinds of camera tricks, and the murder itself takes place in an octagonal room of mirrors. He confesses about the dream to his cop brother-in-law (Paul Kelly), and then we're supposed to believe that randomly while out on a picnic with Kelly and the girls (Ann Doran and Kay Scott) he comes across the same house where the murder took place. From there on out, Kelly's character proves his integrity and loyalty by helping his friend and relative find the real villain.

It's an interesting film in that it uses this image of the room of mirrors, a kind of metaphor for the human mind. We see a body behind one door, and a safe behind another -- what do the other 6 doors contain? The film doesn't even ask. The performances are solid even though the production values could definitely be improved. The photography by Jack Greenhalgh (the man who photographed "Reefer Madness" and "Robot Monster") is good but not anything particularly exceptional.

Overall I liked it because Cornell Woolrich's original story (published under an assumed name) has enough psychological implications to make the film just two dimensional enough to stand up to the treatment. A pulpy movie from a pulpy story, I guess you could say. Not really made to last, but still with us and still providing a lot of fun that you couldn't get from a bigger budget safer movie. This movie leaves its hero with consequences -- he still has to face the court for the murder and must plead self defense and hope for the mercy of the court.

Déjà vu

[nickenchuggets · 6/10 · 22 June 2023]

Being the only noir movie on a set I own which I haven't reviewed yet, I decided to save Fear In the Night for last for a good reason. It's probably the most mediocre noir out of the 9, and while I normally have a vague recollection of how movies I've seen far in the past end, I had no such memory of this one's conclusion. Fear in the Night begins with a bank employee named Vince Grayson (DeForest Kelley) stabbing and killing a man in a tiny, octagonal room lined with mirrors and then hiding the corpse behind a door. It turns out to be a dream, but when Vince awakens, he looks in his bathroom mirror to find marks on his throat and also has blood near one of his wrists. He's also in possession of a key that he insists he did not have prior to waking up. Cliff (Paul Kelly), Vince's brother in law, tells him how ridiculous it is to fathom the possibility of bringing items back from your dreams, so he says Vince must have had the key before. One day during a picnic with Vince and his wife Lil (Ann Doran), it begins to rain hard, so they get in a car and Vince directs Cliff to make a right when a pair of pillars come into view. He doesn't know how he got this information, but apparently these pillars indicate a house: the same one in his dream. The cops have recently found two bodies at this house; one in the room with the mirrors and the corpse of Mrs. Belknap (the owner's wife). She was apparently run over and bled to death in the driveway. Initially convinced his odd dream makes him a murderer in reality, Vince thinks he is scot free now since he doesn't know how to drive. However, it's revealed that before Mrs. Belknap died, she gave the cops a description of her killer, and it seems as though she was describing Vince. Later, Vince is shocked when he realizes both dead people are present in his dream. Cliff manages to find out that a hypnotist (who also happens to be Mr. Belknap) has been altering Vince's mind. Vince goes back to the house and hides in the mirror room, waiting for Belknap. When he shows up, Vince threatens to shoot him, but Belknap hypnotizes Vince with a watch and persuades him to drop the gun. While in this state, Belknap takes Vince for a drive and tells him to write a note incriminating himself in the murder of both people at the house. Belknap drives to a lake and tries to mind control Vince into drowning himself. Cliff is right behind Belknap in a car of his own and saves him. As Cliff resumes chasing Belknap's car, he makes him crash and fall into a ravine. Once Belknap is dead, Cliff and Vince are outside a courthouse, with Cliff telling him not to worry since he killed the person in the mirror room to protect himself. Based on a story by William Irish, I found this to be a painfully average movie, and it doesn't help the print on the set is grainy looking. This was probably the best quality one they could find, which, considering how forgotten this movie is, seems believable. I think the best part of this movie is actually the very start, since the mirror room does look like something out of a dream, given how small and oddly shaped it is. There's some interesting dreamlike sequences and effects throughout, but other than this, there's not much to say. Since this was made when noir was at its zenith, I was expecting something a bit more impressive than some guy bringing back objects from his dreams and then attempting to commit suicide just because someone made him look at a watch. Oh well.

Nifty "B" Film Noir with horrific dream sequences.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 26 December 2012]

This is a film that will leave you with nightmares if you watch this just before you go to bed. From the moment its young hero (DeForrest Kelley, far from his days as "Dr. McCoy" of "Star Trek") wakes up sweating after a night of terror dreaming of murder in a closet with mirrors, waking up to find a strange key and blood on his wrist, as well as other clues that make his nightmare seem so real, you are gripped. He confides everything to his police lieutenant brother-in-law (Paul Kelly), but all Kelly can suggest is that he's been working too hard. A day out for a picnic brings him more clues as he recognizes the neighborhood they are in, and when, just by chance, they end up in a mysterious abandoned house, he discovers more than he bargained for.

This Pine/Thomas production (an independent producer company released through Paramount) is up there with "Detour", "Decoy" and half a dozen other sleeper film noirs that were made on the cheap and have become classics of the genre. The young Kelley is far from the ideal leading man, but as an "everyman", he is perfect for this role. Kelly, an underrated stage actor who played both heavies and good guys on the screen, is excellent, his frustration building into anger here as he discovers his brother-in-law's claims may not be so far fetched after all, and when he accuses him of making the whole dream up, the jig seems to be up. Then comes along Robert Emmett Keane as a truly creepy neighbor of Kelley's, and everything begins to tie together.

This a film noir you want to watch for every clue dropped and every piece of the puzzle to see how it fits together. It was re-made on a higher budget as "Nightmare" with Edward G. Robinson, but this is a much better version.

Such a clumsy film with such inventive great scenes!!

[secondtake · 5/10 · 4 December 2010]

Fear in the Night (1947)

This is one surprising film. It's not "great" for several reasons (it's not even very good), but it has great, bizarre, creative, daring aspects for a commercial film. In fact, its brilliance is only the more tragic relative to its drawbacks (a clumsy plot and some mediocre acting, unfortunately). But the special effects, dream sequences, and just plain surreal imagery are all worth the look.

There are a couple of deep flaws in the plot--like a group of four people drive up to a house they've never been to and because it's raining they go inside and make tea and take a nap. And the characters are kind of just going through the motions sometimes to get to the next step. Decidedly low budget. But you know how a low budget can inspire makeshift solutions--here we have room of mirrors, some hypnosis, a murder that the murderer can't remember, crazy dreams, and a brother-in-law who is a tough detective.

The two leads are Paul Kelley (rather good, the strength of the cast) and DeForest Kelley (solid, too, and later to be Dr. McCoy in Star Trek, yes!).

Classic Noir, circa 1947 - Hypnotism sub genre

[max von meyerling · 8/10 · 7 January 2003]

This is a classic noir from a classic year in the cycle. Max Shane was a Black Mask writer, the important pulp magazine precursor of the Noir genre. William Irish aka Cornell Woolrich was the master of the period. Cheepo producers Pine and Thomas, known as the Dollar Bills, later took the genre rightward making police the center of the action in the early 50's (HE WALKED BY NIGHT) and were later Ronald Reagan's producers. Shane later remade the same story as NIGHTMARE (1956) with Edward G. Robinson again for Pine/Thomas when working for them was a sign of having been absolved of anti-Americanism (which Robinson needed in 1956). However in 1947 FEAR IN THE NIGHT was one of the derivative low budget pictures which are best regarded because their humble manufacture prevented elaboration beyond the original stories. They are short, lean, punchy and to the point and no consideration has to be made in favor of any star's ego, directors pretensions or studio executives view of what constitutes a 'moral' story. The classic element here is that the protagonist IS guilty, though he is not responsible because he was hypnotised. So the classic neuroses of the 20th Century is again aired out. FEAR IN THE NIGHT is what it is, a classic situation expressing inner fear and guilt in the simplest and most direct way and all the better for that.

"I knew that tonight, I'd be afraid of the dark."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 30 December 2005]

It's hard to separate DeForest Kelley from his Star Trek persona as Dr. Leonard "Bones " McCoy, so it's always a blast to see him in a totally unrelated role. He guest starred in many T.V. Westerns of the 1950's and 60's, but to see him actually playing the lead in the 1947 noir film "Fear in the Night" was a veritable treat.

Kelley's character is Vince Grayson, a rather meek bank clerk who has a dream that he kills someone. As circumstances suggest that he actually might have done it, he confides in brother in law Cliff (Paul Kelly), a police detective who at first dismisses Grayson's ramblings, and then begins an investigation when a rain shortened day trip brings them to the scene of the crime. Major suspension of disbelief is required here, as Grayson locates the house where his dreams took place, and why one asks, would the day tripping foursome seek shelter in an unoccupied house just because of a little rain?

I got a kick out of a goofy conversation on an elevator when DeForest Kelley's character asks if it can go any faster; the operator's response - "I've got it wide open"!

Long story short - Vince Grayson DID kill someone, but he was hypnotized into doing so. If you just go with the flow, this is an entertaining and provocative mystery, but not to be taken too seriously. The print I viewed on DVD had some annoying cuts and jumps, though it didn't appear that the story was affected. The early narration by Kelley's character had a Peter Lorre quality to it that got my attention. View it for DeForest Kelley's performance, all the more memorable since it's also his very first credited movie role!

If you read any reviews before watching, it'll spoil it.

[davidhiggins-89756 · 5/10 · 12 June 2019]

How some of these reviews got through vetting. Totally spoiling the entire plot & movie. Even their review headings spoil it. Let alone the blatant spoiling reviews not even marked as spoilers in the reduced red 'Warning: Spoilers' one line version. (Some were though). Revealing the ENTIRE plot. Entertaining enough if stumbled across without reading any of these IMDB reviews first. Looks like old movies don't matter so much to IMDB.

Wonder if the producers did the 'Eric Bana' thing, who shall we get for the role of Bruce Banner, I know lets have Eric Bana. In this case who shall we get for the lead Police detective role, lets have Paul Kelly, how about the younger other guy, let's have the newcomer De Forest Kelley, hardly a coincidence!. Paul Kelly had been around for 30 odd years beforehand, could have been the other way around but I doubt it. Bones had only just about started out in movies, very little had changed in 20 years then, he had umpteen roles in between this and Star Trek. Could have played McCoy straight after this one, he was able to put a lot of vulnerability into his roles as well as playing the heel. A decent enough actor overall, playing his roles with conviction.

Worth a watch if you can find it, but don't expect much. The YT version looks better quality than the Roku sourced one. Didn't quite get the plot in it's full absolute entirety towards the end, but most of it to mildly enjoy it. BTW, The new Commodore Hotel as seen in this movie, built in 1922 is still standing in Los Angeles, now known as the Commodore Regency Apartments.

Some dreams are more real than others.

[Tom G. · 29 May 2000]

This interesting film explores whether one can be hypnotized against his will and compelled to perform hideous acts contrary to his nature, even to the point of killing and self-destruction.

Mild mannered bank teller Vince Grayson (DeForest Kelley in his film debut) lives in a seedy hotel room and can't even drive a car. Yet he awakens from a horrible dream that he has killed a man in a mirrored room and stuffed him in a closet. Inexplicably, Vince finds thumb marks on his own throat, a scratch on his wrist and a button from the dead man's coat along with a key with which he locked the closet. Deeply disturbed, Vince cannot report to work and wanders the city pondering the mystery of this frightening experience.

Along the way, Vince receives support from his sister Lil Herlihy (Ann Doran) and her husband Cliff (strongly played by Paul Kelly). Cliff is a police detective who initially disbelieves Vince killed someone, then believes he did. A stream of interrelated events ultimately leads Vince back to the mystery house with the mirrored room.

Vince's inability to drive a car, a rather dated concept, clears him as a suspect in one murder. This contrasts with a deputy sheriff (Jeff York) who announces he has quit smoking, a somewhat novel concept for the time. Kelley tries hard to make Vince's character convincing, but this is 20 years before we know him as the feisty Dr. Leonard (Bones) McCoy aboard the Starship Enterprise.

Unlike some Noir efforts, the story is straight forward and simply allows the mystery to explain itself, a credit to Maxwell Shane's direction. However, much of this piece belong to the villain Lewis Belknap (veteran character actor Robert Emmett Keane) who almost steals the show as a betrayed husband and master hypnotist. At a critical moment, Vince gets the drop on Belknap and threatens to shoot him. In response, Belknap slyly hypnotizes Vince using an open pocket watch case, begging Vince for a minute's time in increments of 15 elapsed seconds. This unusual scene is not to be missed. Even more chilling is Belknap's ultimate control over Vince once he is under hypnotic suggestion.

In a word, highly entertaining and recommended.

Honest shocker, worth seeing

[Cristi_Ciopron · 6/10 · 10 August 2008]

The anecdote is average, the characters are less than likable, the performances are crap throughout, but the film is a quite suspenseful noir, nicely done, fast—paced and attractive. I liked it better than ,say, DETOUR. It is a small B thriller, unpretentious and intriguing. The conception is naive ,unassuming, sensationalist. Like its literary source, the film is structurally a short piece. It would have made a good TV episode, also. The performances are banally indifferent –the actors just do not have the knack ,as Mme. Kael would have written. Its limitations will not surprise anyone. And it is certainly unfair to ask that much from these movie, as if it would not be obvious what is their aim and that they do not insult by pretending to be something more. It's petty chicanery.

Fear in the Night (1948) is as well one of the many William Irish adaptations; more famous ones were crafted by Hitchcock in the '50s and Truffaut in the '60s.

A neat little noir

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 7 January 2013]

Writer-director Maxwell Shane remade the film in 1956 as Nightmare starring Kevin McCarthy as the impressionable young man and Edward G. Robinson as his strong-willed brother-in-law.

This was Kelley's feature film debut. He'd previously appeared in a small role in a 1945 short variously titled The Letter and Time To Kill starring George Reeves, Barry Nelson, Don Hanmer, Jimmy Lydon and Don Taylor. Although the re-make with Edgar G. Robinson has a bit more clout in the acting department, this one features a marvelous performance by Robert Emmett Keane, stepping out of character for once as a pest of a neighbor. True, Kelley's portrayal is little too overdone. The schmuck is supposed to be weak-willed but Kelley turns him into such a nerve-racked fraidy-cat that he tends to lose audience sympathy. Paul Kelly, of course, is well cast as the detective, and, aside from Kelley, he receives excellent support all the way down the line. Although the film was lensed on a "B" budget by the two dollar Bills, it seems to have more production values than the usual Pine-Thomas bills of fare.

A RARE KELLY SOLO OUTING...!

[masonfisk · 7/10 · 2 June 2021]

DeForest Kelly (Star Trek's Bones) stars in this film noir from 1947. A man wakes up in his bed w/a vivid memory of killing a man & woman. He works at a bank & calls in sick alarming his co-worker who's holds a romantic candle for him. Kelly reaches out to his brother-in-law, a homicide detective, w/the details of his memory but brushes it off but when details turn up in the news he starts to worry his sister is married to a murderer. After hitting a rain storm coming back from a picnic, Kelly & his brood find themselves driving on a road which stirs Kelly's memories leading them to a large manse which is currently unoccupied. A local lawman (tasked as caretaker) finds the drying occupants in the house & connecting w/Kelly's brother-in-law in blue further fills in the hazy details. Kelly feeling guilty about the revelation nearly tops himself when he attempts suicide by jumping from a hotel window but his brother stops him & they decide to settle in, not leaving till the mystery is revealed. Lean & mean & wearing its cheap budget proudly on its sleeve, this potboiler is engaging enough for one to forgive the budgetary constraints but the professional actors are game enough make this ride enjoyable.

The Key is the Key.

[kalbimassey · 7/10 · 12 August 2020]

Fear in the Night possesses all the hallmarks of a low budget entry from one of the Poverty Row studios, but was, surprisingly perhaps a 1947 release from Paramount.

Like the similarly raw, unrefined 'Detour' this slimline psycho-noir is well worth investigating. The special effects, including some mind-warp camera work, which may have seemed striking 70 years ago come off as clunky and dated to the point of being quaint. These factors, however, simply add to the film's period charm, becoming a source of arcane fascination.

DeForest Kelley and three companions are forced to seek refuge from a storm in an empty mansion, which turns out to have been the setting for Kelley's recent traumatic and life changing nightmare. The plot has been dismissed in some quarters as implausible. Personally, I thought that cinema was largely about fantasy, escapism and imaginative leaps into the surreal.

More implausible is the bewildered reaction of Kelley's boss at failing to reach him by phone, after his employee had earlier rung in sick. Didn't it occur to him that Kelley might have had a doctor's appointment, or was perhaps unable to answer due to a chronic case of what touring English cricketers refer to as Delhi Belly !

Due to Star Trek's popularity, Deforest Kelley became a household name in the 1960's (a bit like Domestos). Not exactly an overnight sensation, but it is interesting to see him in a principal role at the outset of his career.

Panned by the critics upon its release,'Fear' has gradually developed a cult following among aficionados of the genre. Not top notch, but if you can live with the rudimentary production values this is a rewarding discovery for those seeking something enigmatic and obscure.

Mirror, Mirror ...,

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 19 June 2010]

Pulp fiction writer Maxwell Shayne cut his directing teeth on this adaptation of a Cornell Woollrich/William Irish story, in 1947, and presumably liked the original so much that he remade it nine years later as Nightmare. Unfortunately the print available on DVD is about fourth generation picture and fifth generation sound so that even at maximum volume it's not always fully audible. The story remains powerful/gripping and if DeForest Kelly in his screen debut is not quite up to the lead veteran Paul Kelly more than compensates in the role of the brother-in-law cop later played by Eddie Robinson. Whilst logic dictates that there IS a sound explanation for DeForest Kelly's participation in a homicide it is still both surprising and plausible when all is revealed. In a decent print this would be recommended.

A Downsized Find

[jcappy · 7/10 · 12 September 2022]

"Fear in the Night" is a noir film which is, in many ways, appreciable for what it's not. It's small, unpretentious, direct, quiet, realistic. Its characters are recognizably normal and act accordingly, are typical but not types. There are no heroes or anti-heroes, no heroics. There are no stars. It's not modern, not artsy, and not hip.

But what "Fear in the Night" is is a very pleasurable mystery perhaps most suitable as a nightcap. Has a kind of downscale, steadily dreamy atmosphere--but not surreal... too familiar for that. It's easy to take in story line is engaging from beginning to end with B actors led by Paul Kelly as Cliff and Robert Emmet Keane as Belknap. But what most marks it is its low-key intimacy, human-ness, and honesty. Funny, it's a nightmare mystery that won't in the least upset your sleep.

Strange little film whose crumminess gets to you

[bmacv · 5/10 · 4 April 2001]

Fear in the Night brings to mind Edgar G. Ulmer's legendary Detour in its brevity, its cast of unknowns, and its technical primitiveness. It doesn't have that film's crude and daring originality, though. Basically it's the story of a nightmare that turns out to be true (in fact it was remade in the 50s as Nightmare, with Edward G. Robinson). The whole premise of the plot is of such an implausibility that it's hard to take seriously, but if you close your mind and swallow it, the film develops a certain sleazy integrity. If you clicked onto this movie during a long, sleepless night of the soul, you'd probably stay till the (metaphorical) dawn.

great example of what can be done in cinema with just a bit of imagination and a decent story

[christopher-underwood · 8/10 · 7 April 2009]

Very decent noir thriller that is just that little bit different. Difficult to describe without giving everything away and I have to say that at a certain point about two thirds into the movie, I guessed what was going on. I doubt views in the 40s did though and this remains a most unusual movie with some very real scary moments. Not a lot or tearaway action but plenty of mind games and surreal goings on. The opening is spellbinding and an absolute thrill, the acting with DeForest Kelley and Paul Kelly is fine, even if the latter struggles now and again in what is a very difficult role. Clearly made for nothing, written and directed by Shane, this is a great example of what can be done in cinema with just a bit of imagination and a decent story.

Fear in the Night

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 6 January 2024]

"Vince" (DeForest Kelley) wakes up in a sweat one night convinced that he's murdered a young woman. He just assumes it was a vivid nightmare but then he starts to discover some objects around his apartment that he cannot explain. Fortunately, his brother-in-law is cop "Cliff" (Paul Kelly) but when he confides in him, he is politely pointed to the psychiatrists chair. It's only when a family picnic ensues and they find themselves outside an abandoned mansion that his friends start to believe a "Vince" who clearly knows his way around the house and that, quite possibly, he did actually kill someone! The key to the mystery seems to be an octagonal, completely mirrored, room - and maybe if he can find that he might get to the bottom of this mystery. This is actually not a bad little story and although the penny drops for those watching way earlier than it does for the cast, director Maxwell Shane does rather better with the totally wooden cast than you might expect. Everything about the production, the lighting, the static camerawork are pretty basic, but it does hold up for an hour or so, and it's just a little bit different from your average psycho-noir.

Cheesy Thriller

[kenjha · 4/10 · 29 December 2010]

Waking from a dream in which he commits a murder, a man finds clues suggesting that maybe it was not a dream after all. The film offers an intriguing premise but the execution is too poor to make this anything more than a curiosity piece for fans of Kelley (McCoy on "Star Trek"), making his film debut. Unfortunately, Kelley turns in a less than compelling performance here as the suspected killer. Faring better is Kelly as his brother-in-law, a cop who is skeptical of Kelley's claim that it was all a dream. It is incompetently directed by Shane, a writer making his directorial debut. The script is choppy, the acting is uneven, and the visual effects are cheesy.