A portmanteau work from four of Ealing’s best directors; Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. Starring Mervyn Johns, Michael Redgrave and Googie Withers, Dead of Night represented a departure for Ealing from the classic comedy mode and is instead a spooky psychological thriller made up of five chilling stories.
Architect Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) arrives at country house Pilgrim Farm thinking that he has been hired to remodel it. He finds the building strangely familiar, and upon entering discovers that he recognizes all of the house's occupants from a recurring nightmare he has experienced. One by one, everyone present relates their own horrific nightmare: Grainger (Anthony Baird) dreams that he is a racing driver recuperating from an accident; teenager Sally O'Hara (Sally Ann Howes) dreams of a Christmas party where she discovers a lone crying child; Joan Courtland (Googie Withers) relates a story of an antique mirror linked to an ancient murder; the next story concerns two golfers who vie murderously for the attention of a young lady; and the final story features a ventriloquist (Michael Redgrave) whose dummy comes to life.
Extras
Remembering Dead of Night Featurette (75 mins) Restoration Comparison Stills Gallery Trailer
