Fear in the Night (1947): watch the full film free, legally

Vince Grayson’s troubling dream

Fear in the Night is a 1947 American horror film directed by Maxwell Shane. It stars Paul Kelly and DeForest Kelley, making his film debut as bank teller Vince Grayson. The film is based on Cornell Woolrich’s story “And So to Death,” retitled “Nightmare” in 1943. Woolrich was credited under the pen name William Irish.

Shane remade the film in 1956 as Nightmare. Edward G. Robinson played the police officer in that version, with Kevin McCarthy also starring.

A mirrored room and two deaths

Vince dreams that he stabs a man in an octagonal room of mirrors, then locks the body in a closet. He wakes with marks on his throat, a strange key and a button in his pocket, and blood on his cuff. His police officer brother-in-law, Cliff Herlihy, tries to persuade him that the experience was only a dream.

Days later, Vince and Cliff shelter from rain at the house from Vince’s dream, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Belknap. Police have found two bodies there: one in the mirrored room and another in the driveway. Mrs. Belknap, fatally struck by a car, described a man matching Vince before she died.

Vince initially takes comfort in the fact that he cannot drive, but then recognizes the victims from his dream. Overcome with remorse, he attempts suicide, and Cliff rescues him. The investigation turns up clues pointing toward an evil hypnotist, played by Robert Emmett Keane, who has been manipulating Vince. Cliff and Vince identify the hypnotist as Mr. Belknap in disguise and prepare a trap involving supposed hush money.

Reviews and a ten-day shoot

The supporting cast includes Ann Doran as Lil Herlihy, Kay Scott as Betty Winters, Charles C. Victor as Captain Warner, and Jeff York as Deputy Torrence. Keane plays Lewis Belknap, also known as Harry Byrd.

The New York Times critic panned the film on its release, calling it ridiculous, silly and dull, while describing Kelley as “dopey” and Kelly as brisk. Dennis Schwartz took a more favorable view, calling it an excellent low-budget psychological thriller. He credited Greenhalgh’s shadowy black-and-white photography with giving the film a film noir look, and praised its pulp story, atmospheric settings, mood, acting, and Kelley’s debut performance.

The film’s original title was Nightmare, and it was shot in ten days. It was also known as Dead of Night.

Film details from the Wikipedia article “Fear in the Night (1947 film)”. Text adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0.