Fear in the Night (1947 film)

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Fear in the Night

Directed by	Maxwell Shane
Produced by	William H. Pine, William C. Thomas
Written by	Cornell Woolrich (story Nightmare as William Irish), Maxwell Shane
Starring	Paul Kelly, DeForest Kelley, Ann Doran, Kay Scott
Music by	Rudy Schrager
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	April 18, 1947 (US premiere)
Running time	72 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Fear in the Night (1947) is a low budget black and white film noir directed by Maxwell Shane and starring Paul Kelly and DeForest Kelley (in his film debut). Based on the Cornell Woolrich story Nightmare. Woolrich is credited under pen name William Irish. The film was remade by the same director in 1956 with the title Nightmare this time starring Edward G. Robinson playing the cop and Kevin McCarthy.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Bank teller Vince Grayson (DeForest Kelley) dreams that he stabs someone in an octagonal room of mirrors and locks the body in a closet. When he wakes up, he discovers marks on his throat, a strange key and a button in his pocket, and blood on his cuff. Cliff Herlihy (Paul Kelly), his policeman brother-in-law, tries to convince him it was just a dream. Then, one day, while trying to find shelter from the rain, the pair finds themselves taking shelter in the strange house from Vince's dream. After being rescued from an attempted suicide by Cliff, the detective uncovers clues that point to an evil hypnotist (Robert Emmett Keane) manipulating Vince.