Hangover Square (film)
| Hangover Square | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Brahm |
| Produced by | Robert Bassler |
| Screenplay by | Barré Lyndon |
| Based on |
the novel Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton |
| Starring |
Laird Cregar Linda Darnell |
| Music by | Bernard Herrmann |
| Cinematography | Joseph LaShelle |
| Editing by | Harry Reynolds |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release dates |
|
| Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Hangover Square is a 1945 film noir directed by John Brahm, based on the novel Hangover Square (1941) by Patrick Hamilton. The screenplay was written by Barré Lyndon who made a number of changes to the novel, including the transformation of George Harvey Bone into a classical composer-pianist and filming the story as an early 20th-century period piece.[1]
The movie was released in New York City on February 7, 1945, two months after its star, Laird Cregar, suffered a fatal heart attack.
Plot
In Victorian London (the date 1899 is shown in the opening scene), the police suspect that a composer who suffers from periods of amnesia may be a murderer.
The period setting creates a dark mood, especially in the key scene when Bone (portrayed by Laird Cregar), having strangled Netta (Linda Darnell) on Guy Fawkes Night, carries her wrapped body through streets filled with revelers and deposits it on top of the biggest bonfire.
The final scene shows Cregar as Bone, playing his piano concerto (composed by Bernard Herrmann), unmindful of the conflagration around him, as flames consume all.
Cast
- Laird Cregar as George Harvey Bone
- Linda Darnell as Netta Longdon
- George Sanders as Dr. Allan Middleton
- Glenn Langan as Eddie Carstairs
- Faye Marlowe as Barbara Chapman
- Alan Napier as Sir Henry Chapman
Production
American composer Stephen Sondheim has cited Herrmann's score for Hangover Square as a major influence on his musical Sweeney Todd.[2]
Reception
Critical response
The film received mixed reviews. The staff at Variety magazine liked the film and wrote, "Hangover Square is eerie murder melodrama of the London gaslight era—typical of Patrick Hamilton yarns, of which this is another. And it doesn't make any pretense at mystery. The madman-murderer is known from the first reel...Production is grade A, and so is the direction by John Brahm, with particular bows to the music score by Bernard Herrmann."[3] The New York Times claimed, "There is not a first-class shiver in the whole picture."[4]
CD release of Herrmann's music
In 2010, the British label Chandos released a CD that includes a 17-minute concert suite from Hangover Square, put together by Stephen Hogger, and a Concerto Macabre for piano and orchestra which was pieced together in 1992 by Norma Shepherd and based on manuscript sources for Hangover Square. The disc also includes Stephen Hogger's extended suite based on Herrmann's manuscript for the soundtrack to Citizen Kane (1941). The "Concerto Macabre" (11 minutes) was also released on the Koch Classics label as part of a CD of movie music in 1996 with David Sedares and the New Zealand Orchestra, and pianist David Buechner.
References
- ↑ Hangover Square at the Internet Movie Database.
- ↑ National Theatre: Platform Papers: Stephen Sondheim. June 1993. Last accessed: July 16, 2008.
- ↑ Variety. Staff film review, February 7, 1945. Accessed: August 6, 2013.
- ↑ Mank, Gregory William (1994). Hollywood Cauldron: Thirteen Horror Films from the Genre's Golden Age, p. 347. McFarland & Company, Inc.
External links
- Hangover Square at the Internet Movie Database
- Hangover Square at allmovie
- Hangover Square at the TCM Movie Database
- Hangover Square information site and DVD review at DVD beaver (includes images)
- Hangover Square film trailer at YouTube
Streaming audio
- Hangover Square on Hollywood Star Time: April 7, 1946
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