Repeat Performance

For the compilation album by Hawkwind, see Repeat Performance (album).
Repeat Performance

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Alfred L. Werker
Produced by Aubrey Schenck
Written by Walter Bullock (screenplay)
William O'Farrell (novel)
Starring Louis Hayward
Joan Leslie
Richard Basehart
Music by George Antheil
Cinematography L. William O'Connell
Edited by Louis Sackin
Production
company
Aubrey Schenck Productions
Distributed by Eagle-Lion Films
R&B Video (DVD & VHS)
Release dates
  • May 22, 1947
Running time
 91 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $600,000[1]

Repeat Performance (1947) is a film of the film noir style starring Louis Hayward, Joan Leslie and Richard Basehart. The time travel picture combines elements of a 1940s drama with a science fiction twist. The film was released by Poverty Row studio Eagle-Lion Films, directed by Alfred L. Werker, and produced by Aubrey Schenck.

Plot

On New Year's Eve 1946, a woman is standing over her dead husband with a gun in her hand. She panics and goes to her friends for help. While seeking help from her friends at a pair of parties, she wishes that she could live 1946 all over again.

Magically, because she wished exactly at the strike of midnight on New Year's, her wish is granted and she is transported back to the beginning of 1946 with her husband alive. She attempts to relive the year without making the mistakes she and her friends made throughout the year, but certain events repeat themselves nonetheless, leaving Sheila to question whether there really is such a thing as fate or not.

The story climaxes again on New Year's Eve, when through Sheila's interferences over the year, her husband becomes convinced that she's trying to destroy him. He violently confronts her. Her friend William, who believed in Sheila's foresight, shoots her husband with her gun.

Cast

Production

The film changed the original story where the girl was the villain because it was felt Joan Leslie could not play a villain.[1]

Re-make

This film was re-made as the 1989 TV movie Turn Back the Clock directed by Larry Elikann. It featured Jere Burns, Wendy Kilbourne and original cast member Joan Leslie. (not to be confused with the 1933 film of the same name)

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tom Weaver, It Came from Horrorwood: Interviews with Moviemakers in the SF and Horror Tradition McFarland, 2000 p 272

External links