Hangover Square (Screen 1)

1945 - 77 mins - Director: John Brahm - Cast: Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, George Sanders - b&w - DCPIn this moody gaslight noir set in Edwardian London, Laird Cregar, one of the most memorable character actors of the forties, had his first--and final--starring role.  He plays the talented but tortured George Harvey Bone, a classical composer driven by the sounds in his head to create majestic concertos--and beautiful corpses. Linda Darnell plays the alluring but conniving singer who inspires his popular success and his murderous rages, while sleek and sophisticated George Sanders suspects Bone's sinister secret. Joseph LaShelle's cinematography is a visual feast, and Bernard Herrmann's extraordinary Concerto Macabre, centerpiece of the film's incendiary climax, is one of the most thrilling works he composed for the cinema. A blackout alcoholic in Patrick Hamilton's source novel, the studio changed Cregar's character to better suit his creepy image. However, Cregar never got to see his greatest performance, dying prior to the film's release at the age of thirty-one.CREDITSDirector: John BrahmCast: Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, George SandersScreenplay: Barré LyndonCinematographer: Joseph LaShelleMusic: Bernard HerrmannStudio: 20th Century FoxPresentation: DCP / b&w / 1.37:1