Hangover Square (1945)
Reviewed in February 2010
Director: John Brahm. Cast: Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, Faye Marlowe, Alan Napier, George Sanders, Glenn Langan,
J. Farrell MacDonald, J.W. Austin, Leyland Hodgson, Frederick Worlock, Michael Dyne, Francis Ford. Screenplay:
Barré Lyndon (based on the novel by Patrick Hamilton).
Thundering Bernard Herrmann piano over credits - plus La Shelle and Wheeler!; unconvincing POV stab, plus gaslamp fire;
stumbling around wiht head injury, smeared POVs of bystanders he bumps into;
"black little moods"; discordnat sounds as triggers?;
LC and LD go to GS for expert counsel re: killing, knife, moods;
sYard: one of his governesses!; get away from your music - mingle with "ordinary people" - a fey twist on class-mus teror Gaslight, 7th Victim, et al;
GS alterantely annoyed by LD and flirtations: "I can make a few steps go an awfully long way";
3448; 3724;
Netta Longdon in "Gay Love"!; Guy Fawkes Day! 1903;
Paper hawker sing-songing the news of missing LD;
The Siamese cat; fingering the curtain cords while they inspect;
EVERYONE knows about the "periods of forgetfulness";
LC in gleaming white vs. GS as silhouetted black - Manichean but weirdly doubling;
at 1:04:00 - "You have vague memories of eerything I'm saying" - knotted curtain-tie, singed cuff;
Excitingly swoopy camera, dark visual biases with high-constrast gleams, low and growling concerto in final sequence;
Convergence of arresting officers;
Smeared, low-contrast, light-gray flashbacks to distressed moments - sawing violins and leering overheads on piano keys;
Barbara finishes playing concerto when he can't finish - flashbacks + convergence of arresting officers;
Another conflagration, as concerto keeps barreling through the soundtrack; a despondent high-angle look from LC in the (curtained!) loge; (almost Rupert Everett);
He insists on finishing amidst the blaze; FM trapped with him;
Sir Henry: "Why didn't he try to get out?"; GS: "It's better this way, Sir";
Crane back in blazing sympony space at the end, as light gray smoke and white fire occludes LC;
Cmusic isn't just a mark of those who drive you mad (Gaslight) but actually drives you mad - though discordant ntoes do the same;
Radio version with Vincent Price;
B
