Copyright 1956 by Pine-Thomas-Shane Productions. Released through United Artists. New York opening at the Palace: 11 May 1956. U.S. release: June 1956. U.K. release: 4 June 1956. Australian release: 18 January 1957. Sydney opening at the Palace (ran 2 weeks). 89 minutes. Cut to 80 minutes in Australia.SYNOPSIS: New Orleans jazz musician Stan Grayson dreams that he stabs a man to death in a mirrored room and wakes to find scratches, bruises, and other indications that it was not a dream. He relates the incident to his brother-in-law, police detective René Bressard, who assures him it was a dream. The thought that he may be a killer haunts him, as does a strange, exotic tune that runs through his mind. He prowls the jazz bars on Bourbon Street, hoping to find someone who is familiar with the song but with no success. Hoping to cure Stan's melancholia, René invites him to picnic with his sister and girl friend, Gina. A sudden rainstorm forces them into the car, but its windshield wipers are broken and, in an effort to find shelter, Stan directs them to a large, empty mansion, which is the house in his dream.COMMENT: Maxwell Shane's own remake of his Fear in the Night (1947) is still a modestly budgeted affair, though it benefits from Biroc's glossy lighting and a bit of location shooting, plus of course its much stronger cast line-up. In fact, Robinson's performance is only a shade less than his usual punch and Connie Russell (who has two songs) is one of the most attractive heroines we have come across in years. Marian Carr is also effective in her single sequence as a bar pick-up.But the film suffers from padding. We don't mind the songs, but the efforts to build up Robinson's part (which is actually a secondary one) and the attenuation of some of hero Kevin McCarthy's scenes and the footage with the hero's sister make for rather wearisome viewing. Still Gage Clarke has his moments and the story is moderately suspenseful.The direction for the most part is routine though there are one or two glimpses of talent, but the nightmare sequence itself is disappointingly pedestrian.

Yes, this was originally made in the 1940's and one of the cast was none other than Deforest Kelly of Fear In The Night. After doing this one, Dr. McCoy moved on out of this remake. Edward G. Robinson replaces Paul Kelly as top billing and Kevin MCCarthy replaces Dr. McCoy. This one features more music as there is an orchestra on hand.It is solid as Stan thinks he is dreaming he killed someone he actually did kill. While a bit thread bare as a plot, it does work. There is always so much doubt when a dream killer turns out to be a real killer.Robinson and McCarthy are in top form here and definitely play off each other well. Being a film noir, this one keeps the real murderer loose until the end of the movie. The ending is a song, maybe a swan song though this one did get remade again on a 2012 television program.If you like noir, it would be benefit to see both earlier films. It would satisfy your urge for this type of film for a while. This one is pretty good.

Maxwell Shane remakes his own 1947 film Fear in the Night but with a better known cast and more money. Adapted from Cornell Woolrich's novel, story has Stan Grayson (Kevin McCarthy) as a New Orleans clarinetist who dreams he has committed a murder in a heavily mirrored room. Upon waking he finds clues that suggest he actually may have killed a man and frantically turns to his police detective brother-in-law, Rene Bressard (Edward G. Robinson), for help. But it doesn't look good for Stan... Fear in the Night is a good film, and so is this, but if you have seen the earlier version then this feels very much perfunctory. The opening titles are superb, as melted candle wax plays host to the roll call shown in moody dissolves. We jump into Grayson's dream, again this is very well constructed on noirish terms, and from there on in it's a competently crafted visual film noir picture with good tension and splendid jazzy interludes. However, nothing else makes it stand out, it just sort of exists as an exercise in late noir cycle film making, a pic that doesn't want to even try to push boundaries. The cast are dependable in performances, but nothing to really grab the attention, though Shane does work near wonders to cloak the characters in various levels of paranoia or suspicious machinations. New Orleans locales are a bonus, with cinematographer Joseph Biroc excelling at sweaty close-ups and the utilisation of shadows as foreboding presence's. It all resolves itself in a haze of improbability, but as most film noir fans will tell you, that's actually OK. Yet this is still a film that's far from essential viewing for the like minded noir crowd. More so if you happened to have seen the 1947 version first. 6/10

If you can get past the improbable key to the mystery, the rest of the movie has some good, strong points. The first twenty minutes plunge us into McCarthy's nightmarish events that may or may not have actually happened. We don't know for sure and neither does he, but there are the scratches on his arm. Did he kill those people or not. The surreal effects are impressively done.McCarthy delivers a gripping performance, as good as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (also 1956), and much better than expected for a B-movie. In short, he makes us believe that his dilemma, however improbable, is real and not just a story construct. Without that intensity drawing us in, the movie would, I think, amount to little more than a mildly interesting walk-through. The New Orleans locations provide a clever anchor to the real world, and a good setting for the colorful jazz scenes. However, a 63-year old Robinson is at least 10 years too old for the brother-in-law part even though he manages the cop role well. And can we really believe the chance occurrence onto the scene-of-the-crime mansion in all that unfamiliar backcountry. Unfortunately, the script requires more than just an ordinary suspension of disbelief. Too bad the script couldn't work in more bayou scenes. Those coming at the end are really creepy and nightmarish in their own right. Too bad also that the excellent McCarthy made so few films, preferring, I gather, stage productions instead. All in all, an interesting if regrettably flawed little movie.