DEAD RINGERS FILMS. 4 EDITIoN Michael Allan(Jimmmy); Robert Wyndham(Dr. Albury)."Hearse level, Dead of Night reveals a male fear of domesticity, which is here Driver: Antony Baird(Hugh): Judy Kelly (oyce): Miles Malleson equated with emasculation and the presence of strong, independent hearse Driver/Bus Conductor)."The Haunted Mirror: Googie women who are seen to have usurped male authority (one thinks of Withers (Joan): Ralph Michael(Peter): Esme Percy(Antique Dealer). Googie Withers organising her wedding while her fiancee waits Golfing Story": Basil Radford( George ) Naunton Wayne(Larry); passively in his flat, and of Sally Ann Howes violently rejecting the Peggy Bryan(Mary)."The Ventriloquists Dummy: Michael amorous advances of a fellow teenager). The film is full of weak, Redgrave(Maxwell Frere ) Hartley Power(Sylvester Kee): Elisabeth crippled, and/or victimised male characters: an injured racing driver, Welch(Beulah): Magda Kun(Mitzi): Garry Marsh(Harry Parker) a boy murdered by his elder sister, a meek accountant dominated first by his fiancee and then by the infuence of the" haunted mirror, and-in an extraordinary performance by Michael Redgrave-a Publications neurotic ventriloquist who eventually collapses into complete insan- ity. It is significant in this light that the character whose dream the film turns out to be is an architect, a symbolically charged profession at a time of national reconstruction. That this architect is indecisive Klaue, wolfgang, and others, Cavalcanti, Berlin, 1952. frightened, and, at the end of his dream, shown as harbouring Pirie, David, A Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Ciner murderous desires underlines the films lack of confidence in the future 1946-1972, London,1973 This can be connected with what is in effect a systematic under Everson,William K, Classics of the Horror Film, New York, 1974. mining of one of the characteristic themes of British World War II Barr, Charles, Ealing Studios, London, 1977. cinema, namely the formation of a cohesive group out of diverse Perry, George, Forever Ealing, London, 1981 social elements(Ealing Studios, which produced Dead of Night, Eberwein, Robert T, Film and the Dream Screen: A Sleep an contributed to this with, among others San Demetrio London and The Forgetting, Princeton, 1984 Bells Go Down. Dead of Night begins with a group of characters Brown,Geoff, Michael Balcon: Pursuit of Britain, New York, 1990. coming together, but here this is not in the interests of establishing Barr, Charles, Ealing Studios, Berkeley, 1999 a national consensus. Instead this group is fragmented by the films insistent stress on the ways in which each individual is trapped within Articles his or her own perceptions and mental processes. Each story tells of a private experience, something that more often than not is witnessed Documentary Newsletter(London), no. 7, 1945 by only one person. Kine Weekly(London), 6 September 1945 The sense of alienation thereby produced further manifests itself Variety(New York), 19 September 1945 in the many references in the film to acts of vision which are Monthly Film Bulletin(London), 30 September 1945 unreliable or compromised in some way. Repeatedly characters stare Hollywood Reporter, 28 June 1946 disbelievingly at the""events unfolding before them. New York Times. 29 June 1946 Seeing is no longer believing. The faith in an objective reality central Variety(New York), 3 July 1946 to British wartime documentaries and which also contributed to the Motion Picture Herald(New York), 6 July 1946 style adopted by many fiction films has been eroded. Dreams and villegas Lopez, Manuel,""Analisis de los valores, Al morir la fantasies have taken its place, to the extent that, as one character puts noche, in Cinema: Tecnica y estatica del arte nuevo, Madrid, 1954 it, ""None of us exist at all. Were nothing but characters in Mr Agee, James, Agee on Film 1, New York, 1958 Craigs dream Barr, Charles, ""Projecting Britain and the British Character"(2 parts), the moment where the psychoanalyst who throughout the film has Brossard, Chandler, in Film Comment(New York ) May-June 1974. argued for logic and reason accidentally breaks his spectacles. The Ecran Fantastique(Paris), no 2, 1977. clarity of vision induced by a wartime situation has been similarly Ecran Fantastique(Paris), September 1986 shattered. All that remains is an uncertainty and fear which the film Branagh, K, in Premiere(Boulder), February 1993 records in an obsessive and disturbing detail Aachen, G,"Dead of Night, in Reid's Film Index(wyong), no. DEAD RINGERS Dead of Night's status as the first British horror film of note (advanced most convincingly by David Pirie in his book A Heritage of Horror) rests largely on the robert Hamer-directed""Haunted M Canada, 1988 or"episode. Certainly this masterful piece of work, with its depic tion of a destructive sexuality emerging from the 19th-century setting Director: David Cronenberg reflected in the mirror, anticipates elements of Hammer horror in the 1950sand1960s. Production: Mantle Clinic II Ltd.. in association with Morgan Creek However, the film as a whole can also be seen as a response to the Productions; colour, 35mm; running time: 1 15 minutes social dislocations caused by the end of the war, and in particular a confusion in masculine identity arising from difficulties in integrat- Producers: David Cronenberg and Marc Boyman; executive pro- ing a large part of the male population back into civilian life. On one ducers: Carol Baum and Sylvio Tabet; screenplay: David CronenbergDEAD RINGERS FILMS, 4th EDITION 298 Michael Allan (Jimmy); Robert Wyndham (Dr. Albury). ‘‘Hearse Driver’’: Antony Baird (Hugh); Judy Kelly (Joyce); Miles Malleson (Hearse Driver/Bus Conductor). ‘‘The Haunted Mirror’’: Googie Withers (Joan); Ralph Michael (Peter); Esme Percy (Antique Dealer). ‘‘Golfing Story’’: Basil Radford (George); Naunton Wayne (Larry); Peggy Bryan (Mary). ‘‘The Ventriloquist’s Dummy’’: Michael Redgrave (Maxwell Frere); Hartley Power (Sylvester Kee); Elisabeth Welch (Beulah); Magda Kun (Mitzi); Garry Marsh (Harry Parker). Publications Books: Klaue, Wolfgang, and others, Cavalcanti, Berlin, 1952. Pirie, David, A Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cinema 1946–1972, London, 1973. Everson, William K., Classics of the Horror Film, New York, 1974. Barr, Charles, Ealing Studios, London, 1977. Perry, George, Forever Ealing, London, 1981. Eberwein, Robert T., Film and the Dream Screen: A Sleep and a Forgetting, Princeton, 1984. Brown, Geoff, Michael Balcon: Pursuit of Britain, New York, 1990. Barr, Charles, Ealing Studios, Berkeley, 1999. Articles: Documentary Newsletter (London), no. 7, 1945. Kine Weekly (London), 6 September 1945. Variety (New York), 19 September 1945. Monthly Film Bulletin (London), 30 September 1945. Hollywood Reporter, 28 June 1946. New York Times, 29 June 1946. Variety (New York), 3 July 1946. Motion Picture Herald (New York), 6 July 1946. Villegas Lopez, Manuel, ‘‘Analisis de los valores, Al morir la noche,’’ in Cinema: Técnica y estatica del arte nuevo, Madrid, 1954. Agee, James, Agee on Film 1, New York, 1958. Barr, Charles, ‘‘Projecting Britain and the British Character’’ (2 parts), in Screen (London), Spring and Summer 1974. Brossard, Chandler, in Film Comment (New York), May-June 1974. Ecran Fantastique (Paris), no. 2, 1977. Ecran Fantastique (Paris), September 1986. Branagh, K., in Premiere (Boulder), February 1993. Aachen, G., ‘‘Dead of Night,’’ in Reid’s Film Index (Wyong), no. 30, 1997. *** Dead of Night’s status as the first British horror film of note (advanced most convincingly by David Pirie in his book A Heritage of Horror) rests largely on the Robert Hamer-directed ‘‘Haunted Mir￾ror’’ episode. Certainly this masterful piece of work, with its depic￾tion of a destructive sexuality emerging from the 19th-century setting reflected in the mirror, anticipates elements of Hammer horror in the 1950s and 1960s. However, the film as a whole can also be seen as a response to the social dislocations caused by the end of the war, and in particular a confusion in masculine identity arising from difficulties in integrat￾ing a large part of the male population back into civilian life. On one level, Dead of Night reveals a male fear of domesticity, which is here equated with emasculation and the presence of strong, independent women who are seen to have usurped male authority (one thinks of Googie Withers organising her wedding while her fiancée waits passively in his flat, and of Sally Ann Howes violently rejecting the amorous advances of a fellow teenager). The film is full of weak, crippled, and/or victimised male characters: an injured racing driver, a boy murdered by his elder sister, a meek accountant dominated first by his fiancée and then by the influence of the ‘‘haunted mirror,’’ and—in an extraordinary performance by Michael Redgrave—a neurotic ventriloquist who eventually collapses into complete insan￾ity. It is significant in this light that the character whose dream the film turns out to be is an architect, a symbolically charged profession at a time of national reconstruction. That this architect is indecisive, frightened, and, at the end of his dream, shown as harbouring murderous desires underlines the film’s lack of confidence in the future. This can be connected with what is in effect a systematic under￾mining of one of the characteristic themes of British World War II cinema, namely the formation of a cohesive group out of diverse social elements. (Ealing Studios, which produced Dead of Night, contributed to this with, among others, San Demetrio London and The Bells Go Down.) Dead of Night begins with a group of characters coming together, but here this is not in the interests of establishing a national consensus. Instead this group is fragmented by the film’s insistent stress on the ways in which each individual is trapped within his or her own perceptions and mental processes. Each story tells of a private experience, something that more often than not is witnessed by only one person. The sense of alienation thereby produced further manifests itself in the many references in the film to acts of vision which are unreliable or compromised in some way. Repeatedly characters stare disbelievingly at the ‘‘impossible’’ events unfolding before them. Seeing is no longer believing. The faith in an objective reality central to British wartime documentaries and which also contributed to the style adopted by many fiction films has been eroded. Dreams and fantasies have taken its place, to the extent that, as one character puts it, ‘‘None of us exist at all. We’re nothing but characters in Mr. Craig’s dream.’’ The complexities of Dead of Night are beautifully crystallised in the moment where the psychoanalyst who throughout the film has argued for logic and reason accidentally breaks his spectacles. The clarity of vision induced by a wartime situation has been similarly shattered. All that remains is an uncertainty and fear which the film records in an obsessive and disturbing detail. —Peter Hutchings DEAD RINGERS Canada, 1988 Director: David Cronenberg Production: Mantle Clinic II Ltd., in association with Morgan Creek Productions; colour, 35mm; running time: 115 minutes. Producers: David Cronenberg and Marc Boyman; executive pro￾ducers: Carol Baum and Sylvio Tabet; screenplay: David Cronenberg