Fear In The Night (1947)
“Fear in the Night” (1947): Hypnosis, Murder, and Noir Paranoia
Directed and written by Maxwell Shane, Fear in the Night is a taut, psychological film noir based on the story Nightmare by Cornell Woolrich (writing under the pseudonym William Irish). This eerie thriller stars DeForest Kelley—in his feature film debut—as a man haunted by a dream that may be a memory of murder.
Plot Summary
Vince Grayson (DeForest Kelley), a bank teller, wakes up from a terrifying dream in which he murders a man in a mirrored room. But the dream leaves behind disturbing clues: a key in his pocket, blood on his cuff, and marks on his throat. His brother-in-law, Cliff Herlihy (Paul Kelly), a police officer, tries to convince him it was just a nightmare.
When the two take shelter from a storm in a mansion, Vince realizes it’s the exact house from his dream. As the mystery deepens, they uncover a sinister plot involving hypnosis, a manipulative villain named Mr. Belknap, and a second murder that ties Vince to the crime. The climax reveals Belknap’s true identity and his attempt to hypnotize Vince into suicide—only to meet his own end in a car crash.
Cast Highlights
- DeForest Kelley as Vince Grayson
- Paul Kelly as Cliff Herlihy
- Ann Doran as Lil Herlihy
- Kay Scott as Betty Winters
- Robert Emmett Keane as Lewis Belknap / Harry Byrd
Behind-the-Scenes Trivia
- The film was shot in just 10 days on a budget of $128,000–$200,000
- Originally titled Nightmare, it was later remade by Shane in 1956 under that name, starring Edward G. Robinson and Kevin McCarthy
- The story was first published as And So to Death in 1941, then retitled Nightmare in Woolrich’s 1943 collection I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes
