Main Cast: Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Faye Marlowe
Release Year: 1945
Country: US
Run Time: 80 minutes
Plot
Set in turn-of-the century London, this period thriller stars Laird Cregar as George Harvey Bone, a composer who suffers from a rather severe case of artistic temperament. Driven to distraction by the discordant sounds of the city, the usually sensitive Bone occasionally snaps when exposed to undue stress, and the results can be deadly; he sometimes blacks out and commits murders that he can't quite recall the next morning. Working on a major concerto, Bone is at his wit's end, and when an antique dealer tries to cheat him, the salesman turns up dead. Dr. Allen Middleton (George Sanders), a psychologist with Scotland Yard, questions Bone about the crime; he claims to know nothing about it, but the perceptive doctor suggests that Bone needs to relax more. Taking Middleton's advice, Bone visits a music hall that evening and sees Netta London (Linda Darnell), a singer with whom Bone immediately becomes entranced. This makes the composer even less patient with his sweetheart Barbara Chapman (Faye Marlowe), whose father, the wealthy Sir Henry Chapman (Alan Napier), has commissioned Bone's latest work. When Barbara tells Bone that his concerto is not up to snuff, she only narrowly escapes with her life, and while Bone believes that he's found true love with the beautiful Netta, the singer finds herself in danger when Bone suspects her of infidelity. Hangover Square gave character actor Laird Cregar his first starring role. Sadly, it was also his last film; Cregar, who struggled with weight problems all his life, tipped the scales at nearly 300 pounds when he made this film. Eager for more starring roles, Cregar went on a dangerous crash diet, and while he soon lost 100 pounds, it put his health into serious disarray, and the actor died of a heart attack at the age of 28, shortly before the release of his first starring vehicle. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Hangover Square (1945) is a film noir directed by John Brahm, based on the novel Hangover Square (1941) by Patrick Hamilton. The screenplay was written by Barré Lyndon who made a number of changes to the novel, including the transformation of George Harvey Bone into a classical composer-pianist and filming the story as a turn-of-the-century period piece.[1]
The locale is the late Victorian London, with the date 1899 shown in the opening scene. The period setting creates a dark mood, especially in the key scene when Bone (portrayed by Laird Cregar), having strangled Netta (Linda Darnell) on Guy Fawkes Night, carries her wrapped body through streets filled with revelers and deposits it on top of the biggest bonfire.
The final scene shows Cregar as Bone, mesmerizingly playing his great piano concerto (composed by Bernard Herrmann), unmindful of the conflagration around him, as flames consume all.
American composer Stephen Sondheim has cited Herrmann's score for Hangover Square as a major influence on his musical Sweeney Todd.[2]
