I wanted to but couldn't!

Absolutely the worst movie.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Bank teller Vince Grayson (DeForest Kelly) wakes from a murderous nightmare that seems all too real with concrete evidence that it may well be true. Unable to shake the images from his mind his behavior at work becomes suspect as he irrationally bolts the job seeking to settle his confusion. He turns to his brother in law Cliff Herlihy (Paul Kelly) for help but even he has his suspicions.With it's intriguing nebulous opening Fear in the Night makes a decent effort at working noir tropes that evoke The Lady from Shanghai, DOA as well as masque the case building against Grayson well into the story. Even Grayson begins to believe he may be guilty and attempts suicide.As the confused Grayson, DeForest Kelly is an everyday benign working slob that in most circumstances seems harmless but director Max Shane saddles him with damning doubt early and Shane plays the character and the evidence to sustain suspense well into the film. Paul Kelly's cop brings balance to the story with his just the facts sobriety contrasting Grayson's free fall and incertitude. Left up to Grayson, he'd fry so it is left to Herlihy to advance the film.Jack Greenhalgh's cinematography remains strong most of the way after a bravura opening of strong expressionistic imagery that sets the stage. But overall the supporting cast remains weak and the shoestring budget glaring at times before a far-fetched denouement waters down matters even further. Still the artistry in this cheapskate makes it an interesting watch.

Today I watched DEFORREST KELLEY's movie debut. Not because of Star Trek, but because of the title of the movie. When I found out it was Kelley, my interest grew.The movie starts out eerily but not unlike a million other noirs. The mood, the music, the main character's narration. The object of the movie unfolds quickly. At first, you think the acting is prosaic. But as it unfolds, the rhythm of the story grabs you.One of the most inconsequential things also made it realistic for me. It was ANN DORAN. Her presence acts as a beautiful balance. She always portrayed a common-sense woman and somehow this made the noirish mood natural. So many times, the noir mood pervades an entire movie to point of suffocation and sometimes makes a noir maudlin. It seems that the writer and director Maxwell Shayne or maybe Cornell Woolrich's great sense of storytelling that made the mood evenly wrought."Fear In the Night" is a fine, interesting, suspenseful movie that I recommend not as a masterpiece but as a very fine example of a good idea very well made. Some would say as a great Saturday afternoon movie... which would be a slight misappreciation of this excellent noir!

Still more film noir - and quite a grabber it is. First of all - Kelly and Kelley are excellent. The story - short as it is - will have you paying attention from top to bottom..This is a tight, well-scripted movie. It is, of course, small-budgeted, but it is big on excitement. This flick is well worth your time and, as is usual with these dark flicks, you have to pay constant attention - no wandering minds allowed. "Fear In the Night" is worth your time.The gals are good - what little they have to do.It is fascinating to watch DeForest Kelley when he was just getting started. He does well with his 'rabbit-caught-in-the-headlights" expressions.Anyway, check this out. One more thing - the attempted suicide scene is almost Hitchcock-like.

Writer-director Maxwell Shane remade the film in 1956 as Nightmare starring Kevin McCarthy as the impressionable young man and Edward G. Robinson as his strong-willed brother-in-law.This was Kelley's feature film debut. He'd previously appeared in a small role in a 1945 short variously titled The Letter and Time To Kill starring George Reeves, Barry Nelson, Don Hanmer, Jimmy Lydon and Don Taylor. Although the re-make with Edgar G. Robinson has a bit more clout in the acting department, this one features a marvelous performance by Robert Emmett Keane, stepping out of character for once as a pest of a neighbor. True, Kelley's portrayal is little too overdone. The schmuck is supposed to be weak-willed but Kelley turns him into such a nerve-racked fraidy-cat that he tends to lose audience sympathy. Paul Kelly, of course, is well cast as the detective, and, aside from Kelley, he receives excellent support all the way down the line. Although the film was lensed on a "B" budget by the two dollar Bills, it seems to have more production values than the usual Pine-Thomas bills of fare.