Just perfect...

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Joan Leslie stars with Louis Hayward, Tom Conway, Richard Basehart, and Virginia Field in "Repeat Performance" from 1947.I actually saw what I thought was a very good TV movie version of this - "Turn Back the Clock" with Connie Selleca, David Dukes, Jere Burns, Gene Barry, and Dina Merrill. Leslie plays a stage actress, Sheila Page who, at the very beginning of the film, on New Year's Eve, shoots her husband. Panicked, she meets up with a close friend, William, and heads for a New Year's party at her producer's (Tom Conway) apartment. She says she wishes she could do the whole year over. When she turns to her friend, he's gone, she's in last year's gown, and the New Year's Eve party is for the previous year. She's gotten her wish.Well, we know how these things usually turn out -- but the way it turns out is interesting, to say the least.This is a noirish film, and everyone is very good - Leslie is glammed-up and appropriately confused. Hayward is effective as an obnoxious drunk, Field an arch femme fatale, and Basehart as a good friend. I have to admit, in "Turn Black the Clock," things are a little more fleshed out, especially the Basehart and Field roles, and I actually liked that aspect better.Nevertheless, this is a fascinating film from the '40s.

The first time I watched REPEAT PERFORMANCE was on Nickolodeon in the late 1980s, circa 1987-1988, when the cable channel was still showing old movies in the wee hours of the morning. I was caught up in the trials and tribulations of glamorous actress Sheila Page (Joan Leslie) who shoots her philandering horndog of a husband (Louis Hayward) in a fit of passionate rage on New Year's Eve and hears police sirens off in the distance, and wishes that she could live the past year all over again. She does. Will Sheila shoot her husband again? You'll have to find out for yourself. I can't spoil it for you. I can say this, however: REPEAT PERFORMANCE was one of the first movies put out by Eagle-Lion Films after the name change from Producers Releasing Corporation; it had been purchased by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation based in England with the purpose of making bigger-budgeted films. I had this movie on tape, taped over it for some unknown reason, and now it's hard to find. Darn. Anyway, fine movie. Ahhh, one more thing: Joan Leslie made a cameo appearance in the television remake TURN BACK THE CLOCK (1989) with Connie Sellecca and William Russ.

I sought this out because I saw the cool movie poster online and thought it looked like an interesting movie. The story is about an actress (Joan Leslie) who shoots her cheating husband (Louis Hayward) on New Year's Eve. She goes to see her producer friend for help but when she arrives at his apartment, she finds that time has turned back a year. She now has a chance to relive the past year and prevent things from happening that led to the shooting.Curious blend of fantasy and film noir melodrama is a nice starring vehicle for Joan Leslie. She's a little over the top at times but so is the rest of the cast. Louis Hayward, Tom Conway, and Virginia Field are all fine. Richard Basehart is miscast as Leslie's weird poet friend who's in love with her. Think of Clifford Webb in "Laura" and you can imagine how wrong Basehart is for a part like that. The 'Whistler' style narration is a bit much and the movie gives in to soap opera theatrics often. Still, it's interesting and enjoyable to watch, particularly for fans of Joan Leslie.

I just saw this film play in a 16mm copy last Friday night ~Jan 25 '08. The brochure stated that there were no usable 35mm prints good enough for playing on a big screen.It played at The Castro Theatre in San Francisco. Also playing with another unreleased to DVD Joan Leslie movie "The Hard Way"This well thought out movie has it all. It doesn't sell out the possibilities that could go wrong or against you if you were living it.The main actors in this stylish film noir romp all were credible in their motives and actions. Seeing Natalie Schafer from Gilligan's Island fame was funny playing a scheming and controlling diva of the arts world. Tom Conway as "everybody's big brother" had a part that he owned. Louis Hayward as the cheating husband and Virginia Field who was playing along with the dangerous and cheating fun. You could tell that there were sparks between them. Those same sparks were missing in the married relationship with Joan.Basehart was great in his first film role. There were some outrageous corny lines of dialogue that had the audience laughing along with the scene when it wasn't supposed to be funny on screen. But, overall he nailed it in a crucial part.I hope that this comes to DVD soon while Joan is still around. It would be even more astounding if she herself gave a running commentary to it!!!