Hangover Square (1945)

Hangover Square (1945)

starring Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, George Sanders

written by Barré Lyndon

directed by John Brahm

78 minutes

Composer George Bone (Laird Cregar) murders a man (in London in 1903) and then sets the man's shop on fire. All of this happens while George's brain is fogged. The fog recedes eventually and George finds evidence that leads him to believe that he might be the murderer. He talks to a Scotland Yard Doctor, Allan Middleton (George Sanders), who conducts some tests but is unable to conclude whether George is the murderer or not.

George subsequently falls for beer hall singer Netta Longdon (Linda Darnell). She hopes that he will help her rise above her current lot in life although she hides from him her relationship with another man. George, throughout, is encouraged by Sir Henry Chapman and his daughter Barbara to continue work on a concerto. 

George's relationship with Netta doesn't end well, after he finds about her other lover and his brain gets fogged once again. Scotland Yard investigators quickly zero in on George as a possible suspect in the disappearance of Netta. George gets to perform his concerto but midway through his brain gets fogged once again with disastrous consequences.

Thoughts

I saw this movie as part of the 2026 Noir City DC film festival at the AFI Silver Theater. I had not seen it before. Eddie Muller, the Czar of Noir, introduced the movie.

This movie has a very dramatic, some might say operatic, ending which I kind of enjoyed but I had trouble with the story up to that point, mostly with the device that fogged his brain. When was he lucid and when wasn’t he? At first it seemed clear but later in the movie the line between the two seemed to get blurred. Was he consciously trying to cover the murder/death of Netta? I’m not sure.

The light levels in the movie were a little too low for my tastes and my eyesight. It was hard at times for me to tell what was going on. It seemed like 80% or more of the scenes were very excessively dark. Maybe restoring the film would solve this problem. 

I was not won over by Laird Cregar’s performance but I'm not sure that it was entirely his fault. The writing wasn't exactly brilliant either.

I was not won over by this movie.

Notes

I've seen Laird Cregar in at least two other films including This Gun for Hire (1942). I have only seen Linda Darnell in one other film. I've seen George Sanders in a few other films but the only one I have seen in recent years is All About Eve (1950). The part of Sir Henry Chapman was played by Alan Napier. I saw him most recently in an episode of  Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), 1.26 Whodunit. 

This is the only movie I have seen that John Brahm directed but I have seen several episodes of television that he directed. Most recently I watched an episode of The Twilight Zone (1959) that he directed, 1.28 A Nice Place to Visit.