Black & White World

Hangover Square (1945)

Reuniting the cast and principal creative artists behind The Lodger, Hangover Square manages to solve the main problem I had with the story in that previous film.  Which, if you recall, was mainly that if it was supposed to be a mystery it was not mysterious at all, and if it was not supposed to be a mystery, we spent way too much time watching people try to solve the mystery—and in fact behaving irresponsibly ignorant in the face of what was absolutely clear to the viewer, such as who the murderer is.

With that major obstacle out of the way (the film makes it very clear “whodunnit” from the first scene, and gives the investigators a plausible reason for passing him up as a suspect), we’re free to just enjoy the moody, creepy atmosphere created by director John Brahm and photographed by Joseph LaShelle, and another powerhouse performance by Laird Cregar—sadly, his last.  Cregar died of a heart attack only a few weeks after Hangover Square was released, at the astonishingly young age of 28.

The Lodger did have one major triumph over Hangover Square, which was the exciting chase scene and climax.  I wasn’t as on the edge of my seat when this movie started to come to a close.  But Bernard Herrman’s haunting score is another in the plus column for Hangover Square, as is Linda Darnell’s performance as the turn-of-the-century femme fatale.  Solid film all around, recommended.