The Witching Hour (1934 film)

Last updated
The Witching Hour
Directed by Henry Hathaway
Written by Anthony Veiller
Salisbury Field (adaptation)
Based onthe 1907 play The Witching Hour
by Augustus Thomas
Produced byAnthony Veiller
Starring Sir Guy Standing
John Halliday
Judith Allen
Tom Brown
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • April 26, 1934 (1934-04-26)
Running time
69 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Witching Hour is a 1934 American pre-Code drama film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Sir Guy Standing, John Halliday, Judith Allen and Tom Brown.

Contents

Plot

While Jack Brookfield runs a gambling gathering at night in his Kentucky house, his daughter Nancy is frequently visited by and becomes engaged to young Northern architect Clay Thorne. His mother, an old friend of Brookfield's, arrives from Baltimore to save her son from the vice of gambling, but when Brookfield shows her her son and his daughter in the garden, she is delighted. Brookfield announces to the gentlemen that for that evening the gambling is over early, due to a feeling he has.

After everybody has left, Brookfield's old friend (and customer) Lew Ellinger proposes playing poker. Brookfield answers he is not a gambler, but Ellinger deals the cards anyway. To his astonishment, Brookfield tells him exactly what he has in his hand. When it is repeated a second time, Brookfield tells him that he cannot tell what cards he has if Ellinger does not look at them. When this second time he tells again the cards Ellinger has, Ellinger asks Brookfield how he does it. Brookfield does not know, but he does not gamble because of this gift, which saddens Ellinger.

Meantime, the police chief gathers his men to raid Brookfield's house. When they arrive, but they can find no trace of gambling activity.

After Nancy turns in for the night, Clay becomes terrified when he sees a cats-eye ring (collateral put up by Lew) on Brookfield's finger. This causes Brookfield to question Clay's manhood.

Afterward, Brookfield receives a visit from Frank Hardmuth. Hardmuth has a grudge against him and is determined to show that he is the boss of the town. When Hardmuth states he is good enough for Nancy, Brookfield punches him and tells him that one day a man will come in his office and shoot him. Clay overhears him. Brookfield tells him, after Hardmuth leaves, that his fear is absurd. He hypnotizes the young man without realizing it.

Judge Martin Prentice is Brookfield's last visitor that night. Brookfield finds in him an understanding person concerning his gift. Prentice warns him to be more careful about hypnotizing people.

Clay goes to Hardmuth's office and shoots him dead without knowing what he is doing. His loved ones search for a defense attorney, but nobody takes hypnotism seriously or believes it is grounds for a defense. Finally, they think of Judge Prentice, who is retired, but would certainly understand how to manage the case. Prentice does not want to take the case, but the ghost of Margaret Price, Mrs. Thorne's mother and Prentice's love, persuades him to change his mind. The trial goes badly for the defense; even the testimony of Dr. von Strohn, an eminent expert on hypnosis, cannot turn the tide. Finally, in desperation, Prentice has Brookfield hypnotize the openly skeptical jury foreman into shooting the district attorney (the gun has blanks). The jury reaches the verdict "not guilty", and Clay is a free man.

Cast

Reception

Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film two and a half out of four stars, calling it "[a] Minor but well-made chiller with eerie atmosphere." [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Murder One</i> (TV series) American legal drama television series

Murder One is an American legal drama television series that aired on ABC from September 19, 1995, until May 29, 1997. The series was created by Steven Bochco, Charles H. Eglee, and Channing Gibson.

<i>Porkys Revenge!</i> 1985 film by James Komack

Porky's Revenge! is a 1985 sex comedy film and the third and final film of the original Porky's film series. It was directed by James Komack.

<i>Executive Action</i> (film) 1973 film by David Miller

Executive Action is a 1973 American conspiracy thriller film about the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy, written by Dalton Trumbo, Mark Lane, and Donald Freed, and directed by David Miller. It stars Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan. Miller had previously worked with Trumbo on his film Lonely Are the Brave (1962).

<i>Jury Duty</i> (film) 1995 American film

Jury Duty is a 1995 American legal comedy film directed by John Fortenberry, written by Neil Tolkin, Barbara Williams, and Adam Small, and starring Pauly Shore, Tia Carrere, Stanley Tucci, Brian Doyle-Murray, Shelley Winters, and Abe Vigoda.

<i>Penelope</i> (1966 film) 1966 film by Arthur Hiller

Penelope is a 1966 American comedy caper film directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring Natalie Wood, Ian Bannen, Peter Falk, Jonathan Winters, and Dick Shawn. George Wells' screenplay was based on the 1965 novel of the same title, written by Howard Melvin Fast under the pseudonym E.V. Cunningham.

<i>Less than Zero</i> (film) 1987 American drama film

Less than Zero is a 1987 American drama film directed by Marek Kanievska, loosely based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis. The film stars Andrew McCarthy as Clay, a college freshman returning home for Christmas to spend time with his ex-girlfriend Blair and his friend Julian, both of whom have become drug addicts. The film explores the culture of wealthy, decadent youth in Los Angeles.

<i>The Killer Shrews</i> 1959 film by Ray Kellogg

The Killer Shrews is a 1959 American independent science fiction film directed by Ray Kellogg, and produced by Ken Curtis and Gordon McLendon. The story follows a group of researchers who are trapped in their remote island compound overnight by a hurricane and find themselves under siege by their abnormally large and venomous mutant test subjects. The film stars James Best, Ingrid Goude, Ken Curtis, McLendon, Baruch Lumet and "Judge" Henry Dupree.

<i>Devil Doll</i> (film) 1964 British film by Lindsay Shonteff

Devil Doll is a 1964 British horror film directed and produced by Lindsay Shonteff and starring Bryant Haliday, William Sylvester and Yvonne Romain. The story is about an evil stage hypnotist and his dummy Hugo.

<i>Tight Spot</i> 1955 film by Phil Karlson

Tight Spot is a 1955 American film noir crime film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson and Brian Keith. The story was inspired by then prominent U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver's strong-arm tactics in coercing Virginia Hill to testify in the infamous Bugsy Siegel organized crime prosecution. The Democratic senator from Tennessee attracted national attention with the new medium of televised investigation hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The next year saw Kefauver as the Vice Presidential nominee with former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II for the Democrats in the 1956 election against Republican incumbent 34th president Dwight D. Eisenhower and his running mate Richard M. Nixon, who were reelected.

<i>The Unholy Three</i> (1930 film) 1930 American melodrama film

The Unholy Three is a 1930 American Pre-Code melodrama directed by Jack Conway and starring Lon Chaney. Its plot involves a crime spree. The film is a sound remake of the silent 1925 film of the same name, with both films based on the novel The Unholy Three, by Tod Robbins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purnell Pratt</span> American actor (1885–1941)

Purnell Pratt was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1914 and 1941. He was born in Bethel, Illinois and died in Hollywood, California.

<i>Evelyn Prentice</i> 1934 film by William K. Howard

Evelyn Prentice is a 1934 American crime drama film starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, and featuring Una Merkel and Rosalind Russell in her film debut. The movie was based on the 1933 novel of the same name by W. E. Woodward. Filmed between the original Thin Man and the first of its sequels, William Powell and Myrna Loy are re-teamed as another husband-and-wife team knee deep in a murder mystery.

<i>The Halliday Brand</i> 1957 film

The Halliday Brand is a 1957 American Western film directed by Joseph H. Lewis and starring Joseph Cotten. The film's sets were designed by the art director David S. Garber. It was shot partly at the Corriganville Movie Ranch.

<i>Please Murder Me</i> 1956 film by Peter Godfrey

Please Murder Me! is a 1956 American film noir directed by Peter Godfrey and starring Angela Lansbury, Raymond Burr and Dick Foran. The film contains an incomplete copyright notice omitting mention of its claimant and has fallen into the public domain.

"Perils of Paranoia" is the eighth episode of the eighth season of the American television medical drama series House and the 163rd overall episode of the series. It aired on Fox on November 28, 2011.

<i>Ace of Aces</i> (1933 film) 1933 film

Ace of Aces, also known as Bird of Prey, is a 1933 American pre-Code war film based on the story "The Bird of Prey" by World War I pilot John Monk Saunders that explores how war can turn a man's moral compass from pacifism to warmonger. Starring Richard Dix, it was similar to many of the period films that appeared to glorify the "knights of the air", but was more complex, examining the motivations of those who choose to go to war.

<i>Fingers at the Window</i> 1942 film by Charles Lederer

Fingers at the Window is a 1942 mystery film directed by Charles Lederer and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>My Man and I</i> 1952 film

My Man and I is a 1952 American drama film directed by William Wellman and starring Ricardo Montalbán, Shelley Winters, Wendell Corey and Claire Trevor. It is about an ambitious Mexican immigrant farm laborer (Montalbán), who falls in love with an alcoholic waitress despite being pursued by the beautiful wife of his boss. It was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film's sets were designed by the art director James Basevi.

<i>The Witching Hour</i> (1921 film) 1921 film

The Witching Hour is a 1921 American silent drama film directed by William Desmond Taylor and written by Julia Crawford Ivers, adapting the 1907 stage play by Augustus E. Thomas. The film stars Elliott Dexter, Winter Hall, Ruth Renick, Robert Cain, A. Edward Sutherland, Mary Alden, and F. A. Turner. The film was released on April 10, 1921, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Fighting Thru</i> 1930 film

Fighting Thru, also known as California in 1878, is a 1930 American pre-Code Western film directed by William Nigh and starring Ken Maynard, Jeanette Loff, and Wallace MacDonald. Its plot follows a gold miner from the California Gold Rush who attempts to save his partner and vie for the affections of a young frontier woman. The film was released by Tiffany Pictures in December 1930, and re-released in 1937 through Amity Pictures.

References

  1. Leonard Maltin; Spencer Green; Rob Edelman (January 2010). Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide. Plume. p. 753. ISBN   978-0-452-29577-3.