Pine-Thomas (the 2 Dollar Bills) certainly got their money's worth out of the William Irish (Cornell Woolrich) story "Nightmare". Back in 1947 they made it as "Fear in the Night" with a young Deforest Kelly ("Bones" from the original "Star Trek" series) making an impressive debut and veteran Paul Kelly as his brother in law. It was a case of really there is nothing to separate these two fine films (unusually Maxwell Shane wrote and directed both films) with "Nightmare" being equally impressive and having the edge in production values and being set in an interesting jazz environment "way down yonder in New Orleans". In the earlier film Kelly was his usual edgy, angsty self while Robinson rounded out his characterization by being a very motivated cop (shades of "Double Indemnity").
Kevin McCarthy is just fantastic and I couldn't agree less with the reviewer that feels he just walked through his part. He is Stan Grayson, a jazz musician, who awakes from a ghastly nightmare which took place in a room full of mirrors, convinced he has killed a man. Being stressed with work and having, that same day, some of his arrangements rejected for being too "out there" is enough to have him doubting his own mind. He goes straight to his sister (Virginia Christine), and his brother in law, Rene (Robinson) a cynical cop tells Stan his mind is suffering from overwork - even when Stan produces a key and a button that he doesn't know how he got!!!
Of course things start to fall into place when, taking shelter from a fierce thunderstorm which wrecks their picnic, Stan somehow directs them to an unoccupied house in the middle of nowhere!! "I've been here before"!!! He knows where the spare key is and then shows Rene the "room of mirrors" at the top of the house. Rene then believes Stan is a cold blooded murderer who has deliberately involved his family only for sympathy but in the usual Robinson way he systematically sets about solving the case and leading to an ingenious conclusion involving Stan's meek and mild neighbour.
This movie was made when Robinson's career was at it's lowest ebb, he had had a run in with the H.U.A.A.C and felt after that a lot of the work he was given was mediocre. Viewing the movies now, a lot of them were better than the As (Cecil B. DeMille etc) of the time and Robinson's performances are among his best. Marian Carr who played the blonde vamp Stan encounters when he is trying to retrace his steps had a pretty uneventful career, considering the promise and the big things that were expected from her when she first went to Hollywood. She was voted "Miss Insomnia" as the starlet voted most likely to keep men from their sleep!!! but after "Nightmare" her career was over!!
Kevin McCarthy is just fantastic and I couldn't agree less with the reviewer that feels he just walked through his part. He is Stan Grayson, a jazz musician, who awakes from a ghastly nightmare which took place in a room full of mirrors, convinced he has killed a man. Being stressed with work and having, that same day, some of his arrangements rejected for being too "out there" is enough to have him doubting his own mind. He goes straight to his sister (Virginia Christine), and his brother in law, Rene (Robinson) a cynical cop tells Stan his mind is suffering from overwork - even when Stan produces a key and a button that he doesn't know how he got!!!
Of course things start to fall into place when, taking shelter from a fierce thunderstorm which wrecks their picnic, Stan somehow directs them to an unoccupied house in the middle of nowhere!! "I've been here before"!!! He knows where the spare key is and then shows Rene the "room of mirrors" at the top of the house. Rene then believes Stan is a cold blooded murderer who has deliberately involved his family only for sympathy but in the usual Robinson way he systematically sets about solving the case and leading to an ingenious conclusion involving Stan's meek and mild neighbour.
This movie was made when Robinson's career was at it's lowest ebb, he had had a run in with the H.U.A.A.C and felt after that a lot of the work he was given was mediocre. Viewing the movies now, a lot of them were better than the As (Cecil B. DeMille etc) of the time and Robinson's performances are among his best. Marian Carr who played the blonde vamp Stan encounters when he is trying to retrace his steps had a pretty uneventful career, considering the promise and the big things that were expected from her when she first went to Hollywood. She was voted "Miss Insomnia" as the starlet voted most likely to keep men from their sleep!!! but after "Nightmare" her career was over!!