I've been wanting to see 'Repeat Performance' (Alfred L. Werker, 1947) for quite some time, as not only am I a huge fan of film noir (I've seen nearly 400 film noir titles as of 2022) but I also love watching films that are seasonal and put you in the mood for a particular holiday. Along with 'The Man I Love' (Raoul Walsh, 1946), another great film noir whose plot transpires largely around New Year's Eve, 'Repeat Performance' also takes place around this holiday time.
In addition to its seasonal ambience, a strong point of the film is that the actors have really good chemistry onscreen. This might be somewhat helped by none of them being major superstars of the era. Sometimes, the presence of a major superstar can result in being a distraction that can take the viewer out of the film, thus, losing its immersive quality or, worse, ham it up for the camera or chew the scenery to the point where these superstars overshadow their more nuanced co-stars. The actors, here, work very cohesively together which helps the viewer focus more on the plot and storylines of the characters. Three of the principal actors are Louis Hayward, Joan Leslie, and Richard Basehart.
Hayward is fairly one-dimensional as Barney Page (or two-dimensional when you consider how quickly his character goes from lovingly embracing his wife, Sheila, to becoming angrily suspicious of her actions). Aside from the few peppered moments where Barney makes an attempt at being a loving husband, he is truly a despicable character beyond his drinking problem and, thus, does not exhibit any true redeeming qualities in the film. He's misogynistic and even says, "Darling, you're only a woman. You're not expected to have either judgement or intelligence". He's also repeatedly insulting, condescending, and cheats on Sheila, doing all of this in the presence of their friends and acquaintances. He's even physically abusive, giving her a sharp slap across the face on Christmas Eve.
The frustration of seeing this can make Sheila a very distant character to the viewer and one who I feel could be very difficult to relate to for most viewers. I think this is more in the fault of the screenplay than Joan Leslie's performance as, to my awareness, it doesn't appear that a woman's perspective had been consulted much for this screenplay, if at all, as it had been done so nicely in a film noir such as 'They Won't Believe Me' (Irving Pichel, 1947) with Joan Harrison as producer. Nearly every word uttered from Sheila's mouth is a compassionate stance for someone who is mentally, verbally, and physically abusive to her. She is very interested in saving Barney and acts more as his mother than his wife throughout the film. One must think that she has some sort of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy when you consider the insults and gaslighting she condones and tolerates from him. Though not a bad performance, Leslie's portrayal of Sheila does come across as if Leslie is trying to remember every line as she's saying it. I've seen this happen with similar examples in other films where actors are so focused on perfecting an accent, or in James Bond films where actors are so focused on not getting hurt in an action scene, that their acting is less focused and suffers for those reasons. Leslie's performance is very sober, sombre, and almost phantom-like throughout most of the film, as if she is a ghost of the future amongst the people of the past which is all happening in the present. It works in that sense, but the tone of her acting style, here, can become a bit relentless at times.
Many performances in films of the Classic Hollywood era, namely the 1930s and 1940s, were textbook and template acting styles that strongly focused on remembering your lines, hitting your cues, and standardized diction and reactionary gestures. Richard Basehart's nuanced performance of William Williams really outshines every other actor in this film; it feels more modern, but not to the extent that it appears uncontrolled or obvious like some of the method acting performances in films of the 1950s. Basehart reminds me of how much of a discovery the acting of John Garfield had been to audiences in the late 1930s and how his acting would evolve into the 1940s. To some extent, the viewer sees the film through William's eyes as Sheila's devotion to Barney also becomes baffling to William even after she tries to explain it to him. He says, "Why do you hang on to that fella, Sheila? Why don't you forget him?" Sheila goes on to explain her appreciation for Barney for helping build her career by getting a lead in his play. It's odd that one of the people in the film with the most sense is the one who ends up in an insane asylum. In the scene where Sheila visits William in the insane asylum, however, she acknowledges, "Maybe we're on the wrong side of the table". Perhaps William thinks he, himself, is truly crazy for surrounding himself with a circle of characters in the film who are either annoying (Eloise Shaw played by Natalie Shafer), greedy (Paula Costello played by Virginia Field), nosey (Bess Michales played by Benay Venuta), frustratingly naïve (Sheila), or downright abusive (Hayward). The only character besides William with a reasonable amount of sense or level-headedness throughout most of the film is John Friday played by Tom Conway. These characters would be enough to drive anyone crazy so when William says he'd like to live this year over again, as well, he is likely thinking "far, far away from these people."
On a final note, I'd like to give kudos to Louis Sackin, the editor of the film, who provides a beautifully-paced first fifty minutes of introducing the viewer to all the main characters amidst a backdrop of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The film doesn't 'visually' show what had originally happened to the characters in 1946, as it's told verbally mostly by Sheila in bits and pieces throughout the film. As viewers, we are left to visualize what Sheila is telling us while 1946 transpires for the characters for the second time, and this multitasking helps to prevent the pace of the film from dragging. I think the viewer's participation of mentally visualizing this also contributes to the "fantasy" element to this film being labelled a "fantasy noir", along with the "noir" element encompassing Sheila's casual discussion with William that she killed her husband and her persistence of staying with him amidst his treatment of her.
The recently restored version of 'Repeat Performance' aired on January 2, 2022, on TCM's Noir Alley hosted by Eddie Muller, and is due to be released on Blu-ray/DVD Dual-Format edition by the film distributor Flicker Alley on January 24, 2022. Be sure to watch the newly restored version instead of the poorer quality versions on You Tube because the stunning cinematography, lighting, and costume design sincerely requires it to fully appreciate and immerse oneself in the beauty of the film. Overall, 'Repeat Performance' is a good film that is helped by its lesser-known cast of actors, the smooth pace of its plot, and beautiful cinematography that provides a shadowy, intimate, and seasonal ambience. Happy New Year!
In addition to its seasonal ambience, a strong point of the film is that the actors have really good chemistry onscreen. This might be somewhat helped by none of them being major superstars of the era. Sometimes, the presence of a major superstar can result in being a distraction that can take the viewer out of the film, thus, losing its immersive quality or, worse, ham it up for the camera or chew the scenery to the point where these superstars overshadow their more nuanced co-stars. The actors, here, work very cohesively together which helps the viewer focus more on the plot and storylines of the characters. Three of the principal actors are Louis Hayward, Joan Leslie, and Richard Basehart.
Hayward is fairly one-dimensional as Barney Page (or two-dimensional when you consider how quickly his character goes from lovingly embracing his wife, Sheila, to becoming angrily suspicious of her actions). Aside from the few peppered moments where Barney makes an attempt at being a loving husband, he is truly a despicable character beyond his drinking problem and, thus, does not exhibit any true redeeming qualities in the film. He's misogynistic and even says, "Darling, you're only a woman. You're not expected to have either judgement or intelligence". He's also repeatedly insulting, condescending, and cheats on Sheila, doing all of this in the presence of their friends and acquaintances. He's even physically abusive, giving her a sharp slap across the face on Christmas Eve.
The frustration of seeing this can make Sheila a very distant character to the viewer and one who I feel could be very difficult to relate to for most viewers. I think this is more in the fault of the screenplay than Joan Leslie's performance as, to my awareness, it doesn't appear that a woman's perspective had been consulted much for this screenplay, if at all, as it had been done so nicely in a film noir such as 'They Won't Believe Me' (Irving Pichel, 1947) with Joan Harrison as producer. Nearly every word uttered from Sheila's mouth is a compassionate stance for someone who is mentally, verbally, and physically abusive to her. She is very interested in saving Barney and acts more as his mother than his wife throughout the film. One must think that she has some sort of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy when you consider the insults and gaslighting she condones and tolerates from him. Though not a bad performance, Leslie's portrayal of Sheila does come across as if Leslie is trying to remember every line as she's saying it. I've seen this happen with similar examples in other films where actors are so focused on perfecting an accent, or in James Bond films where actors are so focused on not getting hurt in an action scene, that their acting is less focused and suffers for those reasons. Leslie's performance is very sober, sombre, and almost phantom-like throughout most of the film, as if she is a ghost of the future amongst the people of the past which is all happening in the present. It works in that sense, but the tone of her acting style, here, can become a bit relentless at times.
Many performances in films of the Classic Hollywood era, namely the 1930s and 1940s, were textbook and template acting styles that strongly focused on remembering your lines, hitting your cues, and standardized diction and reactionary gestures. Richard Basehart's nuanced performance of William Williams really outshines every other actor in this film; it feels more modern, but not to the extent that it appears uncontrolled or obvious like some of the method acting performances in films of the 1950s. Basehart reminds me of how much of a discovery the acting of John Garfield had been to audiences in the late 1930s and how his acting would evolve into the 1940s. To some extent, the viewer sees the film through William's eyes as Sheila's devotion to Barney also becomes baffling to William even after she tries to explain it to him. He says, "Why do you hang on to that fella, Sheila? Why don't you forget him?" Sheila goes on to explain her appreciation for Barney for helping build her career by getting a lead in his play. It's odd that one of the people in the film with the most sense is the one who ends up in an insane asylum. In the scene where Sheila visits William in the insane asylum, however, she acknowledges, "Maybe we're on the wrong side of the table". Perhaps William thinks he, himself, is truly crazy for surrounding himself with a circle of characters in the film who are either annoying (Eloise Shaw played by Natalie Shafer), greedy (Paula Costello played by Virginia Field), nosey (Bess Michales played by Benay Venuta), frustratingly naïve (Sheila), or downright abusive (Hayward). The only character besides William with a reasonable amount of sense or level-headedness throughout most of the film is John Friday played by Tom Conway. These characters would be enough to drive anyone crazy so when William says he'd like to live this year over again, as well, he is likely thinking "far, far away from these people."
On a final note, I'd like to give kudos to Louis Sackin, the editor of the film, who provides a beautifully-paced first fifty minutes of introducing the viewer to all the main characters amidst a backdrop of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The film doesn't 'visually' show what had originally happened to the characters in 1946, as it's told verbally mostly by Sheila in bits and pieces throughout the film. As viewers, we are left to visualize what Sheila is telling us while 1946 transpires for the characters for the second time, and this multitasking helps to prevent the pace of the film from dragging. I think the viewer's participation of mentally visualizing this also contributes to the "fantasy" element to this film being labelled a "fantasy noir", along with the "noir" element encompassing Sheila's casual discussion with William that she killed her husband and her persistence of staying with him amidst his treatment of her.
The recently restored version of 'Repeat Performance' aired on January 2, 2022, on TCM's Noir Alley hosted by Eddie Muller, and is due to be released on Blu-ray/DVD Dual-Format edition by the film distributor Flicker Alley on January 24, 2022. Be sure to watch the newly restored version instead of the poorer quality versions on You Tube because the stunning cinematography, lighting, and costume design sincerely requires it to fully appreciate and immerse oneself in the beauty of the film. Overall, 'Repeat Performance' is a good film that is helped by its lesser-known cast of actors, the smooth pace of its plot, and beautiful cinematography that provides a shadowy, intimate, and seasonal ambience. Happy New Year!