While I understand this bears little resemblance to the novel it's based on, HANGOVER SQUARE is still a suspenseful period nail-biter. It also reunites many of the personnel from the loose 1944 remake of Hitchcock's THE LODGER, including stars Laird Cregar and George Sanders as well as director John Brahm and screenwriter Barre Lyndon. Amid gorgeous Edwardian settings accompanied by one of the great Bernard Herrmann's most powerful scores, George Sanders is as suave as ever, while Linda Darnell is so convincing as the selfish, grasping songbird who uses and dumps poor lovestruck Laird Cregar that you're rooting for him to hear a loud noise, go nuts, and strangle her. But it's Cregar who touches your heart and terrifies you at the same time as poor, talented, obsessive composer George Harvey Bone, whose homicidal tendencies are touched off by clanging lead pipes and other unbearably loud noises (you'd think he'd have found a quieter profession). Cregar was best known for playing heavies, literally and figuratively (he was far younger than he looked), and he went on some insane crash diet to slim down for this role. It worked, but tragically, it cost him his life: the diet took a terrible toll on his health, resulting in cardiac arrest and death shortly after Cregar completed the film. Just goes to show that it's unwise to go too far for your art. Admittedly, I couldn't help thinking about this as I watched HANGOVER SQUARE, but even if you don't know anything about Cregar's short life, this is a corker of a thriller. It's now available on DVD as part of a 3-disc collection of Brahm's films, including THE LODGER and THE UNDYING MONSTER. Update for 2011: HANGOVER SQUARE will be aired on Turner Classic Movies tonight, Saturday, August 27th, 2011, at 11:30 p,m. EST as part of TCM's month-long Summer Under The Stars Festival. You might want also want to keep an eye on TCM's schedule for future airings!
Review of Hangover Square
