Subject to lengthy spells in which he cannot recall his actions, an overworked London composer begins to question whether he is committing murders during his blackouts in this stylish thriller starring Laird Cregar in his final big screen performance before his untimely death. Cregar is excellent throughout, especially towards the end as he gradually becomes more and more unhinged, and his fiery final scene is hard to forget. The film has some pacing problems though with around half the movie's duration passing between the first and second murders/deaths. While the events during this lengthy interim provide some extra character motivation, is never particularly interesting to watch small time nightclub singer Linda Darnell constantly toy with the (unbelievably) gullible Cregar's emotions. The second half of the movie is admittedly pretty solid though and Bernard Herrmann's atmospheric music score is excellent throughout, nicely coinciding with the heightened sound effects that indicate that Cregar is about to black out. Blurry closeups of Cregar's wide open eyes as he begins to blackout works surprisingly well too (cinematographer Joseph LaShelle had just come off an Oscar win for his luscious lensing of 'Laura' at the time). It is debatable how psychologically sound the story is here, however, it nevertheless makes for an interesting look at the possible effects of elevated stress on an individual, and if nothing else, the film features the most morbid Guy Fawkes celebration scene ever committed to celluloid.
Review of Hangover Square
