Repeat Performance

Repeat Performance
Repeat Performance
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alfred L. Werker
Screenplay by	Walter Bullock
Based on	Repeat Performance; 1942 novel; by William O'Farrell
Produced by	Aubrey Schenck
Starring	Louis Hayward; Joan Leslie; Tom Conway
Narrated by	John Ireland (uncredited)
Cinematography	L. William O'Connell
Edited by	Louis Sackin
Music by	George Antheil
Production; companies	Bryan For Productions; Eagle-Lion Films
Distributed by	Eagle-Lion Films
Release date	May 22, 1947;
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$600,000 or $1.3 million

Repeat Performance is a 1947 American film noir crime drama (with fantasy elements) starring Louis Hayward and Joan Leslie. The film was released by Eagle-Lion Films, directed by Alfred L. Werker, and produced by Aubrey Schenck.

Plot

On New Year's Eve 1946, a woman is standing over her dead husband with a gun in her hand. She panics and goes to her friends for help. While seeking help from her friends at a pair of parties, she wishes that she could live 1946 all over again.

Magically, because she wished exactly at the strike of midnight on New Year's, her wish is granted and she is transported back to the beginning of 1946 with her husband alive. She attempts to relive the year without making the mistakes she and her friends made throughout the year, but certain events repeat themselves nonetheless, leaving Sheila to question whether there really is such a thing as fate or not.

The story climaxes again on New Year's Eve, when through Sheila's interferences over the year, her husband becomes convinced that she's trying to destroy him. He violently confronts her. Her friend William, who believed in Sheila's foresight, shoots her husband with her gun.

Cast

Louis Hayward as Barney Page
Joan Leslie as Sheila Page
Virginia Field as Paula Costello
Tom Conway as John Friday
Richard Basehart as William Williams
Natalie Schafer as Eloise Shaw
Benay Venuta as Bess Michaels
Ilka Grüning as Mattle
John Ireland as Narrator (uncredited)
Eric Wilton as Reveler (uncredited)

Production

The film changed the original story where the girl was the villain because it was felt Joan Leslie could not play a villain.^[1]

Remake

This film was remade as the television film Turn Back the Clock (1989) directed by Larry Elikann. It featured Jere Burns, Wendy Kilbourne and original cast member Joan Leslie.

References

^ ^a ^b Tom Weaver, It Came from Horrorwood: Interviews with Moviemakers in the SF and Horror Tradition McFarland, 2000 p 272
^ "Eagle-Lion's US Performance Reviewed by Foy in NY", Variety, 19 March 1947 p 13

External links

Repeat Performance at IMDb
Repeat Performance at the TCM Movie Database
Repeat Performance at AllMovie
Repeat Performance at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

[tom-1] Tom Weaver, It Came from Horrorwood: Interviews with Moviemakers in the SF and Horror Tradition McFarland, 2000 p 272

[2] "Eagle-Lion's US Performance Reviewed by Foy in NY", Variety, 19 March 1947 p 13

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