REPEAT PERFORMANCE (1947)

It's a windswept midnight on New Year’s Eve, 1947, and actress Sheila Page (Joan Leslie) has just shot and killed her husband Barney (Louis Hayward) in their penthouse apartment. She stumbles out into the crowded streets and runs into her pal, troubled poet William Williams (Richard Basehart), and on their way to get help from her producer John Friday (Tom Conway), Sheila wishes out loud that she could live 1947 over and fix all the problems that led to the murder. When she enters John's apartment, there's a party going on and she soon realizes she's gotten her wish: it's New Year's Eve, 1946. After she's gotten her bearings, she begins trying to alter the future. First, she warns William away from Mrs. Shaw, a rich woman who wants to take him under her wing, so to speak, but who will eventually play a part in having William committed to an asylum; next, she enlists John in an effort to stop Barney from getting to know playwright Paula Costello, which will lead to an affair and Barney's descent into alcoholism. What Sheila finds is that, though she may be able to change some of the small stuff, the bigger things have a way of happening anyway.

This interesting mix of fantasy, melodrama and film noir was considered lost until recently, and it's quite a find. Though the actors and budget indicate a B-film, the story and character interplay keep one engrossed. The opening sequence before time reverses is especially rich in atmosphere, though visually the movie never reaches that height again. The plot, based on a novel by William O'Farrell, works well, even when the production code doesn't allow it to go places where the novel did. For example, the poet William in the book is a somewhat gender-fluid fellow who goes by the joint name of "William and Mary" and his benefactor in the book is an older gay man. But Basehart does a lovely job of giving the character some subtle sexual ambiguity without flouncing or lisping, and he winds up the most sympathetic character of the bunch. The Code also does not allow the ending to be quite as bleak as the book's—though to the filmmakers' credit, it's not exactly sugarcoated, either. Leslie and Hayward are just adequate in the leads (Ann Sheridan and Errol Flynn would have been great), but they don't hurt the movie. Natalie Schafer has a nice bit as Mrs. Shaw. The Broadway background—most of the characters are involved in the theater—is brought to life nicely (albeit on a B-movie level), and the noir theme of feeling trapped by destiny, and the tone of existential dread, are present. The Twilight-Zone feel of the fantasy element isn't overdone. TCM ran this late last year and a DVD release is apparently in store. I would recommend this as a purchase, for its unusual nature if nothing else. Pictured above are Leslie and Basehart. [TCM]