NIGHTMARE
1956.....89
Minutes
Edward
G. Robinson, Kevin McCarthy, Connie Russell
Jazz musician Stan Grayson (Kevin McCarthy) wakes up from a
dream in which he has killed a man during a struggle in a bizarre
mirrored room. However, thumbprints on his neck, a strange key
in his pocket, and a haunting, otherworldly musical riff in
his head quickly convince him that it was not just a dream.
Afraid that he might be a murderer, yet not recalling the events
of the nightmare, he confides in his brother-in-law (and New
Orleans homicide detective) René Bressard (Edward G.
Robinson), who tells him that he's been working too hard and
drinking too much. But as Grayson is almost magnetically drawn
back to the scene of the apparent crime, Bressard angrily comes
to believe that Stan was lying and knew exactly what he had
done. Grayson, paralyzed by his guilt, can barely find the strength
to try to clear himself. McCarthy portrays a sense of overwhelming
panic almost as well as he does in Invasion of the Body Snatchers
(1956), and Robinson's tough cop is warmly textured with a sly
sense of humor. the film creates a shadowy, hypnotic world of
seedy urban nightclubs and cheap hotels; even a picnic on the
bayou evokes a feeling of dread.
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