View source for Dead of Night

{{about|the 1945 British anthology horror film|the 1977 American anthology horror television film of the same name|Dead of Night (1977 film)}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Dead of Night
| image          = DeadOfNight1.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = U.S. theatrical release poster
| native_name    = <!--(for non-English films: film's name in its native language)-->
| director       = {{plainlist|
*[[Alberto Cavalcanti]]{{efn-lr|Segments: "The Christmas Party"; "The Ventriloquist's Dummy"}}
*[[Charles Crichton]]{{efn-lr|Segment: "The Golfer's Story"}}
*[[Robert Hamer]]{{efn-lr|Segment: "The Haunted Mirror"}}
*[[Basil Dearden]]{{efn-lr|Segments: Overarching story; "The Hearse Driver"}}}}
| producer       = [[Michael Balcon]]
| story          =  {{plainlist|
*John Baines{{efn-lr|Segments: "The Haunted Mirror"; "The Ventriloquist's Dummy"}}
*[[Angus MacPhail]]{{efn-lr|Segment: "The Christmas Party"}}
}}
| based_on       = {{based on|Stories|[[H. G. Wells]], John Baines, [[E. F. Benson]], [[Angus MacPhail]]}}
| starring       = {{plainlist|*[[Michael Redgrave]]
*[[Mervyn Johns]]
*[[Frederick Valk]]
*[[Roland Culver]]}}
| music          = [[Georges Auric]]
| cinematography = {{unbulleted list|[[Douglas Slocombe]]|[[Jack Parker (cinematographer)|Jack Parker]]}}
| editing        = [[Charles Hasse]]
| studio         = [[Ealing Studios]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150049995|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|title=Dead of Night (Original)|access-date=8 August 2016}}</ref> 
| distributor    = {{unbulleted list|[[Eagle-Lion Films]] (UK)|[[Universal Pictures]] (US)<ref name="mfb" />}}
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|1945|9|9|London|ref1=<ref name=SundayPeople/>}}
| runtime        = 103 minutes
| country        = United Kingdom
| language       = English
| budget         = 
| gross          = <!--(please use condensed and rounded values, e.g. "£11.6 million" not "£11,586,221")-->
}}

'''''Dead of Night''''' is a 1945 British [[supernatural horror film|supernatural horror]] [[anthology film]] directed by [[Alberto Cavalcanti]], [[Charles Crichton]], [[Basil Dearden]], and [[Robert Hamer]]. It stars [[Mervyn Johns]], [[Googie Withers]], [[Sally Ann Howes]], and [[Michael Redgrave]]. Produced by [[Ealing Studios]], the film features five segments within a [[frame story|frame narrative]] in which a group of guests assembled at a country manor recount stories of their own encounters with the supernatural. It is best remembered for the concluding story featuring Redgrave as an insane [[Ventriloquism|ventriloquist]] with a malevolent [[Ventriloquism#Ventriloquist's dummy|dummy]].{{sfn|Burton|Chibnall|2013|p=94}}

[[Eagle-Lion Films]] released ''Dead of Night'' theatrically in the United Kingdom on 9 September 1945. ''Dead of Night'' is one of the few horror films made in England during the 1940s, as horror films had been banned from production in Britain during [[World War II]]. It was also one of the few horror efforts from Ealing Studios, who were primarily known for producing comedies.{{sfn|Cook|2019|p=178}} The film was greatly influential on the horror and anthology film genres, and is regarded by film critics and scholars as a classic.{{sfn|Pirie|2024|pages=32–33}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dead-of-Night|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|title=Dead of Night|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250104185630/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dead-of-Night|archive-date=4 January 2025}}</ref>

Both of John Baines' stories were reused for later films and the ventriloquist dummy episode was adapted into the pilot episode of the long-running CBS radio series ''[[Escape (radio program)|Escape]]''.

==Plot==
Walter Craig arrives at a country cottage in [[Kent]], where he is greeted by his host Elliot Foley. Craig is an architect whom Foley has invited to his home to consult on some renovations. Upon entering the sitting room of the cottage, Craig tells Foley and his assembled guests that, despite never having met any of them, he has seen them all in a recurring dream.

Craig appears to have no prior personal knowledge of them but is able to predict events in the house before they unfold. Craig partially recalls that something awful will later occur. Dr. van Straaten, a [[psychologist]], tries to persuade Craig that his fears are unfounded. The other guests attempt to test Craig's foresight and entertain each other with tales of strange events they experienced or were told about.

Racing car driver Hugh Grainger recalls lying in hospital after an accident. One night, the peripheral noises of the ward cease and the time on his bedside clock changes. He opens the curtains to see that it is daytime, and a horse-drawn hearse is parked outside. The hearse driver calls up, "just room for one inside, sir". After being discharged from the hospital, Grainger waits for a bus. The bus conductor, who exactly resembles the hearse driver, tells him, "just room for one inside, sir". Grainger does not board the bus. As it drives away, the bus swerves and plunges down an embankment.

Sally O'Hara remembers attending a Christmas party at a mansion. During a game of [[hide-and-seek]], Sally hides behind a curtain and is found by Jimmy, who tells her of a murder that once happened in the mansion. She finds a door which leads to a nursery, where she hears a young boy, Francis Kent, weeping. She consoles him and tucks him into bed. When she returns to the main room, she is told Francis Kent was murdered by his sister [[Constance Kent|Constance]].

Joan Cortland tells of an incident in which she gave her husband Peter a mirror for his birthday one year. Upon looking into it, he sees himself in a room other than his own. Joan learns that the mirror's previous owner, Francis Etherington, killed his wife on a suspicion of adultery, before slitting his own throat in front of the mirror. Peter, too, accuses Joan of being unfaithful and attempts to strangle her, but she breaks the mirror, returning Peter to his normal mental state.

Foley recounts two golfers, George Parratt and Larry Potter, who both fell in love with a woman named Mary Lee. They decide to play a round of golf for Mary's hand in marriage. Parratt wins by cheating, and Potter drowns himself in a nearby lake. When he next plays golf, Parratt is interrupted by Potter's ghost. Potter demands he give up Mary or else he will continue to haunt him, but finds he has forgotten how to vanish. On the night of Parratt and Mary's wedding, Parratt unwittingly causes {{em|himself}} to vanish, leaving Potter the opportunity to charm Mary.

Dr. van Straaten recollects interviewing ventriloquist Maxwell Frere, who performed with a dummy named Hugo. Upon meeting American ventriloquist Sylvester Kee, Hugo continually speaks about abandoning Frere and working with Kee instead. Frere attempts to silence Hugo, but Hugo bites his hand, drawing blood. Some time later at a hotel bar, Hugo insults a woman, and Frere is blamed. Kee brings Frere and Hugo to Frere's hotel room, placing Hugo on Frere's bed. The next morning, Frere accuses Kee of stealing Hugo, and finds Hugo in Kee's room. He shoots Kee (though not fatally) and is arrested. Van Straaten arranges for Hugo to be brought to Frere's cell, where they have an argument that ends in Frere suffocating and smashing Hugo. Later, in an asylum, Frere speaks with Hugo's voice.

In the country home, Craig strangles Dr. van Straaten. Craig then hallucinates about the stories told by the other guests, before awakening in his bedroom as a phone rings. He receives a call from Elliot Foley, inviting him to his country home to consult on some renovations. Craig's wife suggests that spending a weekend in the country might help him get rid of his nightmares. Craig then drives up to Foley's cottage in Kent as in the start of the film.

==Cast==
===Overarching story at farmhouse===
*Anthony Baird (credited as Antony Baird) as Hugh Grainger
*[[Roland Culver]] as Eliot Foley
*[[Renee Gadd|Renée Gadd]] as Mrs. Craig
*[[Sally Ann Howes]] as Sally O'Hara the teenager
*[[Mervyn Johns]] as Walter Craig
*[[Judy Kelly]] as Joyce Grainger
*Barbara Leake as Mrs. O'Hara
*[[Mary Merrall]] as Mrs. Foley
*[[Frederick Valk]] as Dr. van Straaten
*[[Googie Withers]] as Joan Cortland

===The Hearse Driver===
*Anthony Baird as Hugh Grainger
*Judy Kelly as Joyce Grainger
*[[Miles Malleson]] as the hearse driver/bus conductor
*Robert Wyndham as Dr. Albury

===The Christmas Party===
*Michael Allan as Jimmy Watson
*[[Sally Ann Howes]] as Sally O'Hara
*Barbara Leake as Mrs. O'Hara
*[[Billing (performing arts)#Unbilled appearances|Uncredited]] actor as Francis Kent, the ghost

===The Haunted Mirror===
*[[Ralph Michael]] as Peter Cortland
*[[Esme Percy|Esmé Percy]] as Mr. Rutherford the antiques dealer
*[[Googie Withers]] as Joan Cortland

===The Golfer's Story===
*[[Peggy Bryan]] as Mary Lee
*[[Basil Radford]] as George Parratt
*[[Naunton Wayne]] as Larry Potter
*[[Peter Jones (actor)|Peter Jones]] as Fred the barman (uncredited)

===The Ventriloquist's Dummy===
*[[Allan Jeayes]] as Maurice Olcott
*[[Magda Kun]] as Mitzi
*[[Miles Malleson]] as the jailer
*[[Garry Marsh]] as Harry Parker
*[[Hartley Power]] as Sylvester Kee
*[[Michael Redgrave]] as Maxwell Frere
*[[Frederick Valk]] as Dr. van Straaten
*[[Elisabeth Welch]] as Beulah

==Production==
===Development===
"The Hearse Driver" is based on the short story "The Bus-Conductor" by [[E. F. Benson]], which was originally published in ''[[The Pall Mall Magazine]]'' in 1906.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Conolly|first1=Jez|last2=Bates|first2=David Owain|title=Dead of Night|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv13842kk.6|year=2015|publisher=Liverpool University Press|pages=45–58|chapter=‘Just room for one inside, sir’|series=Devil's Advocates|doi=10.2307/j.ctv13842kk.6 |jstor=j.ctv13842kk.6 |isbn=978-0-9932384-3-7 }}</ref>

"The Christmas Party" is based on the 1860 murder of Francis Saville Kent, for which his half-sister [[Constance Kent]] was convicted in 1865.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Conolly|first1=Jez|last2=Bates|first2=David Owain|title=Dead of Night|url=https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv13842kk.7|year=2015|publisher=Liverpool University Press|pages=59–70|chapter='I’m Not Frightened… I’m Not Frightened….’|series=Devil's Advocates|doi=10.2307/j.ctv13842kk.7 }}</ref>

"The Golfer's Story" is based on the short story "The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost" by [[H. G. Wells]]. The characters of Parratt and Potter, as portrayed by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in the segment, are derivative of the characters [[Charters and Caldicott]] from [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[The Lady Vanishes]]'' (1938). The double-act proved to be popular enough for Radford and Wayne to be paired up as similar sport-obsessed English gentlemen (or occasionally reprising their original roles) in a number of productions, including this one.

==Release==
The film opened at the [[Gaumont Haymarket]] cinema in London on 9 September 1945.<ref name=SundayPeople>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sunday-people/162227802/|work=[[Sunday People|The Sunday People]]|title=New Films|date=9 September 1945|page=4|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-mirror/162227851/|work=[[Sunday Mirror]]|last=Myers|first=Denis|date=9 September 1945|page=8|title=This Film Is Not For Children|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

[[Universal Pictures]] distributed the film theatrically in the United States in a truncated cut that excised two segments: "The Christmas Party" and "The Golfer's Story", which resulted in the final product suffering [[Continuity editing|continuity]] errors.{{sfn|Markusen|2021|pages=112–113}}

===Home media===
[[Anchor Bay Entertainment]] released the film on [[DVD]] in 2003 in a [[double feature]] paired with ''[[The Queen of Spades (1949 film)|The Queen of Spades]]'' (1949).<ref>{{cite web|last=Erickson|first=Glenn|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s840dead.html|title=DVD Savant Review: Dead of Night and The Queen of Spades|work=[[DVD Talk]]|date=26 May 2003|url-status=live|archive-date=4 January 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250104185923/https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s840dead.html}}</ref> In 2014, [[StudioCanal]] released the film on [[Blu-ray]] as part of their Vintage Classics series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Dead-of-Night-Blu-ray/89930/|work=Blu-ray.com|title=Dead of Night Blu-ray (Vintage Classics)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250104071602/https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Dead-of-Night-Blu-ray/89930/|archive-date=4 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=French|first=Philip|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/feb/16/dead-of-night-philip-french-classic-dvd|title=Dead of Night|date=15 February 2014|url-status=live|work=[[The Guardian]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250104185457/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/feb/16/dead-of-night-philip-french-classic-dvd|archive-date=4 January 2025}}</ref> [[Kino Lorber]] released a Blu-ray edition of the film in North America, licensed by StudioCanal, on 9 July 2019, featuring a new [[4K resolution|4K]] restoration from the original film elements.<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Kino Lorber]]|url=https://kinolorber.com/product/dead-of-night-special-edition-blu-ray|title=Dead of Night (Special Edition)|url-status=live|archive-date=4 January 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250104071340/https://kinolorber.com/product/dead-of-night-special-edition-blu-ray}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73936|work=[[DVD Talk]]|title=Dead of Night|last=Tyner|first=Adam|date=31 July 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250104071752/https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73936|archive-date=4 January 2025}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Box office===
According to ''[[Kinematograph Weekly]]'' the film performed well at the British box office in 1945.{{sfn|Murphy|2003|p=208}} The 'biggest winner' at the box office in 1945 Britain was ''[[The Seventh Veil]]'', with "runners up" being (in release order), ''[[Madonna of the Seven Moons]]'', ''[[Old Acquaintance]]'', ''[[Frenchman's Creek (film)|Frenchman's Creek]]'', ''[[Mrs. Parkington]]'', ''[[Arsenic and Old Lace (film)|Arsenic and Old Lace]]'', ''[[Meet Me in St. Louis]]'', ''[[A Song to Remember]]'', ''[[Since You Went Away]]'', ''[[Here Come the Waves]]'', ''[[Tonight and Every Night]]'', ''[[Hollywood Canteen]]'', ''[[They Were Sisters]]'', ''[[The Princess and the Pirate]]'', ''The Adventures of Susan'', ''[[National Velvet (film)|National Velvet]]'', ''Mrs. Skefflington'', ''[[I Live in Grosvenor Square]]'', ''[[Nob Hill]]'', ''[[Perfect Strangers (1945 film)|Perfect Strangers]]'', ''[[The Valley of Decision]]'', ''[[Conflict (1945 film)|Conflict]]'' and ''[[Duffy's Tavern (film)|Duffy's Tavern]]''. British "runners-up" were ''They Were Sisters'', ''I Live in Grosvenor Square'', ''Perfect Strangers'', ''Madonna of the Seven Moons'', ''Waterloo Road'', ''Blithe Spirit'', ''The Way to the Stars'', ''I'll Be Your Sweetheart'', ''Dead of Night'', ''Waltz Time'' and ''[[Henry V (1944 film)|Henry V]].{{sfn|Lant|1991|p=232}}<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Josh|last=Billings|magazine=Kinematograph Weekly|date=20 December 1945|page=51|title=The final placings in all classes|url=https://archive.org/details/kinematograph-weekly/1945/Kinematograph%20Weekly%20%232018%20%281945-12-20%29%20%28BNA%29/page/n50/mode/1up?}}</ref>

===Critical response===
From a contemporary review, the ''[[Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' praised the tale of the ventriloquist, stating that it was "perhaps the best" and that it was perhaps Cavalcanti's "most polished work for many years".<ref name="mfb" /> The review praised [[Basil Radford]] and [[Naunton Wayne]] for "providing excellent comic relief", and concluded that the art direction ([[Michael Relph]]), lighting ([[Stanley Pavey|Stan Pavey]] and [[Douglas Slocombe]]) and editing (Charles Hassey) combine to make the smoothest film yet to come from an English studio".<ref name="mfb">{{cite magazine|title=Entertainment Films|author=K.F.B|magazine=[[Monthly Film Bulletin]]|volume=12|issue=141|page=105|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|year=1945}}</ref> In ''[[The Nation (magazine)|The Nation]]'' in 1946, critic [[James Agee]] wrote, "{{nbsp}}... ''Dead of Night'' is in every way made with exceptional skill and wit; as intelligent light entertainment it could not be better; and its famous last shot, whether one has foreseen it or not, is one of the most successful blends of laughter, terror, and outrage that I can remember."<ref>Agee, James - ''Agee on Film Vol.1'' © 1958 by The James Agee Trust</ref> British critic [[Leslie Halliwell]] gave it four of four stars, stating, "Chillingly successful and influential compendium of the macabre, especially effective in its low-key handling of the linking sequence with its circular ending."<ref>Halliwell's Film Guide, 7th Edition 1987 ISBN 0-06-016322-4</ref> 

[[Pauline Kael]] lauded the film, "Michael Redgrave plays a schizophrenic ventriloquist tormented by his dummy, and his overpowering performance—a small work of art—lifts this five-part English production above the elegant, sophisticated entertainment it aspired to be. The individual stories are meant to accumulate in intensity, until the trap closes in the surreal climax—an encompassing ghost story."<ref>Kael, Pauline - ''5001 Nights at the Movies'' 1991 ISBN 0-8050-1366-0</ref> Kael mentioned that when attending a screening of the film in the mid-1940s, the audience laughed during the most terrifying moments. She believed the "tension had got to too much for them...turning philistine, rejecting their own emotional immersion."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kael |first=Pauline |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Age_of_Movies_Selected_Writings_of_P/tkShTL84MrcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+age+of+movies+selected+writings+pauline+kael&printsec=frontcover |title=The Age of Movies: Selected Writings of Pauline Kael: A Library of America Special Publication |date=2011-10-27 |publisher=Library of America |isbn=978-1-59853-171-8 |pages=575 |language=en}}</ref> 

Film critic [[Leonard Maltin]] awarded the film 4 out of a possible 4 stars.{{sfn|Maltin|2015|p=160}}

Review aggregator website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reports an approval rating of 96% based on {{nowrap|45 reviews}}. The site's critical consensus reads, "With four accomplished directors contributing, ''Dead of Night'' is a classic horror anthology that remains highly influential."<ref name="rttomatoesrating">{{cite web|title=Dead of Night (1945)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1005405-dead_of_night/|publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=22 October 2025}}</ref>

==Legacy==
''Dead of Night'' has widely been regarded as a classic film and one of the greatest horror films of all time,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/22/dead-night-crichton-horror|work=[[The Guardian]]|last=Wise|first=Damon|date=22 October 2010|title=Dead of Night: No 15 best horror film of all time|series=The 25 Best Horror Films of All Time|url-status=live|archive-date=4 January 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250104190350/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/22/dead-night-crichton-horror}}</ref> as well as significantly influential on the anthology film genre.<ref name=Holcomb>{{cite web|work=[[PopMatters]]|last=Holcomb|first=Brian|url=https://www.popmatters.com/dead-of-night-2641287042.html|title='Dead of Night' Haunts Above and Beyond Its Imitators|date=21 November 2019|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250104190227/https://www.popmatters.com/dead-of-night-2641287042.html|archive-date=4 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> In the early 2010s, ''[[Time Out London|Time Out]]'' conducted a poll with several authors, directors, actors and critics who have worked within the horror genre to vote for their top horror films.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/film/best-horror-films|work=[[Time Out London|Time Out]]|access-date=13 April 2014|title=The 100 best horror films}}</ref> ''Dead of Night'' placed at number 35 on their top 100 list.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-100-best-horror-films-the-list?pageNumber=7|work=[[Time Out London|Time Out]]|access-date=13 April 2014|title=The 100 best horror films: the list|author=NF}}</ref> Director [[Martin Scorsese]] placed ''Dead of Night'' 5th on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.firstshowing.net/2009/martin-scorsese-picks-11-scariest-horror-movies-of-all-time/|work=First Showing|author=Billington, Alex|date=30 October 2009|access-date=16 October 2020|title=Cool Stuff: Martin Scorsese Picks 11 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time!}}</ref> Writer-director [[Christopher Smith (director)|Christopher Smith]] was inspired by the circular narrative in ''Dead of Night'' when making his 2009 film ''[[Triangle (2009 British film)|Triangle]].''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=894|access-date=14 November 2012|title=Director Chris Smith on Triangle|work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]|archive-date=14 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014235924/http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=894|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The circular plot of ''Dead of Night'' inspired [[Fred Hoyle]]'s [[steady state model]] of the universe, developed in 1948.{{sfn|Gregory|2005|pages=36–37}} After Hoyle, [[Hermann Bondi]], and [[Thomas Gold]] viewed the film, Gold speculated, "What if the universe is like that?", referring its circular plot. Hoyle initially rejected the idea, saying, "we will dispose of this before dinner", but as the three astrophysicists discussed it further, they found it difficult to dismiss. Bondi later wrote "Dinner was a little late that night, and before long we all said that this was a very possible solution."{{sfn|Livio|2014|p=198}}{{sfn|Waldrop|2022|pages=48–49}}

A shot of Redgrave from the film is featured on the cover of ''[[Merrie Land]]'', an album by [[The Good, the Bad & the Queen]].<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/nov/16/the-good-the-bad-and-the-queen-merrie-land-review|title=The Good, the Bad & the Queen: Merrie Land review – Damon Albarn's scattergun sketch of Britain|date=16 November 2018}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of cult films]]
*[[List of ghost films]]

==Notes==
{{notelist-lr}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book|last1=Burton|first1=Alan|last2=Chibnall|first2=Steve|year=2013|title=Historical Dictionary of British Cinema|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=978-0-810-88026-9}}
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Cook|editor1-first=Pam|year=2019|title=The Cinema Book|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|location=London, England|edition=Third|isbn=978-1-838-71869-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Gregory|first=Jane|title=Fred Hoyle's Universe|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, Oxfordshire|isbn=978-0-191-57846-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Lant|first= Antonia|title=Blackout: Reinventing Women for Wartime British Cinema|year=1991|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=978-0-691-00828-8}}
*{{cite book |last1=Livio |first1=Mario |author1-link=Mario Livio |title=Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein - Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the Universe |year=2014 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4391-9237-5 |location=New York City, New York|language=en}} 
*{{cite book|last=Markusen|first=Bruce|year=2021|title=Hosted Horror on Television: The Films and Faces of Shock Theater, Creature Features and Chiller Theater|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=978-1-476-64328-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Maltin|first=Leonard|author-link=Leonard Maltin|title=Turner Classic Movies Presents Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era Through 1965: Third Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fttJBgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|location=New York City, New York|isbn=978-0-698-19729-9}} 
*{{cite book|last=Murphy|first=Robert|year=2003|title=Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48|publisher=Routledge|location=London, England|isbn=978-1-134-90150-0}}
*{{cite book|last=Pirie|first=David|year=2024|title=A New Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cinema|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|location=London, England|isbn=978-1-350-30381-2}}
*{{cite book |last1=Waldrop |first1=M. Mitchell |title=Cosmic Origins: Science's Long Quest to Understand How Our Universe Began |date=2022 |publisher=Springer Nature|isbn=978-3-030-98214-0 |location=Cham, Switzerland |language=en}} 
{{refend}}

;Further reading
*Jerry Vermilye, ''The Great British Films'', 1978, Citadel Press, pp.&nbsp;85–87, {{ISBN|0-8065-0661-X}}
*Jez Conolly and David Owain Bates, "Devil's Advocates: Dead of Night", 2015, Auteur, {{ISBN|978-0993238437}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0037635|title=Dead of Night}}
* {{screenonline title|id=491909|title=Dead of Night}}
*[https://archive.org/stream/variety159-1945-09#page/n119/mode/1up Review of film] at ''Variety''
* {{TCMDb title|id=72515}}
* {{Rotten-tomatoes|id=1005405-dead_of_night|title=Dead of Night}}

{{Alberto Cavalcanti}}
{{Charles Crichton}}
{{Basil Dearden}}
{{Robert Hamer}}
{{Michael Balcon}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dead of Night}}
[[Category:1945 films]]
[[Category:1945 horror films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:British Christmas horror films]]
[[Category:British comedy horror films]]
[[Category:British ghost films]]
[[Category:British horror anthology films]]
[[Category:Ealing Studios films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy horror films]]
[[Category:English-language Christmas horror films]]
[[Category:English-language thriller films]]
[[Category:Films about nightmares]]
[[Category:Films about parties]]
[[Category:Films about precognition]]
[[Category:Films about road accidents and incidents]]
[[Category:Films about siblicide]]
[[Category:Films based on multiple works]]
[[Category:Films based on works by H. G. Wells]]
[[Category:Films set in country houses]]
[[Category:Films set in Kent]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films set in Paris]]
[[Category:Films set in Sussex]]
[[Category:Films directed by Alberto Cavalcanti]]
[[Category:Films directed by Charles Crichton]]
[[Category:Films directed by Basil Dearden]]
[[Category:Films directed by Robert Hamer]]
[[Category:Films produced by Michael Balcon]]
[[Category:Films scored by Georges Auric]]
[[Category:1940s British films]]
[[Category:1940s ghost films]]
[[Category:1940s psychological thriller films]]
[[Category:1940s supernatural horror films]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
[[Category:1940s Christmas horror films]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures films]]
[[Category:Ventriloquism]]