The Witching Hour (1934)

Too much of everything

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Based on a 1907 Broadway hit by Augustus Thomas previously filmed in 1916 and 1921 and here unobtrusively set in the original period, 'The Witching Hour' is an interesting hybrid of pre-Code crime film and silent romantic fantasy by the director of 'Peter Ibbetson' and 'True Grit' combining courtroom drama with a smiling Victorian ghost straight out of 'Smilin' Thru'.John Halliday is as usual excellent as the owner of a gambling den always one step ahead of the law with the aid of involuntary telepathic ability; and there's an unusual flashback in which the narrator tells us what he remembered while what we are shown is what actually happened.

Although based on an old-fashioned stage play and, as a result, almost completely dialogue-bound, "The Witching Hour" (1934) turns out to be a much more involving movie than you would expect, thanks to its superior cast, led by Sir Guy Standing and John Halliday. True, director Henry Hathaway was not exactly at home in a court-room. Real locations - particularly locations that were hard to reach and had rarely, if ever, previously been invaded by a motion picture unit - were his number one choice. Nonetheless, Hathaway certainly gives this film a most welcome dose of vitality.Hathaway is ably assisted , of course, by all the players. None of them put a foot wrong. And it should be mentioned that their performances are all their own work. Hathaway does not direct dialogue. He expects his players not just to know their lines, but to know how they should be played!

"The Witching Hour" by Augustus Thomas had first wowed Broadway audiences in 1907 with it's sensational mix of murder, hypnotism and mental telepathy. It had a respectable run of 212 performances. It was filmed in 1916 and was successful enough for Paramount to re-make it in 1921 with William Desmond Taylor directing. Paramount were impressed enough to re-make it again in 1934 (even though it's origins were beginning to wear a bit thin) but a young Henry Hathaway was able to give it a bit of zest. John Halliday, in my opinion, was probably one of the most under-rated actors of the early thirties. He played lawyers, men about town and even psychopathic killers with the same urbane and witty charm and many a movie has been turned from a bore to a piece of sophistication just by having Halliday in the cast.Jack Brookfield (John Halliday) is a clairvoyant who uses his hypnotic powers to see his gambling house runs smoothly and that the police are always thwarted whenever they make surprise raids. He is having his rooms re-decorated by a young architect Clay Thorne (Tom Brown), who is also engaged to Jack's daughter (Judith Allen). He has never used his mental telepathy for anything bad - he never gambles etc, he is not even sure how he can foresee all these things but when Clay confesses in hysteria that he has always been frightened of cats-eyes (Jack has a strange ring that catches Clay's eye) events collide to land Clay in court fighting for his life.Frank Hardmuth (Ralfe Harold) is a disgruntled patron who has been turned away from the gambling den and in spite has called the police. The next day Clay is arrested for Hardmuth's murder but he has no idea how it happened. Unbeknownst to everyone Clay was hypnotised when he gazed at the ring and when Jack muttered to Frank that "someone will go to your office and shoot you right between the eyes" - Clay acted on command. The rest of the film is a court room drama, as a believing old lawyer (Sir Guy Standing) tries to convince the skeptical jury (William Frawley, from "I Love Lucy", 20 years earlier and he still looks the same age) that hypnotism does exist. I thought, like the other reviewers, that it is a movie well worth watching. I also think the period setting helps to keep it believable. Gertrude Michael had a nice cameo as the ghost of the lawyer's lost love, Margaret Price.Highly Recommended.

This is a wonderful horror-thriller from the end of the PreCode Era directed by the legendary Henry Hathaway. It is a very RARE film title to find these days but it is well worth the search! This 1934 forgotten gem moves at a great pace and includes gambling, hypnotism, and murder. A young man commits murder after accidentally being placed under hypnosis, and must find someone to defend him at his trial. It is based on a play by Augustus Thomas and features an outstanding cast of characters headed by Guy Standing, John Halliday and Tom Brown. The interesting back-story involves an illegal gambling den, a cat's-eye ring, and both telepathy and ghostly apparitions that cause the movie to fall into the realm of the fantastic.