Repeat Performance
| Repeat Performance | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Alfred L. Werker |
| Written by | Walter Bullock (screenplay) William O'Farrell (novel) |
| Produced by | Aubrey Schenck |
| Cinematography | L. William O'Connell |
| Edited by | Louis Sackin |
| Music by | George Antheil |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Eagle-Lion Films R&B Video (DVD & VHS) |
Release date | 22 May 1947 |
Running time | 91 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $600,000[1] |
Repeat Performance (1947) is a film of the film noir style. It combines elements of a 1940s drama with a science fiction twist. The film was released by Poverty Row studio 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 though Sheila's interferences over the year her husband becomes convinced that she's trying to destroy him. He violently confronts her and in the act of trying to find her gun again a friend, who believed in Sheila's foresight, shoots her husband.
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, Poet
- Natalie Schafer as Eloise Shaw
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]
Re-make
This film was re-made for the television in the 1989 film Turn Back the Clock directed by Larry Elikann. It featured Jere Burns, Wendy Kilbourne and original cast member Joan Leslie.