Review: Repeat Performance (1947)
The "supernatural noir" is a rare breed. By nature, Film Noir tends to focus on humanity's fears and foibles, with the central characters either caught in circumstances beyond their control or trapped in a web of their own making. Supernatural occurrences seem to be at odds with the cold, criminal reality that exists in most of these films. That's one of the things that makes 1947's Repeat Performance such a wonderful anomaly. It's a hard movie to pin down, but it does indeed possess many of the hallmarks of noir while also including elements of romance, melodrama, and yes, the supernatural. The film begins on New Year's Eve. It's almost midnight and the wind rages outside while the city celebrates. The camera approaches an apartment, zooming into the balcony as the double doors fly open and gunfire rings out. A body lies dead on the floor and the beautiful-but-stunned Joan Leslie holds the murder weapon. She throws on a coat and flees to a party in ...