Dead of Night

Dead of Night
American theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alberto Cavalcanti Charles Crichton Robert Hamer Basil Dearden
Screenplay by	John Baines Angus MacPhail
Based on	Stories by H. G. Wells, John Baines, E. F. Benson, Angus MacPhail
Produced by	Michael Balcon
Starring	Michael Redgrave Mervyn Johns Frederick Valk Roland Culver
Cinematography	Douglas Slocombe Jack Parker
Edited by	Charles Hasse
Music by	Georges Auric
Color process	Black and white
Production company	Ealing Studios[2]
Distributed by	Eagle-Lion Films (UK) Universal Pictures[3] (US)
Release dates	9 September 1945 (1945-09-09) (United Kingdom) 28 June 1946 (1946-06-28) (edited version) 16 July 1946 (1946-07-16) (United States) [1]
Running time	103 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Dead of Night is a 1945 black and white British anthology supernatural horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers, Sally Ann Howes and Michael Redgrave. The film is best remembered for the concluding story featuring Redgrave and an insane ventriloquist's malevolent dummy.

Dead of Night is a rare British horror film of the 1940s; horror films were banned from production in Britain during World War II. It had an influence on subsequent British films in the genre. 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.

While primarily in the horror genre, the film has shades of the comedy horror genre. Comedy would later make the studio's name.