Repeat Performance *** (1947, Louis Hayward, Joan Leslie, Tom Conway, Richard Basehart, Virginia Field, Natalie Schafer) – Classic Movie Review  13,516  

The curious, agreeable 1947 American film noir fantasy drama Repeat Performance stars Louis Hayward, Joan Leslie Tom Conway and Richard Basehart.

Director Alfred L Werker’s agreeable 1947 black and white film noir fantasy drama Repeat Performance is scripted by Walter Bullock, based on a 1942 novel by William O’Farrell, and stars Louis Hayward, Joan Leslie, Tom Conway, Richard Basehart, Virginia Field, and Natalie Schafer. The film is produced by Aubrey Schenck for the poverty row studio Eagle-Lion Films, and released in the UK by General Film Distributors (GFD) and in the US by Eagle-Lion Films.

Joan Leslie stars as Sheila Page, a Broadway actress who has killed her husband Barney (Louis Hayward) with a gun on New Year’s Eve 1946, but wishes she could relive the year to undo what she has done, and gets the chance to turn the clock back one year to relive 1946 and see if things come out better.

Director Alfred L Werker’s pleasurable 1947 fantasy drama is quite enjoyable and pleasant. It is intriguingly written, slickly handled and smoothly performed by an interesting cast.

Various changes from the novel were made so that Joan Leslie did not play a villain and that Richard Basehart did not play a cross-dressing poet.

John Ireland narrates.

It is Richard Basehart’s film début. Eagle-Lion gave the film a premiere in his home town of Zanesville, Ohio.

It started shooting in November 1946 and was released on May 22, 1947.

It was remade as the 1989 TV film Turn Back the Clock, directed by Larry Elikann, and starring Connie Sellecca, David Dukes, Jere Burns, and Wendy Kilbourne, along with and original cast member Joan Leslie.

Also in the cast are Benay Venuta, Ilka Gruning, and Eric Wilton.

The Film Noir Foundation and UCLA restored the film after a screening in 2007 featuring a guest appearance by Joan Leslie showed that a 35mm print had badly decomposed. It is now available on Blu Ray.

Repeat Performance is directed by Alfred L Werker, runs 93 minutes, is made by Bryan Foy Productions, is released by Eagle-Lion  Films (US) and General Film Distributors (GFD) (UK), is written by Walter Bullock, is shot by Lew W O’Connell [L William O’Connell], is produced by Aubrey Schenck, is scored by George Antheil, and is designed by Armor Marlowe.

Joan Leslie (born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel; January 26, 1925 – October 12, 2015) 

Joan Leslie took Warner Bros to court to get released from her studio contract. After she was condemned by the Catholic Theater Guild, Jack Warner used his influence to blacklist her from other major Hollywood studios. So in 1947, she signed a two-picture contract with the poverty row studio Eagle-Lion Films, leading to Repeat Performance (1947) and Northwest Stampede (1948).

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review  13,516

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