The Horn Blows At Midnight
Jack Benny used this film’s disappointing box office as a long-running gag but that shouldn’t keep fans (or even non-fans) from seeking it out, it’s a real curio. Supposedly a jaunty comic-fantasy, Raoul Walsh’s 1945 film carries an undeniably dark undertone as musician Benny dreams he’s an angel of doom whose trumpet will signal the end of the world… a barrel of laughs, right? Not that you could tell from this low-information trailer. The brilliant composer Franz Waxman (Bride of Frankenstein, Sunset Boulevard) provided the score. Benny reprised his angelic role on a restaging for NBC’s Omnibus in 1953.
More Trailers with Joe Dante
About Joe Dante
Joe Dante is a lifelong film buff who turned his obsession into a career. He got his start cutting trailers for Roger Corman and later directed the hit movie Gremlins, as well as Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Innerspace and Small Soldiers for producer Steven Spielberg. His feature films include The Howling, Piranha, Matinee, The ‘burbs , Looney Tunes Back in Action, The Hole (first winner of the 3D Persol Award at the Venice Film Festival) and the zom-com Burying the Ex. His TV directing work includes: Police Squad, Amazing Stories, the HBO film The Second Civil War, the Masters of Horror titles Homecoming and The Screwfly Solution, and episodes of Eerie, Indiana, CSI: NY, Hawaii 5-0, Witches of East End, Legends of Tomorrow and Salem. His most recent big screen credit is an episode of the anthology film Nightmare Cinema. He’s currently consulting producer on the Amblin Television/Warner Bros. Animation hit, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.
Joe is also the frequent co-host of Trailers From Hell’s official podcast, The Movies That Made Me, available everywhere podcasts are streamed and downloaded!