Certainly a classic movie, made in 1952. But don't search this title in reference books of American films. This one was made in Argentina in Estudios San Miguel, by a respected director, Carlos Hugo Christensen (who died some years ago). The original title is "Si muero antes de despertar".
It's probably one of the best film adaptations of a William Irish [Cornell Woolrich] story, along with "The Window" (Ted Tetzlaff), "Rear Window" (Hitchcock), "Phantom Lady" (Robert Siodmak)... and almost a horror film. In fact, I first heard of this movie when a reader of a monstermagazine (I think it was "Castle of Frankenstein") sent a letter to claim his enthousiasm for this movie. He called it "El vampiro acecha" (perhaps a Mexican release title) and mentioned that German Robles, the vampire of Fernando Mendez's "El vampiro" and "El ataud del vampiro", was the child molester in this movie. This was totally false, but for years, "El vampiro acecha" was mentioned in countless list of horror and vampire movies, with the erroneous cast. Homero Carpena, not German Robles, played the child killer in the film. But this "Castle of Frankenstein" reader, in spite of this mistake, described very well the movie, mentioning several sequences with a merry-go-round (NOT in the William Irish story) and a child's nightmare - so when I saw "If I Could Die Before I Wake" many years later, this letter makes "tilt" in my memory. And in fact, the letter in the magazine mentioned it was inspired by a Cornell Woolrich story. And the name of William Irish is prominently listed in the film's credits.
Unfortunately, to date I was unable to find a good video of this movie, I found one years ago, recorded from Argentinian TV, with some permanent logos. The print was in bad shape, too. Another video was missing the logos, but the print itself wasn't better. It's a shame, as Carlos H. Christensen was probably the better film director in Argentina (one of his movies won a prize in Cannes in the 1940s), and this movie is justly considered as a masterpiece.
It could make a tremendous Criterion release on DVD !!!
It's probably one of the best film adaptations of a William Irish [Cornell Woolrich] story, along with "The Window" (Ted Tetzlaff), "Rear Window" (Hitchcock), "Phantom Lady" (Robert Siodmak)... and almost a horror film. In fact, I first heard of this movie when a reader of a monstermagazine (I think it was "Castle of Frankenstein") sent a letter to claim his enthousiasm for this movie. He called it "El vampiro acecha" (perhaps a Mexican release title) and mentioned that German Robles, the vampire of Fernando Mendez's "El vampiro" and "El ataud del vampiro", was the child molester in this movie. This was totally false, but for years, "El vampiro acecha" was mentioned in countless list of horror and vampire movies, with the erroneous cast. Homero Carpena, not German Robles, played the child killer in the film. But this "Castle of Frankenstein" reader, in spite of this mistake, described very well the movie, mentioning several sequences with a merry-go-round (NOT in the William Irish story) and a child's nightmare - so when I saw "If I Could Die Before I Wake" many years later, this letter makes "tilt" in my memory. And in fact, the letter in the magazine mentioned it was inspired by a Cornell Woolrich story. And the name of William Irish is prominently listed in the film's credits.
Unfortunately, to date I was unable to find a good video of this movie, I found one years ago, recorded from Argentinian TV, with some permanent logos. The print was in bad shape, too. Another video was missing the logos, but the print itself wasn't better. It's a shame, as Carlos H. Christensen was probably the better film director in Argentina (one of his movies won a prize in Cannes in the 1940s), and this movie is justly considered as a masterpiece.
It could make a tremendous Criterion release on DVD !!!
