The Witching Hour

The Witching Hour is a 1934 American pre-Code drama film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Sir Guy Standing, John Halliday, Judith Allen and Tom Brown. Plot While Jack Brookfield (John Halliday) runs a gambling gathering at nighttime in his Kentucky house, his daughter Nancy (Judith Allen) is frequently visited by and becomes engaged to young Northern architect Clay Thorne (Tom Brown). His mother (Olive Tell), an old friend of Brookfield's, arrives from Baltimore to save her son from the vice of gambling, but when Brookfield shows her her son and his daughter in the garden, she is delighted. Brookfield announces to the gentlemen that for that evening the gambling is over early, due to a feeling he has. After everybody has left, Brookfield's old friend (and customer) Lew Ellinger (Richard Carle) proposes to play poker. But Brookfield answers he is not a gambler. Ellinger deals the cards anyway. To his astonishment, Brookfield tells him exactly what he has in his hands. When it is repeated a second time, Brookfield tells him that he cannot tell what cards he has if Ellinger doesn't look at them. When this second time he tells again the card Ellinger has, Ellinger asks Brookfield how he does it. Brookfield does not know how he does it, but he does not gamble because of this gift, which saddens Ellinger. Meantime, the police chief (Frank Sheridan) gathers his men to raid Brookfield's house. When they arrive, however, they can find no trace of gambling activity.