by Alex Manugian

After sitting through the disaster that was Legion, I realized that there’s a minor subgenre of movies that I am very drawn to: movies that take place almost entirely over the course of a single night. This format is rather unique in that it sneaks into almost every major genre. Certainly it has achieved the most recognition in horror, but there are gems to be found in almost every genre.

There are many candidates for this column, but here are just four wonderful movies that take place, for the most part, over the course of 24 hours.

Alec Guinness and Peter Falk in Murder by Death. (Courtesy photo)

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise. (Courtesy photo)

The Old Dark House (1932): Maybe the first time in cinema that a car full of people got stranded at a creepy house, and it’s still the best. Director James Whale delivers many chills, but what really make this fun are his wickedly subversive humor (the whacko hosts, played by Eva Moore and Ernest Thesiger, are called The Femms), and the cast of pros—Charles Laughton, Melvin Douglas, Gloria Stuart, Raymond Massey, and Boris Karloff. You’ll seldom see the usually sour Massey, Laughton, and Karloff have so much fun. Whale even manages to convey some of the post World War I angst of J.B. Priestley’s source novel, Benighted. Not many films from any era can take you by surprise as often as The Old Dark House. Whale’s most famous horror comedy is Bride of Frankenstein, but I much prefer this one.

The Clock (1945): Another movie that has more to it than first appears, The Clock is an odd and very appealing mix of old-fashioned romance and innovative storytelling. Vincent Minnelli coaxed the first nonsinging performance out of his new bride, Judy Garland, and she gives a beautifully honest performance. She’s teamed with Robert Walker, still playing his string of cheerful naive heroes five years before Alfred Hitchcock gave him his signature villainous role in Strangers on a Train. He and Garland make a touching pair, all the more so since both led tragic lives. It can be hard to tell where the character awkwardness ends and the actor awkwardness begins, but they get better as the story progresses. He’s a soldier on leave who meets her on his first day in New York City. The two end up having an unforgettable two days, most of it taking them through a fairytale version of New York after hours. It may be pure romantic nonsense, but there’s an unsettling undercurrent of reality to their whirlwind romance. And Minnelli manages to shoot New York City—and the Hollywood backlot re-creations—with incredible style. The Clock starts a little slowly, but stick with it and you may be quite taken by the end.

Murder by Death (1976): This was an absolute joy of a film to see as a young movie and mystery fan. The five greatest detectives are invited to a spooky mansion by a mysterious man. His challenge: they must solve a murder—his own. Written by Neil Simon, the movie is more a collection of funny bits, rather than a living, breathing film, and veteran Broadway director Robert Moore can’t quite get the pacing right. But the once-in-a-lifetime cast makes it all worthwhile. Peter Falk is Sam Diamond, Peter Sellers is Inspector Wang, David Niven and Maggie Smith are Dick and Dora Charleston, James Coco is Milo Perrier, and Elsa Lanchester is Miss Jessica Marbles. There are also Eileen Brennan, Nancy Walker, Truman Capote, James Cromwell, and Alec Guinness in his last great comic role. Murder by Death has not aged as well as I’d hoped, but it’s still a special kind of treat.

Before Sunrise (1995): A cynical young American with a broken heart (Ethan Hawke) meets a sweet, guarded young French student (Julie Delpy) on a train through Austria. They spend the afternoon and night exploring Vienna together before he must get on a plane the next morning. Knowing they’ll most likely never see each other again, the two form a powerful—and powerfully romantic—connection. So many amorous young travelers have had their own version of this story—or at least imagined it—that Richard Linklater and co-writer Kim Krizan were asking for trouble by making it. The result couldn’t be more honest, romantic, and universal. Sometimes the two talk about mundane things, other times each reaches deep into the other’s soul. Sometimes the night progresses like poetry, other times the smallest misstep leads to distress or distrust. Hawke and Delpy shine in their roles. Before Sunrise is the kind of movie I wish they made three of every year. Just keep doing it—two people romancing their way through 24 hours in any European city you like. No such luck, but there is one lovely consolation: Linklater, Delpy, and Hawke reunited 10 years later for Before Sunset. And that one may be even better.

Alex Manugian lives in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard readers for many years.