The screenplay was written by Barré Lyndon, who made a number of changes to the novel, including transforming George Harvey Bone into a classical composer-pianist and filming the story as a turn-of-the-20th-century period piece.

On August 29, at a smoking concert at a working-class pub, George meets ambitious and conniving singer Netta Longdon, through his buddy, Mickey.

He stops playing and asks Barbara to carry the performance; however, when police question him in a separate room, he attacks them and throws a gas lamp, setting the building on fire.

George returns to the salon and resumes playing the piano while the audience and musicians flee, heedless of the fire around him and ignoring Barbara's pleas to escape.

Fox agreed, but wanted to recreate the success that it had enjoyed the previous year with The Lodger, and made several changes to the story, including the main character's personality and the setting.

As a musician, Cregar was eager to perform the musical pieces on his own; however, Brahm insisted that he mime the piano playing.

Having been placed on suspension the previous year for refusing to perform in The Undying Monster, he accepted the role of Dr. Allan Middleton.

"[6] The American composer Stephen Sondheim has cited Bernard Herrmann's score for Hangover Square as a major influence on his musical Sweeney Todd.

The staff at Variety magazine liked the film and wrote, "Hangover Square is eerie murder melodrama of the London gaslight era—typical of Patrick Hamilton yarns, of which this is another.

The madman-murderer is known from the first reel...Production is grade A, and so is the direction by John Brahm, with particular bows to the music score by Bernard Herrmann.

"[9] Film critic and author James Agee reviewed it in 1945: "Hangover Square is a better than average horror picture up to, but not including, its wildly overloaded climax..." [10] In 2010, British label Chandos released a CD including a 17-minute concert suite from Hangover Square, assembled by Stephen Hogger.