1941 Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
A young promoter is accused of the murder of Vicky Lynn, a young actress he "discovered" as a waitress while out with ex-actor Robin Ray and gossip columnist Larry Evans.
Betty Grable Victor Mature Carole Landis Laird Cregar William Gargan Alan Mowbray Allyn Joslyn Elisha Cook Jr. Chick Chandler Cyril Ring Morris Ankrum Charles Lane Frank Orth Gregory Gaye May Beatty Brooks Benedict Edward Biby Stanley Blystone Wade Boteler John Breen Ralph Brooks Russ Clark Stanley Clements James Conaty Heinie Conklin Bob Cornell Dorothy Dearing Eddie Dunn Ralph Dunn Show All…
Quem Matou Vicki?, ¿Quién mató a Vicky?, Silmukka kiristyy, Me despierto gritando, I wake Up Screaming, Hot Spot, Situazione pericolosa, Acordei aos Gritos, Qui a tué Vicky Lynn?, Vanidad fatal, Mă trezesc ţipând, Agapi pou skotonei, Ночной кошмар, En studie i brott
Let’s just dwell for a moment on that title. Brilliant, isn’t it? One of my favourites. It doesn’t have a tremendous amount to do with the plot, but it strikes a pleasing note of terror and despair, which I think we can all get behind.
I Wake Up Screaming.
Lovely.
The film itself is a little less wonderful than its name, but only a little. It’s also extremely important, especially in the evolution of one of classic cinema’s most modern diversions: the swerve into the abyss that was film noir.
Noir, memorably described by Lee Server as “the genre that didn’t know its own name”, was a hybrid of German expressionism, French poetic realism and post-isolation American malaise, peopled by…
You may ask yourself is I Wake Up Screaming, with its irrelative title and full of oblique angles and cagey expressionist shadows, really film noir, set as it is among in-crowd rather than the hard luck crowd? Or is it just a 1941s police procedural romance, a Galatea myth murder mystery? Then you see Elisha Cook, Jr. and you know it’s pure noir. The best thing about the movie is the obsessive detective, Laird Cregar, who was sadly born to soon to be a natural member of the Coen Brothers Stock Company.
The truth hidden on the tips of burnt tongues finds itself blurred in the shadows between implication and reality for the man who says one thing only to find out he meant the opposite in the heat of the internally blinding moment.
How fitting, for the noir that traps you into its tropey alleyways and veritable who’s-who checklist of smokescreens and smoking guns before shedding the comically sized coats and over-tipped fedoras as the watchful vigilante of its very own genre machinations.
Sometimes the darkest, most dangerous desires are the few that haven’t had space to enter your head yet, we’re sold is the mantra of the self-convicted soul. For they’re too busy paying rent somewhere much deeper than we’re…
Victor Mature looks like what would happen if Dean Martin and Tyrone Power had a baby but it didn't come out quite as good as expected.
Well worth seeing if only for the top notch performance of the brilliant Laird Cregar. He simply shines. This film is a great introduction for anyone unfamiliar with this underrated, fantastically talented actor.
Unique soundtrack and great lighting.
20th Century Fox stumbles into Film-Noir out of nowhere with I Wake Up Screaming (1941). From what I understand this wasn't supposed to such a dark movie, but they went with it and so started their journey into what's become a favorite style of movie lovers with the shadowy tones and intense mind games. Because the style wasn't tweaked for this production, the characters becomes a rather grossly exaggerated, which in a strange way enhances the experience for a real blend of the classic Hollywood entertainment and dangerous feel of expressionism. Betty Grable is almost too sweet for her role, but give a little shadow to Victor Mature's face and you have the right contrast! There is no doubting the…
Timely allure of the amplification of one's personal image and corresponding grandeur that gets you killed by a mysterious, prototypical obsessive is the name of the game here as Humberstone essentially puts forth the most effectually atmospheric distillation of noir stylism in one of its earliest machinations. Banks largely on the efforts of an admittedly obscure Fox era cast (Laird Cregar's the obvious standout) and the to and fro narrative whiplash does its job in prolonging the inevitable blowout of a final stretch quite nicely.
Noir-November Challenge! Movie #41
A decent watch due to a great cast Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis and Laird Cregar!
Some good acting, NOIRish shadows and angles scattered about! Not too shabby but on the other hand I'm not jumping up and down out of excitement either!
Detective Ed Cornell is in Jill Lynn’s apartment and sees a picture on the wall titled “The Garden of Hope.” Jill wonders what would be the good of living without hope. In a dead voice, the lonely detective responds, “It can be done.”
One of the OG noirs I Wake Up Screaming (what a title!) is filled with twists and turns and had me guessing until its surprising ending. Memorable atmosphere, great character work including a mysterious femme fatale with tragic real life parallels. When model Vicky Lynn is murdered, suspicion falls on her promoter Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature); he manages to convince the victim's sister, Jill Lynn (pre-insured legs Betty Grable), to help him clear his name. But the…
Hmm. Let's start with the negatives. I frequently found myself making a face like I had just caught a whiff of some terrible smell. That's because a lot of this dialogue stinks. Don't watch this if you're looking for snappy one liners, hardboiled tough talk, or creative insults.
Victor Mature gets a lot of flack but I liked what I had seen prior to this (Kiss Of Death, Violent Saturday, Cry Of The City). But he was pretty bad here. Cheese and ham. And cheese and ham are generally what stops this film from being really good: there is even a "cute" (cringey) little scene in a swimming pool, for no other apparent reason than to show the leads in…
