I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Promoter Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature), being grilled by police in the murder of model Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis), recalls in flashback: First meeting her as a waitress, Frankie decides to parlay her beauty into social acceptance and a lucrative career. He succeeds only too well: she's on the eve of deserting him for Hollywood...when someone kills her. Now Frankie gets the feeling that Inspector Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar) is determined to pin the killing on him and only him. He's right. And the only one he can turn to for help is Jill (Betty Grable), the victim's sister, who's been cool toward him...
- Actors:
- 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
- Directors:
- H. Bruce Humberstone
- Producers:
- Milton Sperling
- Writers:
- Dwight Taylor, Steve Fisher
- Aka:
- Hot Spot
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Romance, Thrillers
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- Not released
- Run Time:
- 85 minutes
- Languages:
- English
- Subtitles:
- None
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
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Reviews (1) of I Wake Up Screaming
Pre-noir Thriller. - I Wake Up Screaming review by Steve
Atmospheric crime thriller which is parked right on the intersection between the '30s Manhattan murder caper, and the incoming film noir movement of the '40s. There is a freshness to the cast with emerging stars in Victor Mature and Carole Landis, and Betty Grable looking for a new direction away from the musical.
That never actually paid off as she became such an icon in WWII that she got typecast as a good girl in a swimsuit. And we see the famous legs. She plays the sensible sister of a murdered showbiz wannabe (Landis), whose slick agent (Mature) has to prove his innocence. Laird Cregar dominates though as the... Well, as a tough cop!
H.Bruce Humberstone was just genre director of B films and he doesn't create much suspense and the pace is sluggish. However, he gives it a classic expressionist look and its a fine showcase for the young leads. Landis shines as the working girl snuffed out in her quest for the big time. Cult favourite Elisha Cook Jr. features as the... Well, a hotel clerk!
There are the motifs from earlier screwball mysteries with the New York nightspots and cocktails and lamé gowns. And sassy innuendo. And there's a premonition of noir with the flashbacks and darkness and pessimism. And Cregar's shadowy menace. It's an interesting genre film which suffers slightly for the lack of a A-list director.