I Wake Up Screaming (1941)

It's impossible to get at the mystery here. Like the three main suspects find themselves in a maze of trouble in having no idea of what is going on, so will the audience find themselves in hopeless bewilderment that just gets worse all the time for the towering confusion. At the same time, this film is hilariously witty and surprising all the way - the odd twists and turns of this outrageously baffling mystery never stop coming up with new surprises, while the greatest one awaits you in the end. There is a lot of house-breaking in this film, and none of the actors seem surprised or even to mind that people keep breaking in at midnight to keep them company in their bedroom. Victor Mature is the lead as the most harassed suspect, but Laird Cregar as the inspector general gets the better of the whole show - if ever you were troubled by nasty policemen, they will all appear like angels in comparison with this awesome smiling sadist, who enjoys subjecting you to interminable psychic torture, and he is sure to get you in the end - his record is perfect, there is not a trace of a flaw in his long career, and everyone hates him, including his fellow policemen, especially his chief. This policeman could make you hate all policemen forever. It's a fascinating character performance that you will never forget.Victor Mature is hardened enough by his long association with difficult people in publicity business to be able to cope with him endurably, while he scares both Betty Grable and Alan Mowbray. Elisha Cook is scary in the other direction, while the blonde sisters Betty Grable and Carole Landis are too pretty and easily carried away not to end up in trouble. Carole Landis is the beauty whom you only meet in flashbacks, while her sister is less convincing as a blonde bombshell - how could anyone fall in love with her? The main attraction and asset of the film is the brilliant script and story with a dialogue that will send you flying with delight over and over again. Everyone is witty, and the sparkling humour is a startling contrast to the sinister dark mystery of the murder, perfectly unsolvable, and yet the logic of the story couldn't be more impeccable and natural.

This is film noir at its' best, from screenplay to directorship to photography to acting. I'm sure the 'best boy' was great too (did they have one back in 1941?).We don't talk much about actresses butts, but Carole Landis had one of the best, even with a girdle. What a beautiful girl.... suicide at 29. Betty Grable was THE pin-up girl at the time, on the lockers of many GI's, but it was her acting that stood out in this film. I wish she had done more drama and fewer light-hearted romance/music films. Victor mature was very believable as was Laird Cregar as the vulgar detective.I haven't written much, if any, about the content of the film and I never do in my layperson's reviews because I don't want to divulge the scenario. Since they are loaded with repetition (I think I have a larger library of old movies), FXM Retro or TCM will air the film again soon, just like they do with 'Key largo.' No, Virginia, there is no 'Hotel Central' in Milwaukee and never was, according to my dad, who has lived there since 'One Million B.C.' (a film starring both Victor Mature and Carole Landis....the early version, not the one with Raquel Welsh).

My feelings about this film changed when I watched it last night on TCM during Betty Grable's Summer Under the Stars tribute. It is not as good as I remembered. It suffers from quite a few plot contrivances, and the main stars look a little uncomfortable in their roles (except for Laird Cregar and Carole Landis), and for the most part it sort of registers like a glorified B crime film. I think Grable was right when she told studio boss Darryl Zanuck that she was not cut out for straight dramatic parts and stuck to musicals henceforth. In a musical you can get by with mediocre acting if your dancing and singing is spectacular. But in a film of this nature, with nothing else to fall back on, you have to be very convincing-- and in some spots she is a bit too self-conscious and not at all convincing. Costar Victor Mature does not exactly have a handle on his character either (but as his career at Fox continued, he would become a dependable dramatic lead). VICKI, the remake that hit screens twelve years with Jeanne Crain and Jean Peters, is better in my opinion.

War-time film noir has small-time promoter Frankie (Mature) accused of murdering a young client (Landis) just as she is leaving him for Hollywood. A brutish police inspector (Cregar) is convinced Frankie did the dastardly deed, and hounds him. The dead woman's sister (Grable), at first skeptical of Frankie, comes to believe him and helps him as the police tighten their net. It will be evident who the real murderer is from the moment he appears on screen, but the fun here is in following the tense cat and mouse game between Frankie and the obsessive inspector. Cregar steals every scene he is in. And pinup queen Grable ain't half-bad as the conflicted sister. Colorful supporting cast includes Alan Mowbray as a washed-up actor, William Gargan as a society columnist, Charles Lane as a florist, Morris Ankrum as an assistant DA and Elisha Cook Jr. as a front desk man. Well worth a look.