I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
Starring Victor Mature, Betty Grable and Carole Landis
82 minutes
Right off the bat, we find out there’s been a killing.
After the flashy Broadway-ish main titles finish, we see the city from the point of view of a crane which slowly “zooms” into a young man selling papers. “Extra, extra, read all about it” he shout as the camera show us what’s written... Beautiful Model Found Murdered.
Next we are taken into an interrogation room where we are introduced to the main actor in the film. Franky Christopher (Victor Mature) is a promoter of many kinds of people... but mostly beautiful women. He is put under the light and is questioned about the murder of Vicky Lynn (Betty Grable). He denies it all and is released. Everything is explained in flashbacks and we learn how Christopher and Vicky meet (she was a waitress at the restaurant and Christopher scouted her).
During Christopher’s interrogation we are also introduced to Vicky Lynn’s sister, Jill (Carole Landis), who is also in the police station. She tells the cops how Vicky was enthralled by the possibilities of becoming a celebrity. “They’re going to glamorize me,” she says but the sister knows there aren’t any shortcut with these kind of careers.
After this, Vicky Lynn takes an offer to depart to Hollywood and gets killed shortly before leaving.
Most of the cops believe that Franky Christopher is innocent except for Inspector Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar), a big and intimidating cop. We find out that he had been stalking Vickie Lynn but wants to arrest (frame?) Christopher.
Halfway through the story Christopher and Jill get involved. She trusts him but the rumors start flying quickly.
There are a few more characters in this film such as Christopher’s two friends, the actor and the columnist. There’s also the mysterious front desk worker at Vicky Lynn’s apartment...
So, who killed Vicky Lynn and why? You’ll just have to watch the movie to find out.
I enjoyed this movie just from how it was made. The pace of it is fast. I paused my DVD at the thirty minute mark and it felt like an hour had passed.
I’ve seen a few movies that Victor Mature had starred in but those were epics. He does a reasonably good job in I Wake Up Screaming as he’s not too stiff with his lines. He seems like a nice guy so we assume that he’s not the killer...
Betty Grable definitely is a babe and the director made sure to give her many close ups for the big screen. They don’t make movies like this anymore.
The sets are very well done. I enjoyed seeing all the women dressed in swell looking gowns and the men in tuxedos. There are lots of gritty and dark scenes with lots of shadows in this movie.
I enjoyed the dialogue. You probably won’t hear any of these line being said now a days which I think is a shame. I probably wouldn’t walk up to many ladies in a dance hall by saying, “May I have the next mazurka,” or end a date by saying, “Thanks, you’ve been swell.” And then Christopher and the inspector exchange a lot of talk. One memorable quote from the inspector is, “I’ll have you tied up like a pig in a slaughterhouse.”
A lot of scenes in I Wake Up Screaming seem implausible. Would Christopher give a lift to the inspector? Would Christopher and Jill really date each other? Would the cop break into and sit in the suspect’s room and greet him that casually? I’d have to say no to all of these questions.
Overall, I didn’t mind viewing this movie as it moves along at a good pace. The ending was a bit of a letdown. I’m sure the inspector could’ve acted in a loonier way towards the end... but it’s all toned down. The movie tends to be both cheerful and corny/scary. There’s a lot of cup mute playing with the trumpet and trombones which keeps the mood light. Also, we can hear the music to Over the Rainbow quite frequently.
I’d give this movie 3 stars out of 5.
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