'I Wake Up Screaming' came out around the time 'The Maltese Falcon', which is considered the first true film noir. 'Screaming' has some noirish elements including some dark lighting, a femme fatale of sorts and a man falsely accused of murder but it can't make up its mind whether its appeal is slanted toward the lover of a good mystery or romance. Indeed, the occasionally insufferable soundtrack features one too many tidbits of 'Over the Rainbow', occasionally ruining the dark atmosphere of menace that a true film noir should engender.
'I Wake Up Screaming' disappoints on many levels. First there's the murder victim herself, Vicky Lynn (played by Carole Landis, who tragically took her own life approximately seven years after this film's first release). Vicky is a waitress turned would-be actress, after being discovered by sports promoter, Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature). One wonders why these high society types (who are friends of Christopher), fall head over heels for the unconnected Vicky, who has nothing to offer except maybe her looks. The way they fawn over this unproven neophyte is truly embarrassing. Not all actresses at that time got ahead simply because of their looks—there was something also called 'personality' but unfortunately the films' scenarists here chose to present the requisite go-getter as a generic bimbo.
Maybe this is the reason why Vicky's sister, Jill (Betty Grable), along with Christopher, fail to emote when they learn of Vicky's murder. Yes, this bothered me but then again, when you intentionally create such generic characters, it stands to follow that real emotions will invariably not end up on display. I also found Victor Mature to be hopelessly miscast as Christopher, who should be a more hardened, streetwise character. Mature is simply too much of a 'nice guy' to play a tough guy sports promoter. Betty Grable is more fitting as the goody two shoes sister but too much time is taken up with Grable and Mature canoodling, and taking us away from the aforementioned atmosphere of dread (it should be noted that the DVD extras feature a song that Grable sings that was cut from the final print; that only goes to show the mindset of the films' producers before they decided to turn 'I Wake Up Screaming' into something a tad bit more grittier).
The 'Screaming' plot is really nothing to write home about. Yes there's a nice little twist when Jill recognizes creepy Detective Ed Cornell (menacingly and finely played by Laird Cregar who also met a sad demise at an early age), as the guy who had stalked Vicky earlier, while she was working as a waitress. Cornell is the bad cop who breaks into Christopher's apartment, misappropriates evidence without a warrant and ultimately still attempts to arrest Christopher, even though he has already obtained a confession from the real killer. We get the idea early on that Cornell is both a bad guy and pushy to boot but things really fall apart at the climax when it's revealed he's a pathetic sad sack stalker, who has pictures of Vicky plastered all over his apartment. Instead of killing Christopher (which of course would not have worked well for a 1941 audience but would have been a better ending today—I'm thinking of John Houston in 'Chinatown', the real bad guy pedophile who gets away with it), Cornell, sheepishly and pathetically, takes his own life.
The real killer turns out to be a big let down: Harry Williams, the bellhop, whose obsession with Vicky was even worse than Cornell's (Elisha Cook Jr. provides the proper histrionics, as the noted 'B' actor was always good at playing neurotics and petty criminals).
Oh yes, there are two other characters, an over the hill actor and cynical Broadway columnist, who are the 'red herrings' designed to distract you from figuring out who the real killer is. Again, when we do find out that Harry Williams did Vicky in, he just seems so tangential to the main story, as if it were an aside in a play (also, please clue me in how the police can call Harry a "suspect", simply because he went missing for a day or two—later they discover the was visiting relatives in Brooklyn, and have to let him go).
The 'I Wake Up Screaming' denouement is wholly appropriate, as we find the two lovebirds, Jill and Christopher, once again canoodling in the 'ritzy' night club which both sisters found so exciting. The lightweight ending might be good for the family friendly aficionados who dig the happy endings and the silly romance, but film noir has clearly taken a back seat, in this puppy love, pseudo-thriller.
'I Wake Up Screaming' disappoints on many levels. First there's the murder victim herself, Vicky Lynn (played by Carole Landis, who tragically took her own life approximately seven years after this film's first release). Vicky is a waitress turned would-be actress, after being discovered by sports promoter, Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature). One wonders why these high society types (who are friends of Christopher), fall head over heels for the unconnected Vicky, who has nothing to offer except maybe her looks. The way they fawn over this unproven neophyte is truly embarrassing. Not all actresses at that time got ahead simply because of their looks—there was something also called 'personality' but unfortunately the films' scenarists here chose to present the requisite go-getter as a generic bimbo.
Maybe this is the reason why Vicky's sister, Jill (Betty Grable), along with Christopher, fail to emote when they learn of Vicky's murder. Yes, this bothered me but then again, when you intentionally create such generic characters, it stands to follow that real emotions will invariably not end up on display. I also found Victor Mature to be hopelessly miscast as Christopher, who should be a more hardened, streetwise character. Mature is simply too much of a 'nice guy' to play a tough guy sports promoter. Betty Grable is more fitting as the goody two shoes sister but too much time is taken up with Grable and Mature canoodling, and taking us away from the aforementioned atmosphere of dread (it should be noted that the DVD extras feature a song that Grable sings that was cut from the final print; that only goes to show the mindset of the films' producers before they decided to turn 'I Wake Up Screaming' into something a tad bit more grittier).
The 'Screaming' plot is really nothing to write home about. Yes there's a nice little twist when Jill recognizes creepy Detective Ed Cornell (menacingly and finely played by Laird Cregar who also met a sad demise at an early age), as the guy who had stalked Vicky earlier, while she was working as a waitress. Cornell is the bad cop who breaks into Christopher's apartment, misappropriates evidence without a warrant and ultimately still attempts to arrest Christopher, even though he has already obtained a confession from the real killer. We get the idea early on that Cornell is both a bad guy and pushy to boot but things really fall apart at the climax when it's revealed he's a pathetic sad sack stalker, who has pictures of Vicky plastered all over his apartment. Instead of killing Christopher (which of course would not have worked well for a 1941 audience but would have been a better ending today—I'm thinking of John Houston in 'Chinatown', the real bad guy pedophile who gets away with it), Cornell, sheepishly and pathetically, takes his own life.
The real killer turns out to be a big let down: Harry Williams, the bellhop, whose obsession with Vicky was even worse than Cornell's (Elisha Cook Jr. provides the proper histrionics, as the noted 'B' actor was always good at playing neurotics and petty criminals).
Oh yes, there are two other characters, an over the hill actor and cynical Broadway columnist, who are the 'red herrings' designed to distract you from figuring out who the real killer is. Again, when we do find out that Harry Williams did Vicky in, he just seems so tangential to the main story, as if it were an aside in a play (also, please clue me in how the police can call Harry a "suspect", simply because he went missing for a day or two—later they discover the was visiting relatives in Brooklyn, and have to let him go).
The 'I Wake Up Screaming' denouement is wholly appropriate, as we find the two lovebirds, Jill and Christopher, once again canoodling in the 'ritzy' night club which both sisters found so exciting. The lightweight ending might be good for the family friendly aficionados who dig the happy endings and the silly romance, but film noir has clearly taken a back seat, in this puppy love, pseudo-thriller.