I Wake Up Screaming (1941)

Why is Inspector Ed Cornell trying to railroad Frankie Christopher for the murder of model Vicky Lynn?

Director:

H. Bruce Humberstone (as Bruce Humberstone)

Writers:

Dwight Taylor (screen play), Steve Fisher (novel)

Stars:

Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Betty Grable	...	Jill Lynn
Victor Mature	...	Frankie Christopher
Carole Landis	...	Vicky Lynn
Laird Cregar	...	Ed Cornell
William Gargan	...	Jerry MacDonald
Alan Mowbray	...	Robin Ray
Allyn Joslyn	...	Larry Evans
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Harry Williams
Chick Chandler	...	Reporter
Cyril Ring	...	Reporter
Morris Ankrum	...	Asst. District Attorney
Charles Lane	...	Keating
Frank Orth	...	Cemetery Caretaker
Gregory Gaye	...	Headwaiter
May Beatty	...	Lady Handel (as Mae Beatty)

Storyline

Promoter Frankie Christopher, being grilled by police in the murder of model Vicky Lynn, 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 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, the victim's sister, who's been cool toward him...

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Plot Keywords:

waitress | frame up | model | death of sister | new york city | 

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Taglines:

Three of the most exciting people you ever had in a picture!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

A pack of Chesterfield cigarettes can be seen in the opened drawer of the columnist alongside the gun. The same Chesterfield cigarettes can be seen advertised on signs in the background behind Victor Mature when he sticks up a cop with a Tootsie Roll. Other Chesterfield posters: in a store window when Frankie hails a cab to take Jill to a nightclub, and behind Cornell as he observes the pair entering the Pegasus Club.

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Goofs

Victor Mature drives Betty Grable to the boxing matches in his car. After the boxing program is over, they are shown walking home and then they catch a cab, with the car completely forgotten.

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Quotes

Ed Cornell: [to Frankie Christopher] You're like a rat in a box without any holes!

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Connections

References The Three Musketeers (1939)

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Soundtracks

Street Scene
(uncredited)
Music by Alfred Newman
[Played over main titles, then heard as background music throughout the movie]

User Reviews

Story of obsession, murder key movie in developing noir cycle

WWII pin-up gal Betty Grable took her first dramatic part as the sister of a murdered model in Bruce Humberstone's I Wake Up Screaming, based on a serialized novel by Steve Fisher. It sounds like second billing, but the victim's role – as coffee-shop hostess turned toast of Manhattan Vicky Lynn – remains curiously understated (and played by Carole Landis).

Landis is discovered by publicist Victor Mature and falls under his benevolent spell, which launches her onto magazine covers and ultimately to a Hollywood contract. She proves ungrateful and winds up strangled. Mature, among other suspects, comes under the scrutiny of the police, particularly of a dogged detective whose interest in the case borders on the obsessive. Portrayed by the immense but oddly vulnerable Laird Cregar, the detective becomes Mature's nemesis (in one scene, Mature wakes up to find Cregar watching him, hoping he'll incriminate himself by talking in his sleep). Cregar's ominous bulk makes for a number of looming shadows skulking through nighttime New York.

I Wake Up Screaming, which appeared very early in the noir cycle, certainly displays the dark look and fragmented structure of its successors, but its tone remains ambiguous. Basically, it's a high-style, `sophisticated' murder mystery, a precursor to the more famous and accomplished Laura. But, unlike Laura, it found many of the implications of the story perhaps too grim for wartime audiences – the theme of obsession gets played down, for instance. But it's a key work in the developing noir cycle, released the same year as Johnny Eager, The Glass Key and This Gun For Hire.

Eleven years later, the releasing studio, 20th Century Fox, remade the film as Vicki. Though changes for the most part were minimal, the title role was enlarged (and taken by Jean Peters) while Mature's part was weakened by routine casting. The most interesting change was engaging the young Richard Boone for the Cregar part, who delivers a more brutal portrayal and thus underscores the theme of sexual obsession. It could be argued that the remake, despite lapses in casting and direction, remains the more intriguing version.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hot Spot

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$462,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1