I Wake Up Screaming

Being a fan of old movies, I must say that Cregar's performance in this film interested me a great deal. Having only been in his mid 20's at production, he is able to come off as a man who has indeed been on the force for some years. I've enjoyed his work in other movies, and wonder while watching his work what might have been had he lived beyond the young age of 28.

Yes, I did, too, after my hemorrhoid operation. That was brutal, but has nothing to do with the title of this movie. Come to think of it, the title of this movie has nothing to do with the story of it, either. There is no screaming in here, and almost no suspense. However, Laird Cregar, Elisha Cook Jr. and a couple of pretty ladies from the '40s (Betty Grable and Carole Landis) still make this interesting to view. Cregar is creepy, thanks to his voice and some good film-noir camera angles. This is billed as film noir, but it's really a "whodunnit" melodrama and it drags in spots, hence the "fair" rating. Overall "decent" but it doesn't live up to its wild title.

There's a lot to like about this Film Noir: excellent use of shadows (some spectacular patterns), Victor Mature's best acting role, Carole Landis' (who's both a better actress & prettier than Betty Grable) juicy part, Laird Cregar in one of the best scary roles of his too short career, & a strong plot. For cheesecake fans: yes, you do get to see Betty's great legs in a swimming pool scene that seems to have been incorporated into this film for just that purpose. For beefcake fans: yes, you do get to see Victor's chest in the same swimming pool scene. So everyone should have something to be happy about. There's lots of suspects here (five solid ones) to choose from, & I got it wrong, so the film gets an extra point for that. I rate it 9/10.