Review of I Wake Up Screaming (1941) by Benji G — 19 Jul 2015
Early film noir that isn't quite as bleak as the cycle would later get but still excels in showing shadows, oddness, and the possibly inescapable noose tightening around the protagonist's neck.
Victor Mature is affable but a bit of scumbag as the sports promoter seeking to turn an ordinary but beautiful waitress into a celebrity; when she turns up dead, he's the prime suspect. Betty Grable plays the sister who ends up helping Mature despite herself.
Heavy-set Laird Cregar is the creepy police inspector who turns up everywhere Mature goes. It plays like a whodunit at times but rings those noir notes (that would get louder in coming years) that didn't appear in the standard mystery fare of the time (including the Charlie Chan series also directed by Bruce Humberstone).
This review of I Wake Up Screaming (1941) was written by Benji G on 19 Jul 2015.
I Wake Up Screaming has generally received positive reviews.
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