Review of I Wake Up Screaming (1941) by Aj V — 27 May 2010

3: Laird Cregar is amazing. He is without a doubt one of the most memorable character actors of his time. He can play on just about any emotion the viewer has in them, and sometimes all at once. Hate, empathy, pity, disgust, etc.

I'm not terribly familiar with the work of Betty Grable, but every time I see her I wonder what all the fuss was about. I just can't see the whole pin-up girl aspect of her fame. It must have been because she seemed homely, approachable, and like the girl next door.

For my part, I'd rather have Carole Landis on the side of my plane. The main issue I have with the picture is that the title does not make any sense. I was expecting something much more along the lines of a Tourneur picture.

It is a noir, but definitely an early one. It seems to have been made before the conventions of the "genre" were fully fleshed out, but it bears so many of the hallmarks that it couldn't possibly be classified as anything but.

The detective, the pursuit, the murder, the femme fatale, the harsh lighting, the prevalance of night, the seediness, etc. It's a solid picture. I just wish they'd named it something else.