I Wake Up Screaming (1941) - Bruce Humberstone

Some films mysteriously fall through the cracks only to be recovered eventually. This film is an anomaly in that it predates nearly every convention of the noir genre yet is buried amongst studio vaults where it has had next to know attention paid it for years. Part of this may be due to Fox's strange broadcasting rights, another part may be due to the remake of the film which brought this version out of circulation. I wake up screaming was made in 1941, the same year as Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon, and the picture borrows heavily from both, but without apparently being inspired by those two. 

There's a detective, a murder, a likely suspect, a love triangle, and a jumping narrative. From the beginning we are introduced to characters in shadow, or hidden in complete darkness. Angles are canted, the frame is disjointed. Somewhere along the line Humberstone was doing everything right, and no one seemed to notice. Perhaps it may have been the fact that no one was sure what to do with Betty Grable in a film like this, an actress generally reserved for corny god awful musicals. The film's lone deleted scene actually featured Grable singing the song "Daddy", an interesting piece of music, and an ironic song considering the nature of Carole Landis' character. However it does detract from the film, and its exclusion is for the best, because the musical interlude would have seemed wrong for the picture. It also would make more of the emphasis on the film be for Grable who stays mostly supporting to victor Mature.

Grable does get the top billing here, but thats not surprising considering this was during her reign as 20th Century's biggest star, which would only increase over the next couple of years when she became every GI's favorite pin-up. Therefore it seems odd that she is the "plain" sister and Landis becomes the model, although not to detract from her looks. The casting however is good because you can believe these two hot blondes could be related. Mature was famous for being a lousy actor, and there isn't much here to convince you otherwise. He was competent at best, and his role here although nothing noteworthy is decent enough not to be aggravating. In many ways it would rank among his similar turn in Kiss of Death, in both cases he is a victim who can't count on the police for help. Here however, despite the fragmentary style of the opening, we never are sure whether or not Mature is Vicky's murderer. Based on the twisting nature of noir plots we're never quite sure if he may in fact be the culprit after all.

Everything for the solving of the murder is set up in the beginning, but it isn't until the end that it starts to make sense. A few details are revealed, and suddenly everything comes together. Its always great when a plot can have several threads going that appear useless distractions and padding for length, yet culminate together. So in this regard, nothing is wasted in the film. Even the deleted scene would have explained why Jill arrived at her apartment to find Vicky recently murdered. So from the cards on flowers, to the man in the window its all just pieces to a puzzle. The twist and therefore motive of the murder seems a bit of a mystery. Even the motive established for Frankie seems a bit far fetched. Who would murder someone for getting a Hollywood contract? However every character encountered has some method for feeling some resentment towards her. 

It is an ironic touch that the film score repeatedly features Alfred Newman's "Street Scene" because the film of the same name was Humberstone's second effort as an assistant director. You will hear throughout the film the extremely familiar "Over the Rainbow". It may be interesting to point out at this time that The Wizard of Oz was still considered a flop, so audiences of the day did not have the same instant recollection of the song that we would have today. The score therefore has a somewhat recycled quality to it, and is one of the many penny pinching devices used in the picture. Therefore the film also set up the noir precedent of not carrying a particularly large budget.

Humberstone's film deserves to be ranked among the most important noir features, and although it may not be the best of the bunch, every film of its kind made afterwards owes it something of a debt. Even the tactic of camera placement is familiar here. Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar) is constantly shot from a low angle and the effect is obvious. Not surprising that the tactic is reversed following his defeat, where he is shot from above collapsed on his desk. In this way the film is symmetrical with Mature and Grable leaving together past the cops who at the films opening kept them in separate interrogation rooms. Perhaps my favorite touch of the film is the first shot of Mature where we see just his shadow reflected on the wall of the interrogation room which looks like something out of waterfront dock. We know we're in noir territory, for the first time too.

Grade A -