I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941) – A Review
 

This well-known noirish crime drama has a very interesting cast, and a somewhat involved plot. To sum up, when beautiful model Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis) is found murdered, sports promoter Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature) is doggedly pursued by creepy police lieutenant Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar), who insists Frankie is the killer. Meanwhile, Lynn’s sister, Jill (Betty Grable), who is involved with Christopher, is also drawn into the search for the real killer.

Liberally sprinkled with flashbacks, some inappropriate musical choices, and a strong supporting cast (Alan Mowbray, Elisha Cook, Jr., Frank Orth), I Wake Up Screaming is, overall, a fairly passable if pedestrian crime drama of its time. Though perhaps of interest as an early, non-musical leading role for Betty Grable, it’s not very notable for any other reason…
 

…except for one remarkable thing: Laird Cregar.

 

 

To say that Laird Cregar transcends the mediocrity of this film is a huge understatement. He simply towers over the entire cast, the entire film, looming large as a malignant presence throughout the story. Even the dialogue for his character seems to be beamed in from some other, better movie. He is astonishing here. By turns menacing and pathetic, and always obsessive, you’ll not soon forget Lt. Ed Cornell.

 

In one scene, Frankie Christopher awakens in the middle of the night, and can see Cornell sitting silently in a chair in his bedroom, illuminated by the flashing neon light outside. It’s a simple, yet highly effective scene, and extremely unnerving.

 

In another scene, Cregar manages to imbue the simple line, “It can be done” with everything you’ll ever need to know about his character. Simple though the line is, in the context of the scene, it’s one of the spookiest pieces of dialogue I’ve ever heard.

 

Were it not for Laird Cregar’s performance, I would describe this as a very average, take it or leave it picture. But given his performance, I Wake Up Screaming is a must-see film for anyone who loves movies, or appreciates great acting. He really is that compelling. (And, to be fair, fans of the other stars here will not be disappointed with them.) When I first saw this film, I was so taken with his performance that I immediately watched it a second time, and have sought out all his other work since. Which leads to...

 

...the tragic postscripts for this movie. After his stellar work here, and in This Gun for Hire the next year, Cregar’s star was on the rise. In 1944, he was given the lead role in a remake of The Lodger, and the year after that, he was again the lead in what turned out to be his final film, Hangover Square. In an effort to move more in the direction of a leading man, the large actor (6’3” and 300 pounds) crash dieted down considerably. Apparently the dieting put some sort of strain on his stomach, and, days after a surgery to deal with that problem, he died of heart failure on December 9^th, 1944 at 31 years of age.

 

 

As for Carole Landis…Despite the good notices she got for this film, Landis soon found her career slipping. She also went through a number of short-lived marriages. It all came to an end on July 5^th, 1948, when she killed herself with an overdose of sedatives. She was just 29 years old.