I Wake Up Screaming [Hot Spot] **** (1941, Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar, Elisha Cook Jr, William Gargan, Alan Mowbray, Allyn Joslyn) – Classic Movie Review 6586

Director H Bruce Humberstone’s winning 1941 20th Century Fox movie stars Victor Mature as star promoter Frankie Christopher, who is suspected when his protégée actress client Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis) is murdered. Then her sister Jill (Betty Grable) gets dogged police detective, Inspector Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar), to investigate, and he seems to think that Frankie is guilty of the murder.

A creepy, outstanding performance of menace from the vast, threatening Cregar is the lynchpin that sustains this stylish, flashback-told, first-class film-noir thriller, further helped by fine character actor support from a long roster of old faithfuls, especially from Elisha Cook Jr (as Harry Williams), William Gargan (as Jerry MacDonald)), Alan Mowbray (as Robin Ray) and Allyn Joslyn (as Larry Evans). The always undervalued Mature and Grable give sterling service, too.

I Wake Up Screaming is also known as Hot Spot.

It is one of those rare films that is remarkable in all departments, but especially for the quality of its performances, the excellent screenplay by Dwight Taylor (based on a novel by Steve Fisher), the black and white cinematography by Edward Conjager, the score by Cyril J Mockridge and producer Milton Sperling’s top-notch studio production designed by Richard Day and Nathan Juran.

Also in the cast are Chick Chandler, Morris Ankrum, Cyril Ring, Charles Lane, Frank Orth, Gregory Gaye, Mae Beatty, Bob Cornell, Dorothy Dearing, Eddie Dunn, Ralph Dunn, James Flavin, Bess Flowers, George Hickman, Pat McKee, Edward McWade, Brooks Benedict, Stanley Blystone, Wade Botelier, Russ Clark, Stanley Clements, Heinie Conklin, Harry Seymour, Harry Strang, Basil Walker, Paul Weigel, Cecil Weston, Philip Morris, Forbes Murray, Albert Pollet, Dick Rich and Tim Ryan.

I Wake Up Screaming is also known as Hot Spot.

It is remade as Vicki (1953).

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6586

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