I Wake Up Screaming (1941)

The American working title, "Hot Spot".

Used for the UK release.

I Wake Up Screaming

Director: H. Bruce Humberstone

USA 1941

82 min

Starring: Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Betty Grable and Laird Cregar, among others.

In classic film noir manner, the audience enters the picture in the midst of action. Frankie Christopher (Mature) is being interrogated about the murder of a young model, Vicky Lynn (Landis). Frankie's account on what he knows about the murder turns into a, by him narrated, story that unfolds to us.

Vicky Lynn has been found murdered in her apartment. Frankie's relationship to the dead model is that he discovered her as a waitress, exploiting her into becoming a model and socialite. The night she was murdered was the night she was leaving her modelling career for a future in Hollywood - something that made Frankie feel betrayed and makes him the prime suspect.

The narration repeats with the sister Jill's (Grable's) story. When Jill enters the crime scene she sees Frankie kneeling over the dead body, but she is sure that he is innocent. Romantic feelings develop between Frankie and Jill, which further complicated the investigation with suspicion from the police.

And here's where the fascinating Laird Cregar [portrait post here] enters as the suspecting police inspector Ed Cornell. He is certain that Frankie is responsible for the murder, and follows him around like a shadow.

Laird Cregar as Ed Cornell.

Is Cornell right? Is he wrong? Or can he, perhaps, be wrong with purpose? That's what going through your mind all through the film the first time you see it. When Frankie starts dating Jill you can't help but feeling that something fishy is going on, even though it logically shouldn't be that way.

Deleted Scene: Betty Grable sings "Daddy" in a scene that was deleted to be able to promote her as doing an entirely dramatic role. I thought it was really charming (and I recognize those slimy looks from her boss, ew...), but it was a good idea to cut it. It doesn't feel right in this movie.

I Wake Up Screaming is a suspenceful crime film, with several plot turns and a sweet, "not cheesy" romantic sub-plot. Even though Carole Landis is "the beautiful one" in the film, I am more charmed with the curvy figure and soft lips of Betty Grable, who gives a wonderful performance in the role of the victim's sister. She's charming, alright! I simply adore the scene where she and Mature break into a bicycle shop, and while talking she's working hard with releasing him from his handcuffs with a saw.
I wish to see more of Grable's dramatic performances, but I guess they might be pretty rare...

By the way - am I the only one feeling that all the male characters' fascination and devotion for the dead model rather reminds you of the film Laura, that came three years later?

Carole Landis as Vicky Lynn.

I've already told you the tragic fate of Laird Cregar, who died three years later in 1944. His was not, unfortunately, the only sad story of the cast. Carole Landis took her own life with Seconal in 1948, at the age of 29. It is believed to be the combined tragedies of four failed marriages, a career that never took off, financial problems and a passionate affair with the married Rex Harrison that finally broke her down.

Some fun trivia though... Betty Grable actually says "Thanks, Victor!" to Victor Mature in one scene, even though his character was named Frankie! And of course I'm kind enough to give you proof:

I mostly think about the title of the movies I see, and wonder why they were chosen. Some are obvious, like Casablanca (1942), Sunset Blvd. (1950) [review] or The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). Others are named after a line or reference in the film, like All About Eve (1950) [review], The Philadelphia Story (1940) [review] or The Lost Weekend (1945) [review].

But others, like I Wake Up Screaming, just leaves you wondering. I can't recall any character in the film waking up screaming. Maybe it's more apparent in the original novel by with the same name by Steve Fisher. Maybe it's a metaphor for the feeling of being constantly watched and hunted for a crime you didn't do. Anyway, it's interesting.

The Birth of Venus, 1486.

Just one more thing I thought about. It seems like there are some obvious references to art in this film. The most apparent thing, to me, was when Frankie's original name was revealed as Botticelli. Sandro Botticelli was an Italian painter during the Early Rennaissance, and his most famous work is probably The Birth of Venus from 1486. (Some of my high school kknowledge still stick!)

Another art reference is when Cornell unwelcomed visits Jill at her apartment, and makes a remark about a painting she has called "The Garden of Hope", asking her if she believes in hope. I can't find any specific art reference to this, but it is still a little remark they thought was important enough to leave in the final film. Anyone knowing more about this?

Betty Grable and Victor Mature look great together.

La Marr and Cregar celebrations

I wonder if London still looks like this?

Oh, those dandy 19th century people.

Or should I quote Tracy Lords in The Philadelphia Story (1940):

"English history has always fascinated me. Robin Hood, Cromwell, Jack the Ripper..."

Before I head off on a romantic holiday in the foggy London streets, I serve you a meaty post to enjoy yourselves with while I'm away.

I know that I originally said that we were going to Paris, but when it was time to order tickets we realized that a flight to Paris would cost us half a years of my boyfriend's salary and both our souls. Since I haven't had any soul for quite a few years, we simply couldn't make it. At least I got a drink tip from my mother (she spent some years in London in the crazy 1980's, listening to Bob Marley and flirting with bikers) - Snake Bite with sweet apple cider. But only half a pint - a mother can't let her daughter be intoxicated.

So here it is! (I'll be back on Sunday.)

July 28th was the birthday of two underestimated (or at least more or less forgotten) actors, with not too much in common - Barbara La Marr and Laird Cregar. The only connection between them is probably their too early deaths at ages 29 and 30 years of age.

I intend to compose some brief portraits of the actors, since it was ages since I did one of those. (Well, at least almost two months since the Lotte Reiniger portrait in early June.)

Barbara La Marr (1896-1926)

"I like my men like I like my roses - by the dozen."

Barbara La Marr was born Reatha (a name she loathed) Dale Watson in the town of Yakima, Washington in July 28th, 1896. Her mother was previously married and had two children in that marriage, and the father was an editor for a newspaper.

La Marr's up and coming late-night party life was seen at the horizon when she at 14 years of age was arrested for burlesque dancing. At 16 she had earned herself a full-blown scandalous reputation, some of it because of her modeling nude for several local artists. During one of many scandals she adopted the name of Barbara La Marr to avoid inconvenience. Finally she got rid of the hated name of Reatha.

Being famous for her beautiful physique (a judge supposedly once said to her that she was "too beautiful to be alone in a big city"), La Marr made her way to Hollywood to become a script writer. Through her job connections there, she soon took the leap to the other side of the film camera, debuting in 1920. In 1921 she appeared in a film called The Nut, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Marguerite De La Motte.

La Marr's most important film is probably The Prisoner of Zenda (1922), an adventure film with La Marr as the villain's mistress Antoinette de Mauban. The leading man is Lewis Stone playing double parts as Rudolf Rassendyll and King Rudolf. Also starring in the film is Alice Terry and Ramon Novarro.

Barbara La Marr in the arms of Ramon Novarro in Thy Name is Woman (1924).

La Marr lived a wild life in Hollywood's flapper age. She said that she never slept more than two hours a night, since life was too short to sleep away. One can wonder if she knew how short her life in actuality would be.

After an affair with John Gilbert (her co-star in the 1922 film Arabian Love, but mostly known for his on- and off relationship with Swedish movie queen Greta Garbo), her contract with Metro was determinated. She moved to New York, where her party life of drugs and alcohole (and some pneumonia) took her life, only 29 years old. La Marr's death is said to be one of Hollywood's first drug-related deaths.

La Marr was married no less than five times during her short life - none of the marriages lasting more than three years (the shortest being her 1914 marriage, being annulled after only a few days.)

After La Marr's death, it was revealed that she once had had an illegitimate son with a man (who's identity is still unknown). That child was adopted by La Marr's good friend Zasu Pitts and her husband.

Trivia: Actress Hedy LaMarr was named after Barbara La Marr, a choice made by MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer.

Laird Cregar (1914-1944)

"All my life I've had black little moods."

As George Harvey Bone
in Hangover Square (1945)

Samuel Laird Cregar was born 28th July, 1914 (although some sources say 1913, 1915 or 1916 - his tombstone says 1914) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the youngest of six sons, his father being a cricketer and a member of the team Gentlemen of Philadelphia.

At the age of eight, Cregar was sent to England to join the Winchester Academy. He eventually found work as a page boy and bit player with the Stratford-upon-Avon theatrical troupe. He then set his mind on becoming a serious actor.

Cregar returned to America, and forced Hollywood to recognize him by arranging his own one-man show playing Oscar Wilde. He soon found work in Hollywood, and made his on-screen break in the history/adventure film Hudson's Bay (1941) opposite Paul Muni and Gene Tierney, playing a part with the flattering name of Gooseberry.

Throughout his film career Cregar had quite a girth, and often used to play suave villains much older than he himself was. Notable parts are the supposedly homosexual columnist Natalio Curro in the matador film Blood and Sand (1941), a psychopathic detectivei n I Wake Up Screaming (1941), a con-artist together with Gene Tierney once again in the screwball comedy Rings on Her Fingers (1942) and Jack the Ripper in The Lodger (1944).




Quite a broad resume - the public loved his sincere over-the-top acting and colorful villains - but there was one problem. When Cregar lost the part of Waldo Lydecker in Laura (1944), because the director thought that the public instantaniously would know that the character would på the villain if Cregar got the part, it was a wake-up call for him. Afraid of being type-cast, Cregar decided to do something to change his career.

Being a promising actor as he was, but not given the opportunity to develop, Cregar got the devastating idea of loosing some weight to be able to play leading men. He obviously had attractive facial features (co-actress Merle Oberon encouraged him, and told him that he could be a romantic on-screen hero), but his weight stood in his way for more varying roles. Cregar changed his diet, and went from weighing 300 pounds (132 kg) to 200 pounds (88 kg). The result is to be seen in the dark, magical thriller Hangover Square (1945, review here) opposite Linda Darnell (my post on her here). In the film he plays a despicable composer, who black-outswhen he hears dissonance. Soon he suspects that he might have commited murder during his blackouts.

In his last role Cregar proved that he was an actor to count with. Tragically enough, that was the last example of his brilliant acting the motion picture audience got to see - Cregar's body couldn't handle his crash diet, and he was forced to undergo surgery for severe stomach disorder. His heart gave up on December 9th, 1944, days after the surgery. He didn't live to see himself finally getting the top billing, in Hangover Square.

Trivia: Laird Cregar was homosexual, something that wasn't too accepted in the 1940's. The man he lost the role of Waldo Lydecker to, Clifton Webb, was also homosexual.

Here's a compilation of some of Laird Cregar's on-screen characters. I made it in quite a haste, so I'm sorry if it's not a 100 %. (And I really should have included I Wake Up Screaming.)

Anyway - I felt that YouTube needed a little more Cregar, so maybe it makes someone happy.

Ta-taa for now, kittens!

Hangover Square (1945)

Hangover Square
Director: John Brahm
USA 1945
77 min


A dramatic thriller set in a foggy London in the beginning of the 20th century. A composer, George Harvey Bone (Laird Cregar) struggles with the writing of a piano concerto, while he realizes that he suffer from black outs when he hears dissonance.
The film begins with this sequence:



After that George returns home to meet his girlfriend Barbara (Faye Marlowe). He has blood on his forehead and a knife in his pocket. He can't explain why to his girlfriend, because he can't remember. Soon they hear the newpaper boys shouting about a murder having been commited in that part of London where George had just been. Barbara persuades George to believe that he couldn't have done it. George is worried anyhow, and decides to contact a doctor he has heard of, that know a lot about the modern findings of psychology, Dr. Allan Middleton (played by the wonderful George Sanders).

Nightclub singer Netta (Linda Darnell).

The doctor advices him to take a break from the stress of writing the concerto, and befriend other London citizens. That's when George meet nightclub singer Netta Longdon (Linda Darnell). He becomes obsessed with her, and she takes advantage of his interest for her by making him write songs for her. George is too blind of devotion that he can't see that his stress returns, and soon other attempts of murders are commited around him.

Netta, using her femininity to get George to write songs for her.

Dr. Allan Middleton keeps his eyes open.

I saw this film for the first time yesterday, and I deeply regret that I hadn't seen it much sooner. This might be one of the greatest films I've ever seen, easily reaching the top ten. (Not that I ever rank the films I see, but if I did I'm sure this one would be on it.)
The actors are at their best, the music is both beautiful and inconvenient, the photography is wonderful with a great contrast in the gray scale. But most of all they managed to show the protagonist's dramatic change when he turns into a different person with uncomplicated and brilliant techniques. The noise in his head, the rings on the pool of water that pauses in its movements, and of course the brilliance of Laird Cregar's acting.

Here follows a great documentary on Laird Cregar that I found on the extra material for Hangover Square, which tragically enough was to be his last film. In only twenty minutes you learn a lot of him and the tragedy of his death.
(God, it took a lot of time before this piece of film was uploaded on the blog, so see it!)

Quotes:

George Harvey Bone: All my life I've had black little moods.

George Harvey Bone: But, Dr. Middleton, music is the most important thing in the world to me.
Dr. Allan Middleton: No, Mr. Bone, the most important thing is your life.

Netta Longdon: "All for you. There's not a thing I wouldn't or that I couldn't do." You wrote that for me, George. But you've never really tried to find out, have you?