I Wake Up Screaming

From Noiroftheweek.com

I Wake Up Screaming is never mentioned in the same breath as The Maltese Falcon when discussing the birth of film noir. Which would be a mistake.

Both films were made around the same time. I Wake Up Screaming, however, is much closer to being a true film noir. That's thanks to some fantastic stylistic camerawork (low angles, dark shadowy corners, shadows of Venetian blinds, low lit closeups and so on) and a complicated plot made even more twisty with flashbacks. The Maltese Falcon, on the other hand, is shot mostly like a '30s drawing room mystery (true, there are two fantastic shots: Sydney Greenstreet shot from the floor to look like a grotesque giant; and Mary Astor taking the elevator to hell with the shadow...

They've got more wolves in New York than they've got in Siberia.

I Wake Up Screaming is one of the early entries in the film noir cycle that lays down noirish detective conventions. The kicker is similar to that of "Stranger On The Third Floor (1940)", that of the chief suspect turning detective to try and prove innocence. Directed by Fox contract director H. Bruce Humberstone, the screenplay is by Dwight Taylor who adapts from Steve Fisher's novel of the same name. It stars Betty Grable (excellent in a rare dramatic role), Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar, William Gargan & Elisha Cook Jr. Picture is filmed as if in New York City, but although it's actually listed as the real location on other sources, it's more than likely ju...