InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Scott LeBrun Victor Mature plays Frankie Christopher, a somewhat smarmy but likable enough sports promoter. He lays eyes on gorgeous waitress Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis), and determines that he can make her a popular glamour girl. Well, he does, but just when things are looking brightest for her, she gets murdered. Now, Frankie, who'd discovered her dead body, is believed by the police to be the killer. The lead inspector, Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar), is more convinced than anybody, and swears that he will prove Frankie guilty no matter how much time it takes. Meanwhile, Frankie and Vicky's sister Jill (Betty Grable) fall in love and set out to try and prove his innocence."I Wake Up Screaming" is a thoroughly absorbing murder mystery made by a veteran director of the genre, H. Bruce Humberstone. All of the characters are engaging and maintain ones' interest. Mature is especially good in the lead, with a top notch supporting performance by the sadly short lived Cregar. Cregar had a presence that extended beyond being just physically big. The incredibly beautiful ladies Landis and Grable are compulsively watchable, and naturally there are a few opportunities to admire Grables' gorgeous gams. William Gargan, Alan Mowbray, Allyn Joslyn, Elisha Cook Jr., Morris Ankrum, and Charles Lane are all great.This film looks just as fine as anything else made in the genre, with the expected contrasts between light and shadow. The best thing about it is that, even if the viewer believes that they've solved the mystery early on, it still tells a good story in capable fashion, focusing on a theme of obsession.Eight out of 10.

MikeMagi What makes "I Wake Up Screaming" a compelling thriller are the supporting performances, starting with Laird Cregar as an obsessed homicide detective and Elisha Cook, Jr. as a weedy hotel clerk. Investigating the murder of a hash slinger-turned-sex bomb, Cregar's soft-spoken, unemotional persona hints at a dangerously disturbed mind. He's as frighteningly effective here as he was in "The Lodger" and it only makes it more tragic that he would die soon after the film's release at the age of 31, the victim of a disastrous attempt to lose weight. Cook, on the other hand, would live into his 90s, having a field days playing gunsels, whiners and slimy con artists. Allan Joslyn and Alan Mowbray also contribute as a hack newspaper columnist and an over-the-hill actor respectively and...what the heck...even Victor Mature manages to come off well. Bruce Humberstone's slick direction -- and the film's multiple flashbacks -- are reminiscent of another 20th Century Fox noir thriller, "Laura." And that's meant as a compliment.

dougdoepke Studio thick ear doesn't come any slicker than this. It's TCF's second unit hitting on all eight cylinders, from casting to directing to story telling, all expertly done. And that's despite the dismal comic book title.So who killed fun-loving Vicki (Landis). Could it be the blonde lovely's visual opposite, the dark featured Frankie (Mature). Probably not since he's the male lead. More likely, it's scrawny fall-guy Elisha Cook as the hotel deskman. After all, Cook's taken more movie dives than a washed up boxer. But don't forget the snobbish gossip columnist (Joslyn) or the hammy actor (Mowbray). Frankie sure better figure it out because gruesome cop Cornell (Cregar) has him slated for the kind of seat you don't get up from.The photography's early noir all the way. Catch the many interesting shadowy angles, especially with the thick featured Cregar. Too bad he died so young (crash diet) because there's been no one since who could project such hulking decadence. Speaking of unfortunate early deaths, Landis sparkles in her lively role. Too bad she too left us early, apparently from a broken heart. Here, she and Grable really do look like sisters.Anyhow, the whole thing is really smoothly done, in a way that keeps you riveted to the screen, including the lighter moments with a well calibrated Joslyn and Mowbray. All in all, it's Hollywood slicksters at their professional best.

PWNYCNY Sometimes it's the acting that makes a movie good. Other times it could be the directing or the script and other times the music or cinematography. In this movie, all the elements of movie-making are brought together to produce a great movie. In this movie the film-noir technique is used to great effectiveness to bring out and compliment the essential coldness of the story. Also, the performances of Betty Grable and Carole Landis as sisters was incredible. First, they looked like sisters and second, they acted like sisters. Of course, it helps an actress's career if she's attractive, but she still has to be able to act and both of these ladies could act. Laird Cregar's performance was uncanny. He was the epitome of obsession. His performance carried the movie. Victor Mature was wonderful. He could act and in this movie displays an wide range of emotions. The story is itself is compact, concise, and coherent and moves along at a fast pace. This movie is a classic and warrants a lot more attention.