NYC Noir Double Feature: I Wake Up Screaming and Sorry, Wrong Number
The next double feature during the NYC Noir Festival, brought to us by the great great Film Forum in Manhattan is "I Wake Up Screaming" and "Sorry, Wrong Number." While this was not as compelling a double feature as "The Woman in the Window" and "Laura," I was introduced to a few new actors, and enjoyed myself for the most part. First up was "I Wake Up Screaming":
I Wake Up Screaming (1941) ***
Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
When up and coming model/actress is found brutally murdered in her apartment, her promoter and her sister are the two suspects. The promoter, a fellow by the name of Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature), is hunted by Police Insp. Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar in a great and creepy performance), and when he isn't given the third degree he is being consoled by Jill Lynn (Betty Grable.)
This is technically considered the first real American film noir, even though it is steps below others. For one thing, it is not as seedy and dark as other ones I've seen. There is no real femme fatale, unless you actually count the woman who is murdered, and at the core there is a real love story, one that is even sappy at times. But its fun to watch, even though it is a minor film in the bulk of things. The double surprise twist ending I could not guess coming, and once again nothing can beat black and white on the big screen.
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Sorry, Wrong Number(1948) **
Directed by Anatole Litvak
My first real disappointment when it comes to the NYC Noir Series. "Sorry, Wrong Number" is based on the radio show of the same name, and while I have never heard the radio program, I can guess that it was a great deal better than the film. Its funny how even back then Hollywood was making films off of things on television and the radio. Nothing can escape its clutches when a profit can be made. This film marked my first encounter with Barbara Stanwyck, and I must say I was underwhelmed by her hammy and over the top and loud and annoying performance as Leona Stevenson. Sick and bedridden one night she overhears two men talking about a murder on her telephone. With her nurses gone and her husband never coming home was work, Leona worries and begins to use her phone to figure out the secrets to her husbands disappearance, and the conversation of the murderers.
Nothing seemed to work throughout "Sorry, Wrong Number." There is nobody to like or nobody to even want to care about getting through to the end, mostly because Stanwyck is so unlikeable. Even Burt Lancaster, who blew me away in "Sweet Smell of Success," just seemed to lack a bit. And the film is talky and boring. I could never really get into the story, even though the idea of telephone being the only thing that you have to survive a creepy one, and has been the basis for some other exciting thrillers in the last few years-"Phone Booth" and "Cellular." But perhaps this was just an adaptation that failed in the long run, but it was the first film in the series that made me want the short running time to just be a bit shorter.
For more information on the NYC Noir Series, visit the Official Film Forum Website! (and they really should pay me for all this free advertisement!)
Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
When up and coming model/actress is found brutally murdered in her apartment, her promoter and her sister are the two suspects. The promoter, a fellow by the name of Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature), is hunted by Police Insp. Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar in a great and creepy performance), and when he isn't given the third degree he is being consoled by Jill Lynn (Betty Grable.)
This is technically considered the first real American film noir, even though it is steps below others. For one thing, it is not as seedy and dark as other ones I've seen. There is no real femme fatale, unless you actually count the woman who is murdered, and at the core there is a real love story, one that is even sappy at times. But its fun to watch, even though it is a minor film in the bulk of things. The double surprise twist ending I could not guess coming, and once again nothing can beat black and white on the big screen.
--------------------------------------------------
Sorry, Wrong Number(1948) **
Directed by Anatole Litvak
My first real disappointment when it comes to the NYC Noir Series. "Sorry, Wrong Number" is based on the radio show of the same name, and while I have never heard the radio program, I can guess that it was a great deal better than the film. Its funny how even back then Hollywood was making films off of things on television and the radio. Nothing can escape its clutches when a profit can be made. This film marked my first encounter with Barbara Stanwyck, and I must say I was underwhelmed by her hammy and over the top and loud and annoying performance as Leona Stevenson. Sick and bedridden one night she overhears two men talking about a murder on her telephone. With her nurses gone and her husband never coming home was work, Leona worries and begins to use her phone to figure out the secrets to her husbands disappearance, and the conversation of the murderers.
Nothing seemed to work throughout "Sorry, Wrong Number." There is nobody to like or nobody to even want to care about getting through to the end, mostly because Stanwyck is so unlikeable. Even Burt Lancaster, who blew me away in "Sweet Smell of Success," just seemed to lack a bit. And the film is talky and boring. I could never really get into the story, even though the idea of telephone being the only thing that you have to survive a creepy one, and has been the basis for some other exciting thrillers in the last few years-"Phone Booth" and "Cellular." But perhaps this was just an adaptation that failed in the long run, but it was the first film in the series that made me want the short running time to just be a bit shorter.
For more information on the NYC Noir Series, visit the Official Film Forum Website! (and they really should pay me for all this free advertisement!)
posted by Eric at
1:21 PM
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