A Shriek in the Night

This 66 minute 1933 movie starring the 22 year old Ginger Rogers and Lyle Talbot is an excellent representation of pre-film noire of its era. This was Rogers' 20+ film, but the wise cracking/endearing personality that she eventually developed for the Astaire movies had not yet appeared. She comes off stiff and unsure. Leading man Lyle Talbot, a veteran of almost 200 movies plays as Ginger's rival reporter, and a romance that started before this movie began blossoms despite some back-stabbing by each of the other. Talbot is excellent and carries the show. Notable performances are given by Pernell Pratt as the police detective and Harvey Clark as the janitor. Actress Louise Beavers who went on to make more than 160 films, many notable, plays the stereotypical "negro". The roll can be excused as it is a benchmark of the Hollywood problems of the times. The story, an excellent whodunnit written by Francis Hyland and Kurt Kempler, is good but gets muddled at the end. Even so it does not interfere with the understanding of the plot. There is a scene at the end that has gruesome implications but is not gratuitous and therefore adds to the depth of the story. One gaff I noticed: about 5 minutes into the picture Rogers is talking to the detective. She is smoking a cigarette (there's a lot of smoking going on through out the film) and he is smoking a cigar. While holding the smoking butt she leaves the room only to enter another room sans cigarette. It is very interesting to see the styles of dress and automobiles of the times. Many of the shots were outdoors. The camera work is some what stilted and has only a few pans. It is almost like a theater play. I saw this film from the 50 Movie Pack Horror Classics box. Well worth buying and this film is not-to-be-missed.

A Shriek In the Night is a fairly good mystery-chiller, even though it is a little slow moving in parts.

Two reporters and the police investigate a series of murders in an apartment block. These include a man being pushed off the top floor penthouse ans a woman who has been strangled. At the time of the first killing, there were reports of a strange hissing sound and we see the outline of the murderer who seems to wearing a gas mask. All is revealed at the end.

Despite it being slow moving at times, this movie is quite creepy, especially some of the scenes where we see the shadows of people.

The cast includes a non-musical role for Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot (Plan 9 From Outer Space) and Arthur Hoyt (The Lost World).

A shriek In the Night is a good way to spend just over an hour one evening. Enjoyable.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Plot- A series of baffling deaths occur in a creepy old mansion as two rival newspaper reporters compete for exclusives.

This cheapo flick has a number of good touches: there's shadowy fright; a romantically humorous twosome; a few neat twists; along with others, like the hissing snake. Trouble is these touches do not blend well with an overly complex murder plot. It's more like awkward storylines bumping each other rather than blending together. Appears a rewrite was in order, after which, maybe a little longer runtime. Too bad, because had the parts blended better, we might have had a genuine sleeper.

Anyhow, it's a good chance to catch Rogers on her way up Hollywood's starlit ladder. Despite her later dancing and fluffy sparkle, she shows here an ability to act out the serious professional woman, a reporter who's humorously sabotaged by rival reporter Talbot. In fact, their final scene shows Rogers' innate versatility that later twirls atop the dance floor.

All in all, check out the flick, not so much as an awkward whodunit, but as an atmospheric drama with comedic overtones, and also a chance to catch a movie icon on her early way up.

Though slow-moving and obviously done on a low budget, "A Shriek in the Night" has a pretty good mystery story, and features a good role for Ginger Rogers as a reporter trying to solve the crime.

The story concerns a series of murders committed in an apartment building, in which each of the victims had received a cryptic anonymous letter before their death. Rogers' character goes undercover to investigate, and she finds herself in conflict both with the police and with a rival reporter (Lyle Talbot). The two reporters try to mislead and trick each other even as both are trying to solve the murders.

Most of the story is rather slow-moving, but towards the end things start to happen quickly, and it is worth waiting for. Rogers plays her part well, and there are a few moments of humor.

While overall it is a rather plain movie, if you like old mystery stories you will probably find it worth watching once.

The film literally starts off with a shriek in the night when a man falls to his death from the penthouse of an apartment building. What appeared to be suicide turns out an act of murder and, much more than the local police force, two competing journalists start looking for the murderer. This is a rather curious film because it's not really the plot which interests you…but only the characters. The actual search for the murderer's identity and his whole motivation is mediocre, but the dialogues between the two journalists are very wit and cleverly written. They constantly try to overtrump each other, which results in scenes that are both funny and emotional. The supportive characters are very enchanting as well, particularly the hysterical housemaid (Lillian Harmer) and the overly shy police-assistant Wilfred. "A Shriek in the Night" might not be the most memorable murder-mystery of the 1930's, but it's definitely worth a look in case you're a fan of classic, primitive cinema.