A Shriek in the Night

A very funny and quite well made poverty row whodunnit from 1932, this pairing of Ginger Rogers and Lyle Talbot might have just set the ideas in motion for THE THIN MAN series at MGM a year later. I think this film was made at the Tiffany Studio in 1932 just as this company ceased production.... or just after...this is exactly the sort of film they made especially with very snazzy overstuffed deco furniture and solid clunky sound and production values. Credits say it is made by Allied Productions which nobody has ever heard of or from, so my guess as a faux Tiffany Production, might be right. The 1929 Tiffany film PARTY GIRL is made in exactly the same way and with the same solid look and quality sets. Ginger and Lyle also seen in the 'haunted' Monogram pic from the same year: THE THIRTEENTH GUEST offer a smart alec couple making verbal quips and asides and leave the audience well pleased in their natural delivery and likable sparring. This film is well directed with a refreshing and timeless modern style. SHREIK IN THE NIGHT is essentially a haunted house movie set in a skyscraper penthouse and for lovers of pre code goofiness and sexual antics (and even prohibition speakeasy asides) leaves a 2005 viewer with a knowing smile that someone 73 years ago was tuned into long lasting imagery and dialogue. One scene in a cellar with a furnace is particularly creepy and if seen in a 3000 seat movie palace in 1932 must have caused huge screams and genuine shrieks! This is great fun, well made and 'modern' and shows that if Tiffany had survived, they might have outlasted even Grand National Pictures - which I strongly suspect was their successor - and partly ultimately the re-formed 1937 Monogram and certainly PRC ...which I can track as their location and later name. It's a good film, made under what I would think was swiftly changing technology and times. The direction and dialogue and delivery has certainly successfully stood the test of time.

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.

This is #3 in Navarre's DVD release 'Horror Classics vol 9', the other 2 being 'Maniac' & 'The world gone mad', and the one I prefer of the three. Again, it's more intelligently scripted and played that you might suspect at first glance, and I enjoyed it a lot coming to it the first time.

There was always something downbeat and depressing about Ginger Rogers acting style, but you can't argue with the fact she does a good job in this film as well as looking an extremely decorative 22 year old. The relationships she has with the Police Inspector (Pratt) and her boyfriend (Talbot) are pretty refreshing and almost adult - although she does say she can't go to bed unless he has left the room. Would that todays leading ladies would say that! Some of the Inspector's pithy comments are witty and barbed, too - my favourite: he's asked at a tense moment "What makes him think that?" - "My brain".

As for the climax I thought we were going to witness something grisly, but it was handled well (and quickly) and we avoided that possibility. ASITN is growing on me as I write - I don't think it's ever been on UK TV either!

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.

The always delightful Ginger Rogers is seen here in this relic of a murder mystery "A Shriek In The Night". Looking cute and acting her usual cheerful self, Miss Rogers is a reporter posing as a personal secretary to a wealthy man until...he gets murdered! Whodunit? Rogers and rival reporter, played by Lyle Talbot, vie furiously with each other to get the scoop with some very hilarious results. Rogers always did have the splendid knack of delivering a wisecrack with just the right touch and in one scene where a cab driver refers to Talbot as a "man", Rogers snaps: "Man? Don't be vulgar!" Her timing and facial expressions are still fresh and charming today. What a splendid performer! The inspector and his sidekick have some funny bits and even the morgue keeper has a howling funny line. "A Shriek in the Night" is low-budget, but it doesn't always seem to be. Nice art deco sets and a good cast save it. One thing annoys me though. Why aren't we shown how Rogers gets out of the furnace near the end of the picture? Apart from that, "A Shriek in the Night" is not a bad film, although it is a film where you really need to pay attention to what's being said at the finish since we never meet some of the characters that are talked about during the conclusion.