A Shriek in the Night

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.

A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT (Allied Pictures, 1933), directed by Albert Ray, reunites Ginger Rogers and Lyle Talbot of THE THIRTEENTH GUEST (Monogram, 1932), in another mystery thriller.

Following the opening credits, the story begins at night with a view of an apartment building (obviously a miniature model) followed by the sound of a scream, an overhead view of a man's body (obviously a dummy) falling down from the penthouse above and landing on the sidewalk below. The incident immediately draws a crowd which awakens a janitor (Harvey Clark), whose residence is in the basement level, to be awaken from the noise to soon come outside to hark the identity of the body as "Mr. Harker!" Enter the police: Inspector Russell (Purnell B. Pratt), whose philosophy is, "I'm an inspector and I can say anything I want," and his assistant, the dim-witted Wilfred (Alfred Hoyt), who arrive at the scene of the crime at 921 Lake Street to investigate whether the death of the penthouse millionaire to be suicide or murder. Russell and Wilfred soon encounter a young girl named Patricia Morgan (Ginger Rogers), acting as Harker's secretary but in reality is a reporter for the Morning News out to get a story following a hunch regarding Harker's association with a racketeer named Josephus Martini (Maurice Black). Also there to out-scoop Pat is Ted Rand (Lyle Talbot) of the Daily Express, who becomes responsible for Pat's getting fired by Perkins, her editor (Clarence Wilson) for accidentally telephoning her own story to Ted, believing him on the extension to be the rewrite man from her paper. Hoping to redeem herself and solve Harker's murder, Pat continues to investigate, only to encounter more killings before she herself becomes the murder victim by nearly being placed in a blazing incinerator.

The supporting cast includes Lillian Harmer as Augusta, the shrieking maid who not only enjoys reading mystery magazines, but adds to the confusion with her bewilderment; Louise Beavers (with surname billed in the credits as Beaver) as the black maid who also shrieks after finding a body of a man named Colby in one of the apartments; and Cyril Ring, among others whose names have gone uncredited.

A mystery melodrama that combines the elements of mystery and comedy, A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT, which may not be in the higher league had it been directed by Alfred Hitchcock, does have some potential in spite of its low budget values. Lacking background mood music to add to suspense, fine moments include a shadowy figure seen through the silhouette on the wall listening to the telephone extension as certain characters, especially the two main characters, are conversing their thoughts about the Harker case. Maurice Black as the stereotypical Italian gangster and secretive loner also residing in the apartment building, also adds to the mystery.

While THE THIRTEENTH GUEST is better known of the two Rogers and Talbot collaborations, A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT has had more exposure on late night cable and local public television stations during the 1980s. Because of similarities, A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT is sometimes mistaken as a sequel to THE THIRTEENTH GUEST. It's interesting to point out that Ginger Rogers uses the same surname of "Morgan" in both films as well as belting out a scream or two when confronted by the unidentified killer.

As a "public domain" title, A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT has been distributed through various video manufacturers, including one company that used a more glamorous 1940s looking picture of Ginger Rogers on the storage box in spite that this is an early 1930s film that at times, due to sporadic echoes with the dialog and some poor lighting, plays like something right out of 1930. Whether its the film itself or the aging process is uncertain, but restoration in sound and clearer picture quality might help. The fact that A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT presents a youthful, yet almost unrecognizable and slightly brunettish-blonde Rogers in a "poverty row" production sporting some unattractive gowns designed by Alberta, shortly before her acclaimed popularity at RKO Radio and association with Fred Astaire in those lavish dance musicals through most of the 1930s, her quick and sassy one-liners and love-hate relationship with rival reporter (Talbot) while solving a mystery, manage to keep the pace going during its 66 minutes of screen time.(**)

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.

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.