A Scream in the Night

Not a completely terrible film but it's not a good film. It is however fun to watch Lon Chaney Jr playing two roles: Jack Wilson & Butch Curtain. Butch a shady wharfside pub owner and Jack the look-alike detective that dresses like Butch to catch the criminals and get back the stole gem.

It's a weird crime-mystery that has some funny moments. It's not a good film at all but just above horrible - but extremely watchable for Chaney Jr. - he's the best thing about the film besides the feisty females in the story.

Watch this for Chaney Jr or if you really like older bad crime-mysteries... if you are a fan of either then you might get a kick out of this film.

4/10

Creaky Ray Kirkwood Production about a man and his niece in an Eastern seaport meeting trouble over a stolen gem. The uncle gets his hands on a rare gem briefly before it is taken from him along with his niece. A colonial policeman, and former/future love interest to the pretty niece, goes incognito as a henchman for the kidnapper/thief with whom he has an uncanny resemblance. This is basically the plot of this short, barely under an hour, cheaply-made production. Director Fred C. Newmeyer doesn't have much to work with here: sparse budget despite the need of an "exotic" setting, a weak, yet spirited script by Norman Springer where the dual roles of Detective Jack Wilson and Butch Curtain are the primary focal points, and some less than inspiring performances. Lon Chaney plays the dual roles and is at the very least a hoot to watch. His Jack Wilson is very good and conservatively played, but Chaney goes all out for his ugly, swarthy, drunk, gambling, less-than-brilliant Butch Curtain. Though neither character gets much depth of characterization, there are a few scenes with Chaney hamming it up as Curtain gambling that I found humorous - while he plays darts a parrot continually taunts him and gets him to eye the bird several times prior to throwing a knife with great accuracy at the dart board. Shelia Terry is very fetching as the lovely niece if nothing else, but none of the other actors are too good nor are they real horrible either. This movie is mildly entertaining but really suffers from the budgetary constraints of being a Ray Kirkwood Production. The title is also misleading as it has almost nothing to do with anything.

in the late 1950's***SOILERS*** Lon Cheney Jr. is both the scuzzy unkempt and petty crook Butch Curtin as well as the handsome well dressed & spoken private investigator Jack Wilson here as he tries to recover the stolen Tear of Buddha emerald in some un-named country that's seems to be situated between China & India.. The emerald was stolen from American diamond dealer Joe Bentelt, John Ince, after he was almost strangled by Johnny Fly, Manuel Lopez, who's been after it for years. Being a dead ringer for Butch Curtain who's Fly's assistant Jack Wilson after having Curtain arrested and put on ice takes over his identity in an effort to get Johhny to reveal where the emerald is hidden.

Not much of a movie in that it was so bad that it's studio, Astor Studios, kept it on the shelf for eight years only to release it in 1943 when Cheney was by then an established star and feeling some movie goers and Cheney fans will be interested in seeing it just for that reason alone. The film limps alone until the final scene where we have Wilson as Butch Curtain have it out with Johnny Fly. That's after his cover was blown by Johnny's jealous girlfriend Mora, Zarah Tazil, who felt he was to leave her for another woman. This was when Mora in a jealous fit went after the other woman the kidnapped Edith Bentley, John Bentley's daughter, played by Shelia Terry. It was Shelia who Mora felt had stolen Johnny Fly away from her which led to a wild cat fight between the two at the end of the film.

As for Lon Cheney's Jr. it wasn't until some four years later in 1939 when he played the part of the tragic and simple minded Lenny in "Mice and Men" that he made him a star. And it could have been the reason that no one saw "A Scream in the night" and how awful it was that made it very possible for Cheney to have gotten that part. and from there he went to bigger and better roles like "The Wolf Man" and "Son of Dracula" as well as the unforgettable Butcher Benton in the bad movie classic "Indistructable Man" before his movie career fizzled out.

This item from the IMDb trivia says a LOT about this film : "Although this film was made in 1935, there is no evidence it was actually shown publicly until 1943, when Astor Pictures acquired the rights and put it out to take advantage of Lon Chaney Jr.'s subsequent stardom in horror roles for Universal."

That and , according to the posters, that the Title is SCREAM IN THE NIGHT and not A Scream in the Night.

Muddled as it is, it was interesting to see a young and enthusiastic Chaney not only finally credited but credited as Lon. Jr.

The two fights at the end of the film are a hoot ... all rolling around, missed punches and assorted hair pulling.

"A Singapore bar owner and his niece come into possession of a rare ruby, 'The Tear of Buddha', which is coveted by a ruthless criminal. The criminal succeeds in taking the gem and kidnapping the niece, while two police detectives hope to close in on him. When one of the officers is killed, his partner goes undercover to find the killer, rescue the kidnapped girl, and return the stolen gem," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Lon Chaney Jr. dips into his dad's make-up bag of tricks; he plays the good-looking lead detective "Jack Wilson" and the villainous henchman of "Johnny Fly" (Manuel López), a dart-throwing and hard-drinking hulk named "Butch Curtain". Perhaps surprisingly, perhaps not, Mr. Chaney is better as the relatively straight detective, especially after he switches identities with his thuggish look-alike. A fair bang, for the budget.

**** A Scream in the Night (1935) Fred C. Newmeyer ~ Lon Chaney Jr., Manuel López, Sheila Terry