A Scream in the Dark

Robert Lowery and Edward Brophy set up in the private eye business, and their first case is a cinch. Hobart Cavanaugh wants his wife found and he wants a divorce. It takes them a couple of hours to find her, snap a picture, and get her to agree to a split. Given they collected a seven-day minimum, they're feeling flush. They take their girls out to dinner, where another client shows up. He says he was married to the same woman and wants her found. And then a third husband. And then the corpses start piling up.

Although the verbal byplay isn't much to write about, it's a nicely tangled little mystery, with a wry sense of confusion. Director George Sherman could handle any inexpensive feature, although he specialized in westerns. He had risen through the ranks, first as an assistant director (his initial AD slot was on the dire HYPNOTIZED, where he went blessedly uncredited). He directed the last of his 113 features in 1971 -- BIG JAKE, his eleventh movie with John Wayne -- hung on in TV until 1978, then retired before his 70th birthday. He died in 1991, a few months shy of his 83rd birthday.

The corpses pile up in this inconsequential comedy-thriller whose gallows humour reflects the title of the novel by Jerome Odlum on which it's based called 'The Morgue is Always Open'.

The enormous sets - presumably from a bigger production - are glossily lit to create a veneer of opulence. Against such a backdrop, the women are all glamorously big-haired and big-suited, including Elizabeth Russell (best remembered for her spectral presence in several Val Lewton films), who here plays the mysterious Muriel around whom the plot revolves.

The name of her character may evoke early Resnais but the plot is pure late Resnais, with a noisy music score constantly reminding us how hilarious it all is.

This detective mystery film is an actioner; it moves right along without a single letdown. With the exception of the always wooden Robert Lowery, the cast is really excellent, and for us guys, Marie McDonald is very easy on the eyes. Edward Brophy does his usual fine job as the side-kick, Elizabeth Russell was one of the femme-fatale greats, and Jack LaRue, as the good guy cop, is playing out of type, but does as fine a job being heroic as he does being a slime-ball. Despite the body count, the film is also light hearted without being sappy, and that's more than one should ask of an el cheapo Republic film.

"A Scream in the Dark" is a fun little film from 1943, starring the very attractive Robert Lowery, Marie McDonald, and Edward Brophy.

Mike (Lowery) is a newspaper reporter who sets up a detective business with a former photographer on the newspaper (Brophy). Their first case - and it turns out, their second and their third case - concerns a missing wife.

The bodies pile up. This is a B movie that is quite well done, very lively, and entertaining.

A very good film from Republic Studios. This is a short, but very entertaining film. I liked this one,and even though it is a low budget, you would never know it from the look of it. The cinematography is clear and the acting is quite good for this type of picture. Robert Lowery and Edward Brophy are quite a pair and very good together. Not bad for a "B" picture. Too bad that more of these unknown "little" films are not put out on DVD, as I would gladly buy them.I know that it is the type film that would never win an Academy Award, but still is very entertaining, if you like mysteries, or mysteries with a tinge of comedy from the 1940's !!