I Wake Up Screaming (1941): Understanding This Flim’s Place in Film Noir

I Wake Up Screaming (1941): Understanding This Flims Place in Film Noir

Featuring the “it” girl of World War II pin-ups, Betty Grable, this Film Noir is considered one of the three contenders for the first Film Noir. Many aficionados of Film Noir believe that The Maltese Falcon (1941) is the first true Film Noir. Another large group of fans believe The Maltese Falcon (1941) is one of three movies in contention for being the first Film Noir. The other two films are Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), starring the incredible Peter Lorre, and today’s film I Wake Up Screaming (1941).

I, personally, take a more anthropological view and believe that Film Noir, as a collection of elements, extends into the early 1920s and continues until now. I am working on a video explaining this view.

However, today, we will focus on one of the three major contenders in the first of a series on “Understanding This Flims Place in Film Noir. I Wake Up Screaming (1941) has the look and feel of what is considered a classic Film Noir.

TCM’s Eddie Muller says this film doesn’t have the recognition that the others do because the director, Bruce Humberstone, never made a movie that looked like this before or after, the leading man, Victor Mature’s acting was never considered at the level of Humphrey Bogart, and glamour girl Betty Grable wasn’t known for series roles[1]. However, I must say that Victor Mature and Betty Grable were solid and believable in their roles. The real star of this film was the ill-fated actress Carole Landis, playing the murder victim in flashbacks. Another bonus in this film comes from two supporting players. The first was a young Elisha Cook Jr. playing switchboard operator Harry Williams. Cook was in The Maltese Falcon (1941) and numerous other Film Noirs. The other, Laird Cregar, as Ed Cornell, was clearly forecasting Mike Mazurki as ‘Moose’ Malloy in Murder, My Sweet (1944). There is a link for my review of the film in the description.

Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors. Today on Classic Movie Review, we are taking on I Wake Up Screaming (1941).

On iMDB.com, this movie has a fair 7.2[2] rating. I feel like this is a better film than the rating indicates. Rottentomatoes.com has a more accurate rating of 86 percent on the Tomatometer and 58 percent audience approval[3].

Cranky New York Times Film Critic Bosley Crowther said in a January 17, 1942 review:

“In spite of the fact that it embodies many perceptible tricks of quality melodrama — flashbacks, sharp photography, menace music and a water-torture pace—Twentieth Century-Fox’s “I Wake Up Screaming,” which arrived at the Roxy yesterday, is a pretty obvious whodunnit and a strangely unmoving affair. One very good explanation is that it moves with mechanical gravity and pretends to be more serious and portentous than the matter justifies. Another explanation is that the villain is too easy to spot; he practically carries a sign which reads, “Look at me—I’m IT.” And a third—and most cogent—explanation is that three of the principal roles are played with virtually no distinction by Betty Grable, Victor Mature and Carole Landis. [4]“

Ouch. That hurts!

Actors – I Wake Up Screaming (1941)

Returning

Victor Mature plays the lead, Frankie Christopher. While known for his Biblical sandal adventures, Mature was first covered in a film that could easily be classified as a Film Noir, The Shanghai Gesture (1941). His acting talent far exceeded his perceived ability.

As previously mentioned, Noir icon Elisha Cook Jr. played the switchboard operator Harry Williams. Cook was first covered in, if not the first, certainly the best Film Noir, The Maltese Falcon (1941)

William Gargan played a decent cop, Jerry MacDonald. Gargan was first covered in the mediocre Film Noir Night Editor (1946).

Chick Chandler walked through the film a few times, playing a reporter. Chandler was first covered in the tremendous pre-code Blood Money (1933). Watch it as soon as you can.

Morris Ankrum played Asst. District Attorney, a small part. Ankrum was first covered in Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), where the aliens melted his brain. It really is an excellent Sci-Fi.

Links to video and audio reviews for the films mentioned above are in the description below.

New

The Venus of many GIs serving in World War II, pin-up girl Betty Grable played Jill Lynn, sister to murdered Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis). Grable was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1916. Grable had a stockbroker father and a star-making mother. Grable began taking dancing lessons at the age of three. At 13, Grable’s mother took her to Hollywood and enrolled her in the Hollywood Professional School. The young Grable began getting dancing roles in musicals beginning in 1929.

At 15, the future star signed with RKO. She appeared in films such as By Your Leave (1934), College Swing (1938), and Down Argentine Way (1940). By this point, Grable was a pin-up model beloved by millions in the military. By this point, she was known as The Girl With the Million Dollar Legs, The Pin-Up Girl, and America’s Ideal Girl. I first heard of her when Animal, played by Robert Strauss) laments her 1943 marriage to band leader Harry James in the World War II POW film Stalag 17 (1953). There is a link to my review in the Description.

Later films include A Yank in the RAF (1941), I Wake Up Screaming (1941), Coney Island (1943), Sweet Rosie O’Grady (1943), Call Me Mister (1951), and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).

Through the late 1940s, Grable was the highest-paid female in America. In a masterful PR stunt, her legs were insured by Lloyds of London for one million dollars. Grable made her last film in 1955. Sadly, Grable died at the early age of 55 in 1973.

Carole Landis played the murder victim, Vicky Lynn. Landis was born in Wisconsin in 1919. Her father left the family very early in Landis’ life, causing hardships for the family. Landis married after high school at the age of 15. This union was annulled. However, the couple married again and headed for the bright lights of California.

The lovely Landis landed a contract with Warner Bros. and began working small parts in 1937. By 1939, she was getting minor speaking roles. Still, she became famous for wearing a fur suit opposite Victor Mature in One Million B.C. (1940). And you thought Rachel Welsh was the first to play a cavewoman in a film with the same title.

Her career took off in 1942; however, she was never given the credit she deserved. Her films include Road Show (1941), Topper Returns (1941), I Wake Up Screaming (1941), A Gentleman at Heart (1942), Manila Calling (1942), The Powers Girl (1943), Four Jills in a Jeep (1944) based on her World War II overseas tours, A Scandal in Paris (1946), Brass Monkey (1948) and The Silk Noose (1948).

When a well-known affair with actor Rex Harrison ended, Landis took her own life using pills. She died on July 5, 1948, having made 49 films and being only 29 years old.

Laird Cregar played the role of Detective Ed Cornell. Cregar was born in the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection, Philadelphia, in 1914. When Cregar was eight, his well-heeled family sent him to the Winchester Academy in London. During this time, he served as a page for the Stratford-on-Avon Players, and from then on, Cregar only wanted to be an actor. He returned to the USA and finished his education at a couple of elite schools.

Cregar studied at the Pasadena Community Playhouse for two years. Afterward, he found some work on stage and only a few walk-ons in film. Convinced he could do well on stage, Cregar acquired finance for a Los Angeles production of “Oscar Wilde.” The play was a hit in LA and in San Francisco. Shortly after the run, Cregar signed a contract with Twentieth Century-Fox.

Cregar made three films in 1940. Hudson’s Bay (1940) brought Cregar the most attention. He played a large boisterous fur trapper opposite Paul Muni. The following year brought three more interesting movies, Blood and Sand (1941), in which Cregar played a bullfighting critic with Tyrone Power, Charley’s Aunt (1941), which is described as a drag comedy with Jack Benny, and the darkest of the three films, I Wake Up Screaming (1941) as a mysterious police detective.

Cregar continued with This Gun for Hire (1942), Rings on Her Fingers (1942), The Black Swan (1942) as Captain Henry Morgan, and as the Devil in Heaven Can Wait (1943), a file that has been remade with Warren Beatty and another time with Chris Rock.

Cregar was six foot 3 inches and weighed over 300 pounds. In I Wake Up Screaming (1941), he seemed a cross between Raymond Burr and Sydney Greenstreet acting in the role of Moose Malloy. In an attempt to obtain leading man roles, Cregar used amphetamines and fasting to lose over 100 pounds for his role in Hangover Square (1945).

The rapid weight loss was too much for Cregar’s body, and he soon had to undergo surgery for a critical stomach disorder. The shock of it all was too much, and Cregar died of a heart attack in December 1944. Actor Vincent Price delivered his funeral eulogy. Cregar was 30 years old.

Alan Mowbray played fading actor Robin Ray. Mowbray was born in London in 1896. Mowbray served with distinction in the British Army during World War I. He was awarded the British Military Medal and the French Croix De Guerre for bravery in action.

Following the war, Mowbray continued or began acting on stage. It is not clear if he had acted before the war. Mowbray toured the USA from 1923 to 1929, acting on stage. In 1929, he made his Broadway debut. His lack of luck on Broadway was counterbalanced by his luck with Hollywood. Since sound was coming into films, they needed stage actors with solid diction. Mowbray fit the bill.

Mowbray began in films in 1931. His role as the father of our country in, Alexander Hamilton (1931) was well received. Other films include Sherlock Holmes (1932), A Study in Scarlet (1933), Becky Sharp (1935) the first three-strip Technicolor feature film, My Man Godfrey (1936), I Wake Up Screaming (1941), John Ford’s My Darling Clementine (1946), Terror by Night (1946), Captain from Castile (1947) with Tyrone Power, Wagon Master (1950) again Ford directed, Film Noir Lured (1947) with Lucille Ball (There is a link in the description for Lured (1947).), and The King and I (1956)

Mowbray was an original member of the Screen Actors Guild and financed much of the early operation. Mowbray continued to act until the year he died in 1969. He has a total of 190 film and television credits.

Story – I Wake Up Screaming (1941)

The movie begins with a newspaper boy shouting Extra as he hawks a special edition telling of the murder of Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis). Vicky is a famous fashion model.

The scene quickly changes to a room full of detectives grilling Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature) about the murder. The cops have made up their minds that he is guilty and are telling him he will die in the electric chair. A mysterious detective hidden behind bright lights says they can pin it on Frankie. They tell Frankie to go over it again. He starts telling the tale in flashback, as it is done in most good Film Noirs.

Following a night at the fights, friends Frankie, aging actor Robin Ray (Alan Mowbray), and newspaper columnist Larry Evans (Allyn Joslyn) stop by a late-night hashhouse to eat. They consider the waitress, Vicky Lynn, to be much too beautiful to work a job like she has.

The guys decide to pull the My Fair Lady (1964) scheme and turn the non-society waitress into a star of the social scene. The next night, Frankie takes Vicky to a fancy club dressed to the nines and wearing a sable wrap.

Robin is sitting at a table with Lady Handel (May Beatty), a dame of society. Robin makes a to-do about Vicky when she and Frankie enter the club. Robin and Larry come to the table and pretend to meet Vicky. She is putting on the dog. The men stage a fight over dancing with Vicky. Lady Handel sees the fuss and invites Vicky and Frankie over. Larry has photographers record the meeting.

The three men escort Vicky back to her apartment. Switchboard operator and night clerk Harry Williams (Elisha Cook Jr.) is rude to Vicky when she asks for her key. The street-tough Frankie slaps Harry’s feet off the desk and orders him to get the key. Harry jumps to it.

Vicky won’t let the men come up because she shares an apartment with her sister, Jill Lynn (Betty Grable). On the way out, Harry asks why Frankie got sore. Frankie replies that Vicky is going to be somebody famous.

In the current time, the shadow detective continues to question Frankie, especially about how he knew he could make something of Vicky. Detective Jerry MacDonald (William Gargan) is called into another room where Jill Lynn is being interrogated a little more gently. Jill says she worked during the day, and Vicky worked night, so they didn’t see each other much. Of Frankie, she says he is the one who put foolish ideas in Vicky’s head.

The scene returns to Jill’s story in a flashback. Vicky returns from her first visit to the nightclub. She is walking on air and talking about the big hit she is. Vicky is quitting her job to work on making it. Jill tries to calm her sister down, but it is useless.

After a quick flashback to the interrogation, Jill continues that she met Frankie the following day. Jill is a little hostile to Frankie. He shows her Vicky’s pictures in the newspaper.

Again, in the interrogation, Jill continues that everything became a whirl as Vicky was given jobs modeling, advertising shoots, aquacades, ice ballet, and even singing with a band. Jill calls Vicky a chanteuse, and the detectives take note.

In flashback, Jill tells of the day Vicky tells Frankie she is leaving for Hollywood. Frankie takes it well that Vicky has done a screen test and signed a movie contract. Vicky is pretty rude. Robin and Larry arrive, and Vicky gives them the heave-ho.

In his interrogation, Frankie says he could have been knocked down with a feather when he got the news Vicky was leaving. The shadow detective then says, “So you knocked her down.” Frankie says he did not, but he went and got drunk.

Current time shows Frankie, Robin, and Larry in a bar drinking. The three all argue over who did the most for Vicky. Finally, they get down to their individual relationships with Vicky. There was none. Frankie said he got a handshake and mostly waited with Jill until Vicky came home. Frankie reveals he has a key to the apartment. The other two show their keys, but that’s all they have from the relationship.

In Jill’s interrogation, they ask her if anything weird happened when she visited Vicky a year earlier. Jill starts telling the story, and it goes into a flashback of Jill sitting in a restaurant waiting for Vicky to get off work.

Outside the window, a man watches Vicky. He is some kind of cross between Luca Brasi of The Godfather (1972) and Moose Malloy from Murder, My Sweet (1944). Jill sees him watching her sister. The man notices Jill watching him, and he leaves.

Jill tells Vicky about the watcher, but Vicky is not concerned. On the street, Jill spots the man. Vicky looks at the man but is still unconcerned.

In the interrogation, Jill continues to say that she saw the man a few times and that he would turn up in odd places. She then blurts out that the man is probably the murderer. The detectives think Jill is protecting Frankie by accusing someone else.

The detectives accuse Jill of being in a relationship with Frankie. She slaps a detective and demands to see someone in authority. KAREN! The head detective sends for Detective Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar). It turns out that Cornell is the shadow detective from Frankie’s interrogation.

When Cornell comes into the room, Jill sees that he is the man who was following Vicky. She yells to the detectives that Cornell is the stalker. Cornell says it is his district, and he has to look around. Detective MacDonald confirms that Conell was on a trip when the murder occurred.

Cornell asks about the ride Frankie took Jill and Vicky on the day before the murder. Imagine telling a date that ya’ll are going for a ride. It was a simpler time. Cornell says he already got the truth out of Frankie, and she better tell the truth.

Jill continues the story in a flashback. Vicky notices that Jill is in an excellent mood. She tells Frankie that Jill is in love with him. Vicky says Frankie will be glad to be rid of her so he can be with Jill.

In interrogation, Cornell turns “get rid of” into “murder.” Jill flashes back to finding Vicky’s body. Jill says music was playing, and the door was open. Jill runs inside and finds Frankie standing over her sister’s dead body. Suddenly, Jill thinks Frankie may have been the killer.

Cornell returns to Frankie’s interrogation and starts drilling him about the phrase “get rid of.” Cornell says Frankie killed Vicky in a drunken fever. Cornell attacks Frankie and has to be pulled back.

Frankie is called to the Asst. District Attorney (Morris Ankrum). Cornell tells McDonald that Frankie is definitely guilty. A reporter tells Frankie that Cornell suspects him and the detective is always right.

Jill is already in the DA’s office. The DA tells Frankie he is sorry for wasting his time and that they have found the killer. The killer is Harry, the switchboard operator. Jill is shocked and leaves. The DA says Harry has been missing since 5:30 on the day of the murder, so naturally, he is guilty. Frankie vows to murder Harry if he finds him first.

Frankie catches up with Jill outside of the building. He asks to be friends. Jill denies that she loves Frankie. She gives him a rude heave-ho.

The newspaper says that Harry is wanted for murder.

Later that night, Frankie wakes from a fitful sleep and finds Cornell sitting in his dark bedroom. Frankie tells the detective to get out, but Cornell says he is keeping him informed about the case. Cornell tells that he found a cigarette butt of Frankie’s brand in the closet. He also says he doesn’t believe Harry killed Vicky. When Cornell says Frankie had his way with Vicky and now with Jill. Frankie gets mad and throws Cornell out.

Jill is shocked to see Harry back at the switchboard the next day. He says he explained to the cops that he was visiting his parents in Brooklyn. When Jill recoils, Harry says he would never hurt Vicky and Jill shouldn’t think that he could. Harry then reveals that he has packed Vicky’s clothes. Creepy.

Frankie calls for Jill, but she has Harry tell him she has moved and left no forwarding address. Harry helps Jill with the bags and says he felt it was not his place to attend Vicky’s funeral. He refuses a tip from Jill as she leaves.

Cornell comes to the DA’s office and tells him he still thinks Frankie is the killer. The DA is pretty hostile and demands that he look at other suspects, such as Robin. Cornell says he will bring in Frankie as well.

Robin is a nervous wreck as he waits in the police station. Frankie comes in and goads the aging actor. The two men are ushered into a dark room where Cornell, the DA, and other detectives await. They show a film of Vicky singing. All of the cops stare at the suspects for a reaction. Suddenly, Robin freaks out and tries to get out of the room. The DA has the suspects taken to his office.

Robin tells that Vicky made him feel young and able to act again. He was the one who arranged her screen test. She laughed when Robin told her his feelings and said she was not hooking up with an old has-been. They ask Robin where he was on the day of the murder. Robin says he was in a local sanatorium where he goes when he is over-stressed. The DA asks Cornell to check the alibi and is told that it has already been verified as accurate. Frankie asks to leave.

Outside of the building, Frankie stops to talk with a reporter. Cornell comes outside and asks Frankie for a ride uptown. Cornell gloats that he is low on cash, having spent so much time and money trying to pin the crime on Frankie. Cornell continues that he is going to get Frankie executed.

Later, Cornell tracks down Jill at her new apartment and breaks in. Jill is doing dishes and doesn’t hear the breaking. Cornell goes outside and rings the bell. Cornell pushes his way in over Jill’s objections. He mentions the picture Jill has, titled “Garden of Hope.” Cornell says Jill is in love with Frankie and holding back information.

As soon as Cornell leaves, Jill removes a note that Frankie had written to Vicky, saying, “After what you did last night the sooner you are out of the way the better it will be…” Jill calls Frankie. He misses the call but sends flowers. He picks her up later and takes her to the fights.

Jill is a little put off by Frankie’s bloodlust at the fight. She asks if he brought Vicky to the fights. They go for a walk in Frankie’s old neighborhood, and he is well known. Again, Jill asks if he brought Vicky here, and he says no. Frankie says Vicky only wanted to go to nightclubs. Jill says she has never been to a nightclub, and they head to the Pegasus Club.

Outside the club, Frankie gives money to a washed-up fighter named Ozinski (Pat McKee ). Cornell watches them go into the club from across the street. Larry sees the pair together and runs to put it in his column. Under questioning, Frankie says he did not love Vicky; he only wanted to promote her. This makes Jill happy.

Jill and Frankie leave the club, and Frankie takes her to a late-night natatorium called the Lido Plunge. I think this bit was only added to show the two leads in swimming suits. They return to Jill’s apartment, and she invites Frankie up so she can return the note she had hidden in the picture. When they kiss, Cornell appears at the door and seizes the letter. Cornell is excited to arrest Frankie. He continues that he found brass knuckles, presumably what Vicky was murdered with, in Frankie’s room.

As Cornell gives the business to Frankie, Jill cracks Cornell on the head. Frankie escapes through the kitchen, and Jill sends the cop to a Murphy bed door. Jill runs out and catches up with Frankie.

Inside a bicycle store, Jill works to hacksaw the handcuffs off Frankie. They decide they are in love and plan on being married. They go to an all-night adult-only theater. Not porn. Varagents and people with no place to sleep watch the movie over and over.

Frankie goes to get money in the morning, and he sends Jill to wait in the New York public library. She is picked up by McDonadl and another cop. Frankie arrives in time to see Jill being arrested.

Over the next few days, Cornell hunts the streets for Frankie as Frankie hides on the streets. Frankie catches Cornell on the street and says he will surrender if they release Jill. Cornell says he will never give up hunting for Frankie. When Frankie escapes, he shows he was using a Tootsie Roll as a fake gun.

Cornell goes in to see the DA and asks if he has read The Sex Lives of Butterflies. The DA is mad, but the jest is that by releasing Jill, they will get Frankie quickly. The DA says that Cornell’s career rides on the move. Jill goes home that night but is closely watched by the police. She notices some cards on flowers that have come in after Vicky’s death, and most of them say, “Because I Promised.”

Jill climbs to the rooftop and crosses over to the next building on a small board. Of course, she is wearing high heels. Jill finds Frankie in the all-night theater. Jill shows Frankie the flower cards, and they go to the Rosedale Cemetary. Frankie tells Jill to wait by herself. No. UnUh. Nope.

Frankie meets with the Cemetery Caretaker (Frank Orth). First, the caretaker opens the door at night. Frankie pretends to be a reporter. When he asks about flowers, the caretaker says that flowers come to the grave daily from Keating Florist.

Jill talks to Keating (Charles Lane), and she is led to believe that the flowers are coming from Larry. Frankie breaks into Larry’s apartment and wakes the sleeping man. Larry tries to pull a gun on Frankie and believes he is the killer. Larry explains that he was with Vicky on the day she was murdered. When they went to the apartment, Jill didn’t have a key, neither did Larry, and the passkey was missing, as was Harry, the switchboard operator.

Larry decides to climb the fire escape, then through a window, and open the apartment from the inside. He says he won’t forget her for two weeks, so he promises to send her flowers daily for two weeks. Larry also says that the apartment smelled of cigarette smoke and that Harry was not at the switchboard when he left. 

Frankie pulls Larry’s gun on McDonald, who is waiting outside. He surrenders the gun to the cop, and they wait in the stairwell. Jill calls Harry, who is sleeping at the desk, from her old apartment. She pretends to be Vicky and asks why he did it if he loved her. Harry breaks down, and Frankie comes down and starts asking him why he killed Vicky. Harry was hiding in the closet, smoking when Vicky was alone. When he came out, she screamed, and he murdered her in a panic.

Harry also says he explained everything to Cornell when the cop found him in Brooklyn. McDonald heard everything, and they arrest Harry.

McDonald allows Frankie to go into Cornell’s apartment uptown. It is a shrine to Vicky with pictures, posters, souvenirs, and flowers. Cornell is shocked when Frankie tells about the talk with Harry.

Cornell pours himself a drink. He says Frankie took her away from him long before Harry murdered her. Cornell had watched her and helped her out of a jam one night. They met a few times for coffee, and Cornell fell in love and wanted to marry her. He rented an apartment he couldn’t afford to impress her.

Jill, McDonald, and another cop come in as Cornell drops dead from the poison he took in his drink.

Later, Robin and Larry are sitting with Lady Handel in a nightclub. The dame asks about Jill, the beautiful girl dancing with Frankie. They both say they don’t know either of them.

Thanks

Elements of Film Noir – I Wake Up Screaming (1941)

Some time back, I took the TCM-sponsored “Into the Darkness: Investigating Film-Noir” by Richard L. Edwards, Ph.D., Ball State University. Dr. Edwards introduced seven elements of Film Noir. I will assess each element as they apply to I Wake Up Screaming (1941).

Element 1 – Postwar anxiety and societal malaise; This movie was made late in the period between the world wars. However, the Second World War was already raging in many parts of the world. Frankie and his friends cared little for people conducting social experiments for fun.

Element 2 – Guilt and dread; Jill suffered guilt and dread after her sister’s murder about her feelings for Frankie.

Element 3 – Psychoanalysis and trauma; Cornell and Harry were both mentally ill, resulting in their obsession with Vicky.

Element 4 – Criminality and the limits of rational investigation; With Cornell acting criminally and even freeing a murderer, good and evil roles were flipped.

Element 5 – Existential despair; Frankie had no way of knowing why Cornell was pinning a murder on him that he did not commit.

Element 6 – The inability to separate truth from lies; Jill dealt with this the most as she was unable to tell if the man she loved murdered her sister.

Element 7 – The role of women in postwar society; The two female leads were independent with jobs, if not careers. 

Conclusion – I Wake Up Screaming (1941)

This movie was remade as Vicki (1953). Jeanne Crain played the role of Jill Lynn, and the lovely Jean Peters played her sister Vicki. Elliott Reid, who comes off as a lot softer than Frankie, played Steve Christopher. Finally, Richard Boone, a great tough guy, played Lt. Cornell. It is definitely worth a watch.

For some reason, the tune “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz (1939) is played throughout this film. Eddie Muller of Noir Alley says he doesn’t know why or how it was used so often in this movie.[5] 

Setting this film in New York instead of Los Angeles prevented problems with the Hayes Code as they were not as sensitive about how the Big Apple was portrayed.[6]

Was this movie a Film Noir by look? YES. Was it a Film Noir by story? YES. Was it the first Film Noir? Not by a long shot. More will come on this in the future.

World-Famous Short Summary – The roommate swap: Is it possible?

Beware the moors.

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[1] Noir Alley: I Wake Up Screaming (1941) – https://youtu.be/avFG8n1ImBY

[2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033740/ratings/

[3] I Wake Up Screaming | Rotten Tomatoes

[4] THE SCREEN; ‘I Wake Up Screaming,’ Featuring Betty Grable, Carole Landis and Victor Mature, Opens at Roxy – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avFG8n1ImBY

[6] Noir Alley: I Wake Up Screaming (1941) – https://youtu.be/avFG8n1ImBY