A Scream in the Dark

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.

A new Private Investigator Mike Brooker and his partner Eddie Tough are hired to gather evidence that a wife is having an affair. After finding the wife a new client claims that he is also married to the same woman. Soon the man ends up murdered.

Relatively entertaining B film which, despite the subject matter, is played for laughs. It veers towards confusing at times but is saved by the performances of its stars, Robert Lowery and Edward Brophy. At a running time of an hour it will pass time.

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.

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.