Utterly confusing private-eye movie which moves at too-fast a pace without stopping to tell the viewer what is going on . ULTIMATE SPOILERS HERE - Theo Stark bumps off his dowdy wife who has just inherited her brother's estate. He also cuts off her head to confuse identification. He then passes another woman, Muriel, off as his missus and gets her to claim the dough. She in turn decamps with Messenger, a bit of rough trade, and Stark engages P.I.s Brooker and Tough to find her. They do so easily, after being tipped off by Messenger's ex Stella. Stark then says he wants a divorce and Muriel agrees, paying Stark $10,000. While celebrating, Brooker is approached by a Mr Norton, who claims to have recognised Muriel as HIS missing wife from a newspaper photo. The P.I.s track her down again but, in the meantime Mr Norton is killed by a mysterious assailant using an umbrella with a concealed spike. This gets the police involved but then a Mr Lackey turns up at the office to ask Brooker and Tough to find HIs missing wife who he also identifies as Muriel. Just to confuse matters further, Stella rings to say that Messenger has gone off with Muriel again but that a criminal named Benny is involved. Whilst on the phone Stella is murdered. After rushing to her apartment Brooker goes to an address where Messenger is, only to be whacked on the head and recovering to find Messenger - dead. In the meantime the police have been investigating the disappearance of a Mrs Stark, whose description is far different from that of Muriel. Then Joan, Brooker's girlfriend who conveniently works in Police Records, finds the file on criminal Benny, who turns out to be - Lackey. Spotting Muriel on the street, she dashes away in a car with a man but, fortuitously, a cab driver heard the driver say where they were going. On a separate tack, Brooker goes to the morgue with the Police to identify Messenger when the attendant states that, strangely, two of his corpses were killed with the same weapon - Norton and a headless woman! The woman is identified as the real Mrs Stark from a scar on the shoulder. Brooker and Tough rush to the overheard address to find Stark, Muriel and Lackey there. Yes, they were all in it together to get the inheritance money. A big fight results in Stark's death on his own umbrella spike, and Lackey is killed by the Police, with a stray shot doing for Muriel. All very exciting, but so many questions left unanswered. The only thing we know for certain is that Stark killed his wife and then Norton to avoid complications. But, was Muriel running away with Messenger part of the plot? Why did Stark risk publicity by hiring the P.I.s? And what exactly was Benny's role? Answers on a postcard please!
10 Reviews
Pleasant Comedy-Mystery
boblipton13 July 2019
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.
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.
Too many husbands
russjones-808876 January 2021
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.
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.
Good film from a low budget studio
SkippyDevereaux17 December 2000
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 !!
fast-moving film from Poverty Row
blanche-217 March 2021
"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.
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.
Muriel
richardchatten6 January 2021
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.
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.
The only thing that prevented me from screaming here was it short running time.
mark.waltz6 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Enjoyable in spots but basically a very predictable mystery comedy, this Republic programmer starring Robert Lowery, Marie McDonald and Edward Brophy has a couple of surprising moments that save this from being below average. In this quickly forgettable bottom of the barrel film, the trio runs a detective agency specializing in cases involving marital discord. when they're first big case proves to be a success, they end up on another case very quickly which result in a sudden murder.
Between the three of them, they all have different ways in trying to solve the case, with Lowery not afraid of facing any danger and taking a lot of risks, MacDonald ("the body") truly using her brain, and Brophy barely thinking at all, getting into constant trouble. A fine supporting cast aids them in resolving the complicated to the point of being convoluted plot, and and just when I was getting to the point of annoyance of thinking it would never end, it did to my relief. You can't expect much from these programmers that run less than an hour as they certainly are not of the "Thin Man" quality or anything close to the Falcon or the Saint. Brophy comes off best with his dumb lug manner, while Lowery and McDonald are obviously there to provide the romantic clench at the end.
Between the three of them, they all have different ways in trying to solve the case, with Lowery not afraid of facing any danger and taking a lot of risks, MacDonald ("the body") truly using her brain, and Brophy barely thinking at all, getting into constant trouble. A fine supporting cast aids them in resolving the complicated to the point of being convoluted plot, and and just when I was getting to the point of annoyance of thinking it would never end, it did to my relief. You can't expect much from these programmers that run less than an hour as they certainly are not of the "Thin Man" quality or anything close to the Falcon or the Saint. Brophy comes off best with his dumb lug manner, while Lowery and McDonald are obviously there to provide the romantic clench at the end.
Does the job
Leofwine_draca10 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A SCREAM IN THE DARK is a fun little B-flick from Republic, surprisingly witty at times and told with an economy that works in its favour. A couple of likeable detectives take up the case of a runaway wife and all seems to be going swimmingly until the waters are subsequently murkied and they find themselves out of their depth. It's a well-paced and entertaining little yarn that does the job nicely.
This film falls just short of being truly awful...
j_paul_murdock31 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
An investigative journalist gets sacked and takes up offices as a private detective. His first case sees three men turning up, one after the other, claiming to be the husband of one woman who turns out to be an imposter anyway and part of a fraud scheme. Most of the husbands end up dead. In fact, even the one 'husband' in on the fraud ends up dead in the most improbable of fight scenes.
The trouble with the film is that it shifts from being a detective story to a Marx Brothers' film to Abbott and Costello. The detective's girlfriend does more serious work than he does. The ex-girlfriend of the boyfriend of the fraudulent 'wife' gets completely forgotten after she is killed. This, in itself, might not matter, except that every other corpse involved in the film ends up in the same morgue - run by an actor doing a comedic impersonation of Humphrey Bogart, and missing - even the decapitated real wife!
Strangely enough, the detective's girlfriend is just handed information with no questions asked, in the hotel and at the police station, with the real police detective happily standing 2 feet behind her, saying nothing and accepting her orders!
The whole film clunks from one gag to another, otherwise and deserves to be forgotten.
The trouble with the film is that it shifts from being a detective story to a Marx Brothers' film to Abbott and Costello. The detective's girlfriend does more serious work than he does. The ex-girlfriend of the boyfriend of the fraudulent 'wife' gets completely forgotten after she is killed. This, in itself, might not matter, except that every other corpse involved in the film ends up in the same morgue - run by an actor doing a comedic impersonation of Humphrey Bogart, and missing - even the decapitated real wife!
Strangely enough, the detective's girlfriend is just handed information with no questions asked, in the hotel and at the police station, with the real police detective happily standing 2 feet behind her, saying nothing and accepting her orders!
The whole film clunks from one gag to another, otherwise and deserves to be forgotten.
A good and enjoyable flick.
jknoppow-120 May 2004
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.
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