Customer Reviews

Shriek in the Night [VHS]

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Ginger Rogers is really cute in this Murder Mystery Spoof.

This Standard Format Black/White 67 minute movie is a good quality DVD transfer.

Summary: Live in Undercover newspaper reporter Pat Morgan (Ginger Rogers) is acting as a millionaire mob bosses secretary. She is trying to discover his involvement in the crime syndicate. "A Shriek in the Night" awakens the entire apartment building. The crime boss has fallen mysteriosly from his Penthouse balcony to his death. Other deaths soon follow and Pat is in the middle of it all holding key clues to who the murderer is.

This is a fun light mystery drama with a very cute Ginger Rogers playing the intelligent aggressive newswoman. Enjoy.

Alpha Video currently offers two B-movie mysteries that both feature early starring roles for Ginger Rogers: THE THIRTEENTH GUEST (1932) and A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT (1933). GUEST is marginally better than SHRIEK, although the print of GUEST used for Alpha's DVD transfer is definitely inferior (the picture quality has a dupey, washed-out, milky look to it).

By contrast, Alpha's copy of A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT is pretty sharp (an original print, not a dupe) and the print is in very good shape. Fans of these kind of B-grade mysteries will enjoy watching Ginger Rogers and Lyle Talbot as rival reporters who try to solve a series of baffling murders. This is a typical 1930s "Poverty Row" production (i.e., a low-budget, independent studio release), so don't expect the kind of glossy production values you'd find in an MGM or Warner Brothers film. Nevertheless, sometimes these inexpensive little mysteries offer just as much entertainment value as their higher-bracketed counterparts. A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT is proof of this, with Rogers, Talbot, and the rest of the cast giving lively performances that more than compensate for the budgetary limitations.

This fun to watch "B" mystery is great for a rainy night. Frances Hyland's screenplay based on a story by Kurt Kempler is typical of minor formula mysteries of the early 1930's but a young Ginger Rogers and Lyle Talbot give this Allied Pictures offering just enough zip and nostalgia to make it a nice one for "B" movie fans to own. They made a cute couple around this time, filming another "B" mystery together called The Thirteenth Guest, also directed by Albert Ray.

A Shriek in the Night starts off with a bang as a man named Harker falls to his death from his own apartment complex. Reporter Lyle Talbot is on the scene trying to get a scoop on the hot news story but Ginger, cute as can be, may have the inside track. She has been posing as Harker's secretary for a rival paper in order to explore his ties to an underworld boss. The cops question everyone but the most fun for the viewer is derived from watching Ginger and Talbot as they try to to get the scoop first. There is some fun byplay between the two when they inevitably fall for each other.

A serpent card given the victim and a second murder add some mild spice to the mystery. Someone may have to save Ginger from the murderer near the end, and who does so will come as a surprise. While certainly no mastepiece, as these little early "B" mysteries go, this one is entertaining for buffs. Ginger's fans will love this look at her just as she was on her way to a career capped by an Oscar for Kitty Foyle.

BEST OF THE DVD OFFERINGS OF THIS MOVIE...NOT THE BEST QUALITY, BUT

IT IS UNDERSTANDABLE AND VIEWABLE...AN ENJOYABLE GLIMPSE OF GINGER ROGERS BEFORE HER SLIM DANCING DAYS

The Alpha DVD is good quality overall, albeit a bit splicy. The original titles are intact and the film is complete. It's quite a fun, entertaining little mystery.

Ginger Rogers and Lyle Talbot make for a fun, and funny, team. DVD - Alpha Video. Decent print, strong audio. Maybe not as crisp as I like but completely watchable. "A Shriek in the Night" is a fun whodunit, a good curl up with a bowl of popcorn kind of film. And what great dialogue! e.g. - "I think you're trying to flirt with me. If I didn't have four kids and a wife who can lick her weight in wildcats, I might like it better." It really is a fun movie!

Certainly, I am in accord with the other reviews appearing at this time. There is the historical interest of seeing Ginger Rogers on the cusp of stardom, a period when, like many other icons to be, she was playing featured roles in A productions and starring in B pictures (known as programmers in the trade). Lyle Talbot, who was doing the same, worked in films, TV and on the stage for half century more, but never as a major star. It is said that he was let go by Warners because of his union activity and, it is a fact, that he was a founding member of the first actors union. At any rate, he appears here as a happy-go-lucky newsman coupled with Ginger Rogers' newswoman. This is the second of the two light comedy-mysteries they did together the first being the better-in my view) and is quite enjoyable within the limits allowed to a "cheapie". A number of other actors handled their limited opportunities quite well.

If you adjust your expectations and do not expect Hitchcock, you should have a pleasant hour.

A good film with Ms. Rogers during pre-code days. Why spend the money when it can be found on InternetArchives.org? It's free there.