JohnHowardReid Ginger Rogers (Pat Morgan), Lyle Talbot (Ted Rand), Purnell Pratt (Inspector Russell), Arthur Hoyt (Wilfred), Harvey Clark (the janitor), Lillian Harmer (Augusta), Louise Beavers (maid), Clarence Wilson (Perkins), Cyril Ring (Eddie, the morgue attendant), Maurice Black (Martini), Tiny Sandford (Eddie, the detective), Jim Farley (Detective Brown), Dick Rush (policeman in hallway). Director: ALBERT RAY. Screenplay: Frances Hyland. Story; Kurt Kempler. Film editor: L.R. Brown. Photography: Harry Neumann, Tom Galligan. Costumes designed by Alfreda. Art director: Gene Hornbostel. Music supervisor: Abe Meyer. Assistant director: Wilbur McGaugh. Production manager: Sidney Algier. Sound recording: Homer C. Ellmaker. RCA Sound System. Associate producer: M.H. Hoffman, junior. An M.H. Hoffman (senior) Production. Filmed at RKO-Pathé Studios. Copyright 7 April 1933 by Allied Pictures Corporation. New York opening at the Cameo: 23 July 1933. U.S. release: 15 April 1933. 8 reels. 70 minutes. SYNOPSIS: A man falls to his death from the balcony of a high-rise apartment. His live-in secretary is under suspicion, but it turns out that the secretary is actually a reporter in disguise. NOTES: Ginger Rogers' last appearance on Poverty Row. Henceforth all her films, with the solitary exception of "The Confession" (1964) were made for and/or released by major studios.COMMENT: "An agreeable surprise" is how Frank S. Nugent (my favorite film critic) described this movie in The New York Times. And certainly if your expectations were low (as Mr. Nugent's were), this picture would rate high on the entertainment scale. The well-appointed sets and the atmospheric cinematography are both several notches higher than the usual independent studio shocker. The screenplay too is wittier and more pungent, more interestingly characterized and faster paced than the usual Poverty Row offering. Only the acting seems a little strained and forced. Admittedly, Ginger is competent enough, but lacks her usual sparkle and charisma. Lyle Talbot, Arthur Hoyt, Harvey Clark and Louise Beavers carry off the histrionic honors. True, they share the best lines and bits of business, but Miss Rogers and Mr. Pratt (who occupy so much screen time) really needed to perk up their roles. Maybe Ginger could have adopted a more slinky approach in the early stages of the movie and maybe Mr. Pratt would have done well to invest in a few eye-catching mannerisms. As it is, "A Shriek in the Night" could well disappoint Ginger's legions of fans.

Cristi_Ciopron This was livelier and funnier than the usual mystery movies of that age, with the quiet and shy copper saving Pat; most of the supporting roles are good, with Hoyt, Pratt, Clark and, unlike some bovine leads sometimes seen in those days' movies, Talbot was handsome. The whodunit ends before the denouement (which was common in the '30s, the aim being the melodramatic and sensational look of a situation, not the whodunit: in 'The Ghost Walks' we are similarly shown the psychopath at work, 'Curtain …' gives away the solution right from the start: they exploited a melodramatically mysterious situation, didn't try to set up a whodunit, the unveiling of the villain's identity is anticipated also in 'The Vampire Bat', and in the comedy 'The Devil Bat' we know from the beginning who kills the victims), as we are shown who maneuvers in the basement, but are yet more intrigued about the motive; at the beginnings of the sound movies, they handled the presumed improvement in a way that may seem awkward: the players talking fast, the progress of the investigation being delivered in word, in the exchanges of the players, which expresses an eagerness to overuse the new asset, to rely on verbal delivery, and here we have a good instance of that and other uses of sound, the new asset's possibilities: the shriek itself, the noise heard by the housekeeper, the janitor's creepy laughter as he has dumped the reporter into the incinerator. Another show to be enjoyed, rather than an analyzable work.The script avenges the humbler characters, those of Hoyt and Lillian Harmer. The fast-talkers aren't glamorized either, the only glamorous item being the penthouse.The plot has to do with mobsters, and a revenge. But who takes revenge? Why the _ophidian sentences sent to the victims, the elaborate staging of the murders, the sound heard by the housekeeper? There was someone who solved the case, who found out whodunit, the modest copper played by Hoyt.

Scarecrow-88 A dummy falls from a balcony(..actually it's supposed to represent a man, but many will giggle a little at how unrealistic it is with the flailing arms as the body impacts with pavement)and detectives consider it possible homicide. The man who fell to his doom, a Mr Harker, had a temporary secretary, Patricia Morgan(Giner Rogers)working in his apartment who in fact is a reporter infiltrating the man's privacy trying to uncover his ties to a gangster, Joe Martini(Maurice Black). It's soon discovered by Inspector Russell(Purnell Pratt)that Harker was perhaps thrown off a balcony in his lover's room. The female lover was found strangled(..but we see a person's silhouette with a mask cutting off the gas, telling us that it's in fact a mystery assassin attempting to throw detectives off the scent)and later her husband, Mr. Colby, police's number one suspect, is found dead, potentially of suicide. Patricia has the scoop, but her current(..well, sort of)boyfriend, Ted Ford(Lyle Talbot)steals her story, having her believe that he's from her newspaper. Losing her job when the big story turns up on the front page, almost word for word the way she had intended, of Ted's newspaper, Patricia will coordinate a relationship with Russell, remaining in Harker's Penthouse sweet, attempting to discover any possible evidence that might provide a link to the killer's identity. Meanwhile, Ted tries to make nice, forging a team with Patricia to solve the mystery. A letter from the killer(..to Harker, found hidden in a small compartment in a dresser drawer) is discovered by his always-hysterical housekeeper, Augusta(Lillian Harmer, in a hideous performance, as the comedy relief but it's excruciatingly forced and over the top to a ridiculous degree)which relates to an innocent cabbie sent to the chair for a murder of someone who was rivals with Harker. Acting suspiciously is the apartment's janitor, Peterson(Harvey Clark)who we see feeding a recording of a shrieking woman's voice into the ventilation to mask the sound of another killing. The janitor also has skeleton keys to every room and sneaks around like a mouse, not to mention that he listens on conversations made between Patricia and Ted..why would he be so interested? It's only a matter of time, despite Ted's efforts to keep her safe, until Patricia's life will be threatened as she gets too close to the truth.Okay little murder mystery designed as a star vehicle for the always charming and illuminating Ginger Rogers. She re-teams with Lyle Talbot(..they worked beautifully together in THE THIRTEENTH GUEST)and they have great chemistry which certainly helps rise this above it's rather decent, but unremarkable, presentation. Pratt comes off a jackass as the detective, always insulting somebody, never listening to his partner, Wilfred(Arthur Hoyt), for whom he considers an idiot. Actually, Wilfred, a very timid, meek, quiet little fellow, helps out a great deal when Russell gives him a chance to talk. Wilfred's bravery at the end resulting in a scuffle with the killer is a nice scene that allows him to be the hero as others are upstairs looking for clues. The plot is rather complex even though the killer's identity could be guessed relatively soon through obvious clues.. the finger in pointed in one direction early and never relinquishes it, so I think that's a failure in Albert Ray's work as director, not to produce effective red herrings that would keep us guessing. As a Ginger Rogers movie, I do think it succeeds, but that could be because I personally love her in practically everything. And, the unflappable, extremely likable Talbot lends great support. Some of the comedy bits with the housekeeper(..and another black stereotype, played by Louise Beavers, the maid frightened of morgues and dead people, is provided for African-Americans to cringe)are really irritating, though. Those accustomed with cinema at this time can probably adjust to the dead air that often exists making scenes between characters seem like lengthly affairs.

kidboots Ginger Rogers made lots of movies when she was just starting out. But for every "42nd Street" (1933) or "The Gay Divorcée" (1934) there was a "Broadway Bad" (1933) or a "Hat Check Girl" (1932). From the start she was determined to be noticed and by very hard work and a cute personality - she was!!!Ginger and Lyle Talbot make a cute team as rival reporters trying to get the scoop on a would-be suicide. They actually dated in real life, so I read.A scream (or yell) is heard, a body falls to the pavement and so this comedy mystery begins. Ginger plays Pat Morgan, Mr. Harker's (the dead man) live-in secretary. She is really a reporter put in as a plant to find out if Harker was really a phlanthrophist or an under- world figure. Lillian Harmer provides some laboured comedy relief as Mr. Harker's maid.More bodies turn up - Mrs. Colby, in the apartment that Mr. Harker met his death -and Mr. Colby is also found dead. The janitor (Harvey Clark) is acting suspicious - continually cutting the power supply to the different apartments so he can snoop around. Maurice Black, who often played ethnic types, is the gangster Martini. Arthur Hoyt plays Wilfred, the chief detective's right hand man, who is the butt of much of the humour. Louise Beavers has a small part as the Colby's maid.It is all explained in the end but not before Ginger almost ends up in a fiery grave.