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  • A Scream in the Dark (1943)
  • Approved
    55 min | Adventure, Crime, Mystery
A Scream in the Dark (1943)
Approved
55 min | Adventure, Crime, Mystery

Newspaper reporter turned detective Mike, along with his partner Eddie Tough (who used to be his photographer on the paper), and Mike's girlfriend Joan go after some business. She's the daughter of the local police chief, so she can send ...See moreNewspaper reporter turned detective Mike, along with his partner Eddie Tough (who used to be his photographer on the paper), and Mike's girlfriend Joan go after some business. She's the daughter of the local police chief, so she can send him clients, is the idea.. The first case he gets is a domestic investigation. Leo Stark's wife, Muriel has left him for another guy, Gerald Messenger, a man who looks like an ex-pug. Mike finds her, and Messenger, in an apartment, Eddie takes a photograph of them clutching each-other, and she agrees to give Stark a divorce, and ten thousand dollars. While celebrating at a restaurant, Mike is interrupted by a man, Mr. Norton, who claims that Muriel is really his wife. Mike establishes that Norton had married her two years past, while Stark says he married her five years before. But Norton isn't interested in getting rid of any legal tie with her, he wants her back. Mike agrees to take the job. While he's trying to find her, Norton gets a phone call. He's told that the caller knows where his wife is, and that the informant is waiting for his just around the corner. Norton goes out to the street; a car drives up and parks behind him. A man gets out, we see him only from the waist down. He is carrying a sword umbrella. He stabs Norton in the back, killing him. Then someone shots Messenger to death. Just to make sure there are enough bodies, Messenger's ex-girlfriend Stella gets bumped off as well. Next a new ex-husband shows up at Mike's office, one Sam Lackey, from Texas. He offers to pay in advance if Mike will help his find his wife. He saw her name in the newspapers. She's Muriel Stark. Mike turns down the advance payment, he says it's unlucky--he tells Sam that his wife is poison--people are being murdered all over the place because of her. Mike and Eddie decide they'd better get to Stark, before he can be bumped off too. Meanwhile, Mike's girlfriend Joan is working with her boss Police Detective Lieutenant Cross, to solve the same murders. Will anyone solve the case before the entire human race is eradicated? If you get the chance, watch this film and find out. Written by Jim Knoppow See less
Read more: Plot summary
Director
Writers
Gerald Schnitzer (screen play) | Anthony Coldeway (screen play) (as Anthony Coldewey) | Jerome Odlum (novel "The Morgue is Always Open")
Cinematographer
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Status
Edit Released
Updated Oct 15, 1943

Release date
Oct 15, 1943 (United States)

Contacts

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Cast

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22 cast members
Name Known for
Robert Lowery
Mike Brooker Mike Brooker   See fewer
Marie McDonald
Joan Allen Joan Allen   See fewer
Edward Brophy
Eddie Tough (as Edward S. Brophy) Eddie Tough (as Edward S. Brophy)   See fewer
Hobart Cavanaugh
Leo Stark Leo Stark   See fewer
Wally Vernon
Klousky Klousky   See fewer
Jack La Rue
Det. Lt. Cross Det. Lt. Cross   See fewer
Frank Fenton
Sam 'Benny' Lackey Sam 'Benny' Lackey   See fewer
Linda Brent
Stella Stella   See fewer
William Haade
Gerald Messenger Gerald Messenger   See fewer
Arthur Loft
Norton Norton   See fewer
Kitty McHugh
Maisie Maisie   See fewer
Horace B. Carpenter
Client (uncredited) Client (uncredited)   See fewer
George Chandler
Reporter at Morgue (uncredited) Reporter at Morgue (uncredited)   See fewer
William B. Davidson
Landlord (uncredited) Landlord (uncredited)   See fewer
Henri DeSoto
Headwaiter (uncredited) Headwaiter (uncredited)   See fewer
Ethyl May Halls
Landlady at the Brooklyn Apartments (uncredited) Landlady at the Brooklyn Apartments (uncredited)   See fewer
John Ince
Passerby (uncredited) Passerby (uncredited)   See fewer
Michael Jeffers
Policeman (uncredited) Policeman (uncredited)   See fewer
Jack Raymond
Cab Driver (uncredited) Cab Driver (uncredited)   See fewer
Jack Rice
Desk Clerk at the Hotel Madison (uncredited) Desk Clerk at the Hotel Madison (uncredited)   See fewer
Charles C. Wilson
City Editor (uncredited) City Editor (uncredited)   See fewer
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