Screaming Mimi (film)

Screaming Mimi

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Gerd Oswald
Produced by Harry Joe Brown
Robert Fellows
Written by Story:
Fredric Brown
Screenplay:
Robert Blees
Starring Anita Ekberg
Philip Carey
Gypsy Rose Lee
Harry Townes
Music by Mischa Bakaleinikoff
Cinematography Burnett Guffey
Editing by Gene Havlick
Jerome Thoms
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) June 25, 1958
Running time 79 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Screaming Mimi (1958) is a film noir directed by Gerd Oswald, and based on the novel by pulp novelist Fredric Brown. The film features Anita Ekberg, Philip Carey, Gypsy Rose Lee, among others.[1] It has never received an official video release in the U.S.

Contents

Plot

In the opening scene set in Southern California, while Virginia Wilson (Anita Ekberg) is taking an outside beach shower, an escaped madman from the sanitarium shows up. He stabs her dog, Rusty [Devil was the name of her second dog], attacks her and is then shot to death by her stepbrother, Charlie, with a rifle.

After the attack, Virginia is committed to a sanitarium. The psychiatrist falls in love with her. He fakes her death, and they go on the lam. Virginia ends up dancing at the El Madhouse night club run by Gypsy Rose Lee. Lee performs "Put the Blame on Mame," the classic noir theme from the film Gilda.

All the while Virginia is being stalked by a serial killer.

Cast

Critical reception

Richard W. Nason, film critic for The New York Times, wrote, "It is a modern case of an artist's unintended voodoo over a girl who undergoes a traumatic experience. It is an effective film of its kind, thanks to some reflective dialogue by Robert Blees and a sense of suspense on the part of Gerd Oswald, the director. Anita Ekberg, who does more acting here than before, is the star. Gypsy Rose Lee and Phil Carey are also on the ball."[2]

Adaptations

A similar film, much more loosely based on Fredric Brown's novel, was made in 1970 as The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, directed by Dario Argento.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Screaming Mimi at the Internet Movie Database.
  2. ^ Nason, Richard W. The New York Times, film review, June 26, 1958. Last accessed: January 27, 2008.
  3. ^ L' Uccello dalle piume di cristallo at the Internet Movie Database.

External links