| Screaming Mimi | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| 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.
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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.
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]
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]