1958's "Screaming Mimi" is based on a novel by Frederic Brown and stars Anita Ekberg, Philip Carey, Harry Townes and Gypsy Rose Lee. Ekberg is Virginia, aka Yolanda, a drop-dead gorgeous exotic dancer who is institutionalized after nearly being murdered at her stepbrother's house. The kindly psychiatrist (Townes) trying to help her takes the transference a bit too far - he fakes her death and takes off with her. Virginia changes her name to Yolanda and gets a job as an exotic dancer in a club run by Joann Masters (Lee). A reporter named Sweeney (Philip Carey) gets onto a story about a slasher and crosses paths with Virginia/Yolanda and, like every other man, falls for her. In Yolanda's dressing room, Sweeney finds a statue - the same statue was found next to the last murder victim, also an exotic dancer.
This is an interesting story for sure with sexual undertones (or shall I say overtones) galore - Ekberg's chained slave dance, the lesbian relationship Joann has with another dancer, the statue fetish, and Ekberg herself, sex on heels. Her first film was "Mississippi Gambler," in which she was uncredited; not surprisingly, she got the attention of the film's star, Tyrone Power, and had an affair with him that lasted into the mid-'50s. She even got to meet his relatives in Cincinnati - and he was still married at the time. Was she good in this? I have no idea; she's so stunning, it doesn't matter. Philip Carey, known today for his portrayal of Asa Buchanan in "One Life to Live" was a hunk in the '50s who was relegated to B films costarring many beautiful women - he's easy on the eyes too and does a decent job as Sweeney. Harry Townes had a huge career in television and underplays the role of Greene, the psychiatrist. He does a good job - if the character appeared sinister, it wouldn't have been believable.
A story like this could easily have been given a big budget and big director and been much more effective. As it is, it keeps one's attention with its twists and turns and one of the great va-va-vooms, Ekberg.
This is an interesting story for sure with sexual undertones (or shall I say overtones) galore - Ekberg's chained slave dance, the lesbian relationship Joann has with another dancer, the statue fetish, and Ekberg herself, sex on heels. Her first film was "Mississippi Gambler," in which she was uncredited; not surprisingly, she got the attention of the film's star, Tyrone Power, and had an affair with him that lasted into the mid-'50s. She even got to meet his relatives in Cincinnati - and he was still married at the time. Was she good in this? I have no idea; she's so stunning, it doesn't matter. Philip Carey, known today for his portrayal of Asa Buchanan in "One Life to Live" was a hunk in the '50s who was relegated to B films costarring many beautiful women - he's easy on the eyes too and does a decent job as Sweeney. Harry Townes had a huge career in television and underplays the role of Greene, the psychiatrist. He does a good job - if the character appeared sinister, it wouldn't have been believable.
A story like this could easily have been given a big budget and big director and been much more effective. As it is, it keeps one's attention with its twists and turns and one of the great va-va-vooms, Ekberg.