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6.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Wake Up and Dream remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like your movies smelling like old greasepaint and cheap costumes, Wake Up and Dream is probably for you. If you need tight pacing or a story that actually makes sense by the third act, stay away. It is not going to change your life, but it has a weird, twitchy heartbeat that I kind of liked.
The whole thing feels like a collection of sketches glued together with spit and prayer. We follow a vaudeville trio trying to make it big, and honestly, the movie spends way too long on their early, failed auditions. You can tell the filmmakers were just trying to fill the runtime. Sometimes the camera just sits there, staring at a character who has nothing to say. It is almost funny.
There is a scene in the middle where they are rehearsing in a cramped apartment. The wallpaper is peeling and someone left a hat on the table that looks like it hasn't been washed since 1920. It is a tiny detail, but it felt more real than the actual script.
I kept thinking about Old New York while watching this, mainly because they both share that weird, filtered nostalgia for a time that probably wasn't as fun as the movies make it look. The performances here are... well, they are loud. Everyone is shouting their lines like they are performing to the back row of a theater rather than a microphone.
It is not a polished piece of work. It is messy and it stumbles over its own feet constantly. But there is something honest about watching these people try to sell a joke that nobody is laughing at. It reminded me a bit of the chaotic energy in Tomato Omelette, where the silliness is the whole point.
Don't expect a masterpiece. Just take it for what it is—a dusty old snapshot of people trying to be stars. If you’re bored on a Tuesday night, it’ll do just fine. 🎭