Lon Chaney, Jr. Makes a Strange Confession

Chaney Jr. and the black bag.

The most incongruent entry in Universal's six-film Inner Sanctum series is also one of the best. Whereas its brethren are psychological suspense tales, Strange Confession (1945) is a straight drama with a subtly gruesome conclusion.

Series regular Lon Chaney, Jr. stars as Jeff Carter, a chemist who wants to make a difference for humanity. As he often says, Jeff doesn't care about money nor glory. His attitude and work ethic are exploited by his employer (J. Carrol Naish), the unscrupulous head of a pharmaceutical company. When Jeff refuses to rush a new drug to market, his boss promptly fires him and prevents him from working at any other lab.

J. Carrol Naish as the villain.

Jeff is content to work at a drugstore and conduct his experiments in his spare time. However, his wife Mary (Brenda Joyce) understandably wants a better life for their young son and for herself. When Jeff has an opportunity to return to his old job, Mary convinces him to take it. That decision results in personal tragedy as well as affecting the lives of hundreds of others.

Told in flashback, Strange Confession makes it clear from the opening scenes that it will not have a happy ending. Prior to relating his tale in an old college friend, now a prominent attorney, Jeff reveals the contents of a small black bag he has been carrying. The audience doesn't get to see the contents, but the attorney's reaction (and the size of the bag) make it pretty obvious. It's a chilling--but highly effective--way to capture one's attention!

Brenda Joyce as Mary.

While Chaney's do-gooder and Naish's villain are pretty much black-and-white characters, Brenda Joyce gets one of her best roles as Mary Carter. She loves her husband for his noble ideas, but she also realizes that good intentions don't provide a better life for her family. Her motives in regard to Jeff's boss are more complex. When he ships Jeff off to South America and starts paying her attention, it's hard to imagine that Mary is totally blind to his intentions.

It's nice to see Brenda Joyce in a part so different from her most famous one: Jane in the Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller and Lex Barker. Her transition from a full-time mother living in a small apartment to a well-dressed suburban resident with a full-time housekeeper is a credit to the actress...and costume designer Vera West. West dresses the actress modestly in the early scenes before shifting to more luxurious outfits following the family's rise in financial status.

If the plot to Strange Confession sounds vaguely familiar, then you may have seen The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934) with Claude Rains. Both films were based on the same 1932 stage play by Jean Bart. While the plot is different in Strange Confession, it retains the central premise and Chaney's character even notes that Naish's villain has stolen his ideas and he needs to "reclaim his head."

The Inner Sanctum film series is a cut above other "B" pictures produced by Universal in the 1940s. While not a typical entry, Strange Confession is an engrossing one that will hold your attention from the start to finish. It's also an opportunity to see future TV stars in supporting roles: Lloyd Bridges (shown on right) plays Lon's co-worker and Milburn Stone is Naish's de facto henchman.

Weird Woman Shines Its Spotlight on Three Unsung Actresses

Lon Chaney, Jr. and Evelyn Ankers.

Fritz Leiber's 1943 supernatural novel Conjure Wife has been adapted for the screen three times. The best version is 1962's Burn, Witch, Burn (aka Night of the Eagle), an exceptionally chilling tale about academic ambition and witchcraft--real or imagined. It's one of the finest horror films of the 1960s. Witches' Brew (1980) takes a comedic approach with unimpressive results. That brings us to the first film version, the oddly-titled Weird Woman (1944), which was the second entry in Universal's Inner Sanctum series starring Lon Chaney, Jr.

Lon stars as Norman Reed, a professor at Monroe College who seems destined to become the new head of the sociology department. Norman's wife, Paula, struggles to fit in among the academic set. Of course, they don't know that she was raised on a South Seas island by a voodoo high priestess.

Anne Gwynne as Paula.

Sensing evil in her new surroundings, she has cast a spell of protection over her husband and herself. Norman, an adamant skeptic, finds her voodoo charms and burns them. With the spell broken, Norman's life falls apart: he loses the department chair, stands accused of inappropriate advances by a young female student, and gets arrested for murder. Could a spurned colleague be behind Norman's destruction?

The central theme in the later Burn, Witch, Burn is the rationalization of magic. Norman finds himself having to work harder, as his plight worsens, to explain events which his wife simply attributes to witchcraft. At the end, even he has to accept that some things cannot be easily reasoned away. Weird Woman takes a more conventional--but still interesting--approach. Once the culprit is identified, Norman and friends employ psychology to instill fear to the point of a confession.

Although Norman is the protagonist, strong female characters dominate Weird Woman--and they're played convincingly by Anne Gwynne, Evelyn Ankers, and Elizabeth Russell.

Gwynne spent most of her career saddled with insignificant parts. However, she personifies insecurity, vulnerability, and fear as Paula. By the way, Gwynne became one of the most popular pin-up girls for American servicemen during World War II.

The lovely Evelyn Ankers (shown on right) was the resident "scream queen" for Universal's 1940s horror films. She even co-starred with Chaney, Jr. in The Wolf Man and The Ghost of Frankenstein. In Weird Woman, she gets to play the villain--and she's fabulous. But Universal failed to take notice of her acting range and she left the studio in 1945. She retired from acting five years later at the age of 32. She was married to actor Richard Denning.

Elizabeth Russell.

The real cast stand-out, though, is Elizabeth Russell, who plays the widow of one of Norman's colleagues. She holds Norman and Paula responsible for her husband's suicide--and her caged fury is a sight to behold. My wife recognized Russell and her piercing eyes instantly from Val Lewton's marvelous The Curse of the Cat People, in which her character tries to murder a young girl. Russell appeared uncredited in several Lewton films. Like Gwynne and Ankers, it's hard to fathom why she wasn't groomed for more meaningful parts or at least more substantial supporting roles.

If you only see one version of Fritz Leiber's novel, then your choice must be Burn, Witch, Burn. But once you've seen it, I encourage you to seek out this lesser, but still worthwhile, version is that buoyed by three actresses who deserved better.

Lon Chaney, Jr. Places a Call to Dr. Death

Lon Chaney, Jr. reflects on a case.

Inspired by the popular Inner Sanctum radio suspense series, Calling Dr. Death was the first of a six-film series produced by Universal in the 1940s. It's an imaginative mystery with noirish elements that kicks off the franchise in style.

Lon Chaney, Jr. stars as Dr. Mark Steele, a financially successful neurologist trapped in a loveless marriage. Mark blacks out one weekend and awakes in his office to learn that his wife Maria has been brutally murdered. How brutal? The killer beat Maria to death with a blunt instrument and then threw acid in her face.

J. Carrol Naish as the inspector.

Maria's demise allows Mark to pursue a relationship with his loyal nurse Stella (Patricia Morrison). However, his ability to bury the past is obstructed by a dogged detective (J. Carrol Naish) and a persistent fear that he could still be the murderer--even though Maria's lover has been arrested.

There's much to like in Calling Dr. Death, from Naish's weird, obsessed detective to the hypnosis-infused climax. However, what truly sets it apart from other "B" mysteries is the extensive use of voice-overs to convey Mark's thoughts. While I have seen that technique employed effectively in other films, I've never seen it used to such a large degree. It allows the viewer to get to know Mark intimately and, let's be honest, the good doctor should be seeing a psychologist to resolve his own issues.

Patricia Morrison as Stella.

Lon Chaney, Jr. gives an adequate performance as the protagonist, who reminded me at times of Larry Talbot in The Wolf Man movies. With a few exceptions (e.g., Of Mice and Men, Son of Dracula), I've never found Chaney, Jr. to be a compelling actor. However, the dependable Naish has one of his best roles as Inspector Gregg and Patricia Morrison makes Stella more interesting as the film progresses. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gale Sondergaard was originally cast as Stella.

Chaney is the only actor to appear all six Inner Sanctum films, which feature no recurring characters. Most of the series' entries are psychological suspense movies with twist endings. Strangely enough, 1948's Inner Sanctum, though also inspired by the radio show, was not part of the Universal series.

Calling Dr. Death is also notable for the debut for the now-famous prologue featuring a floating, warped head inside a crystal ball. Click on the clip below to watch it!