I found the Inner Sanctum Mysteries DVD set at the Nostalgia Zone for 7 bucks. I didn't realize it at the time what a bargain I got but I just looked on Amazon and the set's $35 there. So, lucky me, huh! I was interested in the set because of the Inner Sanctum connection and that all of the movies have Lon Chaney JR in them. Nice to see him not being The Wolfman for a change. I suppose most people would recognize that Inner Sanctum Mystery is both a book series from Simon and Schuster and a radio show. Only 179 of the 527 episodes are left. I didn't know that Universal Pictures produced a series of 6 movies in the 1940s. All are short, 62 to 67 minutes, but they still have fairly good stories to keep the viewers interest. They all get about a 6 each on the IMDb and that's ok with me. Most of the cast members aren't too familiar with me but I did recognize a couple of names here and there. The head in the crystal ball appears in the first 5 of the films, always giving the same intro.
Calling Dr Death 1943 Written by Edward Dein and directed by Reginald Le Borg. Lon plays a doctor who thinks he's killed wife. Hypnotism is used to find out who the real killer is. J Carrol Naish plays the cop who comes to investigate.
Weird Woman 1944 The Brenda Weisberg screenplay was based on Scott Darling's adaption of Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber JR. It was directed by Reginald Le Borg. Lon marries an "exotic native woman" while in the South Seas. What he doesn't know is she comes with superstition and magic attached. Evelyn Ankers appeared in many of the Universal Pictures Monster movies. Ralph Morgan was Frank "Wizard of Oz" Morgan's brother, he was in a lot of movies over the years.
Dead Man's Eyes 1944 Written by Dwight V Babcock and directed by Reginald Le Borg. Lon's an artist who's accidentally blinded. His fiancé's father is killed and the police suspect Lon. The dead man's will offered his corneas replace Lon's damaged ones. Now a blind guy has to figure out who killed the father. Some might remember Jonathan Hale as Inspector Farnack in 5 of The Saint films. He was in a couple of Charlie Chan films and quite a number other titles.
The Frozen Ghost 1945 Harrison Carter and Henry Sucher wrote the original story that Bernard Schubert and Luci Ward wrote the screenplay from, the director was Harold Young. Lon is a stage mentalist who has an annoying man die on stage. He thinks it was his mental powers that killed the man. It wasn't. He quits the business and goes to work at a Wax Museum. Three different women want his romantic attentions. One disappears and then the police come around. Who done it? You might recognize Milburn Stone, Martin Kosleck, Douglass Dumbrille and Evelyn Ankers in the cast. I know I did.
Strange Confession 1945 Written by Jean Bart and M Coates Webster and directed by John Hoffman. Lon is working on a vaccine for influenza. His boss, J Carrol Naish, takes all the credit and Lon quits. A year later, J Carrol hires him back and sends him to South America to research a mold. J Carrol takes advantage steal the unfinished formula and release it. Lon's sick son dies of the flu and Lon wants some revenge. Milburn Stone, Lloyd Bridges, Mary Gordon and George Chandler are all in the cast of this one.
Pillow Of Death 1945 Written by Dwight V Babcock and George Bricker with Wallace Fox directing. Lon plans to divorce his wife to marry his secretary. When the wife turns up suffocated Lon is a suspect. After some more suffocations a psychic says Lon is guilty. Lon starts hearing his dead wife talking to him.
I though all of them were interesting and they kept me entertained with a good mystery. Well worth picking up, especially at the steal of a price I got it for. I also like all these old posters. Be sure to click on them to see them in a bigger size.
i'll have to keep my eyes open for the set. Skimming quickly through the title names I don't immediately recognize any I've seen. I'll read more closely and see if the sound familiar. Thanks.
Posted by: Gary Mattingly | January 06, 2016 at 05:55 PM