An eminent neurologist, whose psyche is starting to fracture because of his bad marriage, is starting to unravel as his no-good wife continues to harass him, flaunting her adultery and basically challenging Dr. Steele to do something about it (she taunts his inability to free himself from her, not knowing what could possibly result as he contemplates in his tormented mind the idea of murdering her). When her body is found in Steele's hunting lodge, her face destroyed by acid, could the doctor be responsible? Even worse, Dr. Steele was found by his assistant, Stella, in his office, suffering amnesia, unable to determine his whereabouts during the weekend his wife was murdered. Duval, Maria's lover, is the one arrested for the crime because he was there near the time of the murder, had a quarrel with her over leaving Steele, and seems like as good a candidate as any to kill the woman who could not abandon the position and social standing attributing to a life of luxury and prominence which comes from being married to a prestigious neurologist. Sentenced to the electric chair in court by circumstantial evidence, Duval seems doomed to die for a crime he didn't commit as Steele tries to unlock the mystery of his *lost weekend*. Talking to Duval, Steele is convinced he's hiding something—but what?
An Inner Sanctum Mystery starring Lon Chaney Jr who, at this time in his career, continued to mine the sad pathos of Lawrence Talbot with characters like his Doc Steele, a wrongfully mistreated innocent, caught in a trap, seeking to escape. Maybe Steele isn't suffering from lycanthropy, but he's unsure of what took place for two days, having a hard time living with the thought that someone is possibly sentenced to death for a crime he might have actually committed, needing to reveal the concealed truth behind what actually happened and why. Of course, with any mystery, revelations regarding the true character of certain individuals emerge: Duval isn't a saint by any imagination and nurse Stella (the stunning Patricia Morison) may not be an angel Steele believes her to be. J. Carrol Naish is wonderful as Inspector Gregg, the detective on the case who seems convinced that Steele is behind the murder of his wife and often muses about his feelings to the doctor, a cynical air about him which seems to hit a nerve on every occasion they meet. My favorite scenes are between the uncomfortable Chaney and confident Naish, the insinuations and accusations freely offered by the cop to the man he considers (we think) the likely killer. Hypnosis is a device used in the plot to unearth the sinister details (Steele uses hypnosis as a technique to help his patients acknowledge what it is that has caused them such psychological crisis) behind Maria's violent death, explaining the unusual explosion in Steele's office (acid was used here as well) which led to certain important files in a cabinet being burned, and how a gambling debt, along with thousands of dollars taken from the doctor by his wife, was the culprit behind everything. Fay Helm, despite maybe one real scene, leaves quite an impression, as a nasty bitch who laughs in Chaney's face, mocking him, earning our immediate disgust because she has no qualms against torturing her devoted husband. Morison (the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes film, "Dressed to Kill" may be her most memorable role), I would have loved to see Universal use in more Gothic horror movies; not sure why she wasn't. I must admit that I found the disembodied head in the crystal ball setting up these Inner Sanctum Mysteries to be a bit tacky, but it has a charm that goes with that particular era in horror. Most of the film has Chaney, whispering in voice-over, explaining Dr. Steele's thoughts to us.
An Inner Sanctum Mystery starring Lon Chaney Jr who, at this time in his career, continued to mine the sad pathos of Lawrence Talbot with characters like his Doc Steele, a wrongfully mistreated innocent, caught in a trap, seeking to escape. Maybe Steele isn't suffering from lycanthropy, but he's unsure of what took place for two days, having a hard time living with the thought that someone is possibly sentenced to death for a crime he might have actually committed, needing to reveal the concealed truth behind what actually happened and why. Of course, with any mystery, revelations regarding the true character of certain individuals emerge: Duval isn't a saint by any imagination and nurse Stella (the stunning Patricia Morison) may not be an angel Steele believes her to be. J. Carrol Naish is wonderful as Inspector Gregg, the detective on the case who seems convinced that Steele is behind the murder of his wife and often muses about his feelings to the doctor, a cynical air about him which seems to hit a nerve on every occasion they meet. My favorite scenes are between the uncomfortable Chaney and confident Naish, the insinuations and accusations freely offered by the cop to the man he considers (we think) the likely killer. Hypnosis is a device used in the plot to unearth the sinister details (Steele uses hypnosis as a technique to help his patients acknowledge what it is that has caused them such psychological crisis) behind Maria's violent death, explaining the unusual explosion in Steele's office (acid was used here as well) which led to certain important files in a cabinet being burned, and how a gambling debt, along with thousands of dollars taken from the doctor by his wife, was the culprit behind everything. Fay Helm, despite maybe one real scene, leaves quite an impression, as a nasty bitch who laughs in Chaney's face, mocking him, earning our immediate disgust because she has no qualms against torturing her devoted husband. Morison (the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes film, "Dressed to Kill" may be her most memorable role), I would have loved to see Universal use in more Gothic horror movies; not sure why she wasn't. I must admit that I found the disembodied head in the crystal ball setting up these Inner Sanctum Mysteries to be a bit tacky, but it has a charm that goes with that particular era in horror. Most of the film has Chaney, whispering in voice-over, explaining Dr. Steele's thoughts to us.