Lon Chaney Jr. is front and centre here as Dr. Mark Steele, a successful neurologist who's married to a conniving, selfish, status-hungry woman named Maria (Ramsay Ames). He'd like to be rid of her, and in fact he's not terribly distraught when she does turn up dead. The trouble is, he's afraid he might have killed her himself, since there ARE 48 hours of his life which he cannot account for. An unrelenting homicide detective (J. Carrol Naish) is absolutely convinced that Mark is the killer, and always lets him know it. He stays right on Marks' tail, hoping that the good doctor will slip up.
Inspired by the radio program, this initial entry into the six-film "Inner Sanctum" franchise is no great shakes, but is reasonably entertaining and features a couple of solid performances. The script, by Edward Dein (later director of things like "Curse of the Undead" and "The Leech Woman"), is not exactly airtight, but director Reginald LeBorg gives it some style, especially when it comes to visually portraying the lead characters' inner turmoil. A repeated device has us constantly hearing his unspoken monologues; while sometimes effective, it's not always necessary. Good acting by Lon, Naish, Patricia Morison as the devoted nurse, David Bruce as a suspect, Fay Helm as his wife, and prolific Holmes Herbert as the butler, helps a lot.
These "Inner Sanctum" features were indeed modest productions, and were for the most part enjoyable yet forgettable. Although not as thickly atmospheric as the horror pictures churned out by Universal in the 30s and 40s, they did have their share of ambiance, and gave Lon good opportunities to play different types of characters, who were surrounded by death and intrigue. The next feature after this one, the Fritz Leiber adaptation "Weird Woman", is the best of the bunch in this viewers' humble opinion, and is also his personal favourite.
Six out of 10.
Inspired by the radio program, this initial entry into the six-film "Inner Sanctum" franchise is no great shakes, but is reasonably entertaining and features a couple of solid performances. The script, by Edward Dein (later director of things like "Curse of the Undead" and "The Leech Woman"), is not exactly airtight, but director Reginald LeBorg gives it some style, especially when it comes to visually portraying the lead characters' inner turmoil. A repeated device has us constantly hearing his unspoken monologues; while sometimes effective, it's not always necessary. Good acting by Lon, Naish, Patricia Morison as the devoted nurse, David Bruce as a suspect, Fay Helm as his wife, and prolific Holmes Herbert as the butler, helps a lot.
These "Inner Sanctum" features were indeed modest productions, and were for the most part enjoyable yet forgettable. Although not as thickly atmospheric as the horror pictures churned out by Universal in the 30s and 40s, they did have their share of ambiance, and gave Lon good opportunities to play different types of characters, who were surrounded by death and intrigue. The next feature after this one, the Fritz Leiber adaptation "Weird Woman", is the best of the bunch in this viewers' humble opinion, and is also his personal favourite.
Six out of 10.