Strange Confession

Mild-mannered chemist and devoted family man Jeff Carter (Chaney) is exploited by his unscrupulous employer (Naish) until tragedy results.

A half-hour into this programmer and I still wasn't sure where it was going. It plays more like an ordinary melodrama than an entry in a horror series (Universal's Inner Sanctum). Nonetheless, it's the most coherently plotted of the six entries and features Chaney's best performance. He was always good at projecting pathos, unusual for such a hulking figure. Here he gets the opportunity and looks more engaged than usual for the series.

It's a good thing the cast is engaged because the set-up takes some time, enough time for viewers to otherwise wander off. The premise amounts to a cynical look at the pharmaceutical industry, circa 1945. I don't know where the federal Food and Drug Administration was in those days, but the screenplay amounts to a strong case for federal regulation of the drug industry. Not exactly what you'd expect from a horror feature, although there is strong episode of implied horror near the end that works very well.

Anyway, I rather liked this little oddity and enjoyed a young and vigorous Lloyd Bridges clearly on his way up the Hollywood ladder.

Of the six Inner Sanctum movies Lon Chaney made at Universal, for me this one constantly switches positions with two others in "Top Three" status. Chaney plays Jeff Carter, a good husband and father who's too soft when it comes to handling his domineering boss Roger Graham (J. Carrol Naish). Jeff's a skilled, meticulous lab chemist busy developing medicines with his partner (played by a very young Lloyd Bridges), but for all his achievements still lives modestly with his family in a tiny apartment. Jeff works hard while watching Graham take all the money and credit, and ultimately becomes a pawn in Graham's game when the boss sends Jeff away for a month on a job in South America for his own selfish ulterior motives.

STRANGE CONFESSION benefits right away for being somewhat different in style and approach from all the other Inner Sanctum mysteries, and it ropes you in from its prelude where we see a tormented Jeff desperately consulting with a lawyer while carrying a black bag with something unspeakable inside it. The film is then told as a flashback where we can find out what happened and why. Chaney gives a good performance, and J. Carrol Naish (who was so perfect with him in CALLING DR. DEATH) again makes for a fine match. *** out of ****

As the fifth of Universal's six 'Inner Sanctum' mysteries, 1945's "Strange Confession" has the distinction of being the only one not included in the popular SHOCK! package of classic horror films issued to television in the late 50s. Out of circulation since its rerelease under the title "The Missing Head," it still hasn't made the television rounds to this day, but has been easily available with the other series entries on VHS and now DVD. The reason for its suppression is that this was an unauthorized remake of Jean Bart's unsuccessful play (a measly 28 performances) "The Man Who Reclaimed His Head," previously filmed by Universal in 1934, featuring 'Invisible Man' Claude Rains recreating his stage role opposite villain Lionel Atwill. Streamlined and updated for its star Lon Chaney, "Strange Confession" actually improves on its source, the Chaney protagonist, Jeff Carter, an impoverished chemist working for an unscrupulous boss, Roger Graham (J. Carrol Naish), who takes all the credit for himself; in the original, Rains was a too mild mannered pacifist writer mercilessly used by his employer (Atwill) to advance his warmongering agenda. Without the lengthy antiwar backstory, the remake flows much quicker, and Chaney's family has a charming little son (Gregory Muradian) rather than an insufferable little brat of a daughter, played by 'Baby Jane' (a LONG way from Shirley Temple). Roger Graham is just as ruthless as his inspiration, his company rushing formulas into production regardless of whether or not they actually succeed in curing the patients, and when Jeff Carter's wife (Brenda Joyce) discovers that Graham's 'miracle drug' failed to save her son from an influenza epidemic, she turns on him far more forcefully than Joan Bennett ever did. Among another solid supporting cast are Lloyd Bridges as a good sidekick, ubiquitous Milburn Stone as a bad one, and equally ubiquitous Addison Richards as a doctor, with Mary Gordon and Jack Norton playing neighbors. Lovely Brenda Joyce had just begun her five picture reign as Jane in RKO's 'Tarzan' series, only concluding with her final film in 1949, "Tarzan's Magic Fountain," opposite new Ape Man Lex Barker and former Universal starlet Evelyn Ankers. Brenda's other genre work included "Whispering Ghosts" (John Carradine), "Pillow of Death" (opposite Chaney again), "The Spider Woman Strikes Back" (Gale Sondergaard, Rondo Hatton), "Little Giant" (Abbott and Costello), and "Danger Woman" (Patricia Morison, from "Tarzan and the Huntress"). As for Chaney himself, this was perhaps his best showcase since "Man Made Monster" or "The Wolf Man," not an innocent man accused of murder (as in previous series entries), but a brilliant researcher driven to justifiable homicide by forces beyond his control. Contrary to the numerous naysayers, he is convincing in this role, thanks to a script seemingly tailor made for his personality, not exactly suave, just an all around decent family man; the final 'Inner Sanctum,' "Pillow of Death," found him wallowing in a weak film and bad script, concluding with him as the surprise killer, undeserving of sympathy. The non horror "Strange Confession" never looked better, arguably the best of the half dozen series titles.

I am a big fan of Lon Chaney Jr.It was good to see a movie where Chaney was`nt a stupid monster killing people.This is perfect! I liked it.It was very good.We bought that two movie deal Calling Dr.Death and this.Strange confession beat Dr Death in my book.Oh my it was good.Lon Chaney was a great actor.And this movie is a good way to see his gift.A great mystery.And very suspenseful.It was a great movie.See it if you want a good movie to watch.

This is possibly the best of the "Inner Sanctums", though it's also not a typical one - being based on Jean Bart's impressive anti-war drama "The Man Who Reclaimed His Head" (already filmed by Universal in 1934 with Claude Rains; in retrospect, it's amusing to note that the remake starred the actor who had played Rains' son in THE WOLF MAN [1941]!). Still, even if the setting is effectively updated - the original had a pre-WWI backdrop - its dealing with the crooked marketing of an untried drug is not quite the same thing as the philosophical war-themed discussions which distinguished the play (and earlier film)!

Again, we're supposed to believe Lon Chaney Jr. is something of a genius in his field - in this case, medical research - but he allows himself to be exploited by his unscrupulous boss J. Carrol Naish (who even has designs on his wife!). Chaney is typically flustered but Naish is an ideal villainous substitute for Lionel Atwill; Brenda Joyce, then, fills in for Joan Bennett as the heroine yearning for a fuller life but, ultimately, unwilling to sacrifice her domestic harmony to satisfy her own selfish ends.

The pace is necessarily slow - there are no murders or detectives this time around - with Chaney recounting his tragic tale to a childhood friend, and the resolution rather skimps on the hero's particular 'crime' (which was certainly more explicit in the 1934 version, even if STRANGE CONFESSION itself was also known as THE MISSING HEAD!) - but, as I said, it's the most satisfying entry in the series (which, ironically enough, was the one to go unseen for decades due to a copyright dispute!).