Pillow of Death

When Vivian Fletcher is found murdered, her husband, attorney Wayne Fletcher (Lon Chaney Jr.), is the prime suspect: the man has romantic feelings for his pretty secretary Donna Kincaid (Brenda Joyce) and his wife's death is all too convenient. Other murders follow, and Fletcher desperately tries to prove his innocence despite the mounting evidence against him.

Pillow of Death is another one of those hokey Inner Sanctum murder mysteries starring an already past-his-prime Lon Chaney Jr. (not that he was all that great when he was in his prime). It's packed with tired cliches (a creepy old house, ghostly voices, a seance, a secret passageway) and, for the most part, is a wholly unremarkable affair. However, just as I was about to write the entire thing off as another dull and predictable gothic B-movie thriller, it delivers a final act that was not what I was expecting to see, but was exactly what I had been hoping for. See it and you'll understand.

4/10, bumped up to 6 for that ending.

Pillow of Death (1945)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Final installment in the Inner Sanctum series has a lawyer (Lon Chaney, Jr.) suspected of murdering his wife. After her death he gets involved with a group of psychics. This film, even at 61-minutes, dragged along and bored the hell out of me from the start. Chaney is very bland here as are the supporting characters. The story really isn't too interesting and all the spiritual stuff comes off silly.

This is certainly the worst in the series but you can now view all six films via Universal's DVD collection.

Reviewers really disagree on the merits of this final Inner Sanctum entry. To me, it's the most fun of the six, although I think the first entry Calling Dr. Death (1943) is the most imaginative and comes closest to what the series was trying to achieve in the realm of psychological horror.

What lifts this 60-minutes are several droll performances, a great Gothic set (no doubt left over from an A-production), and a pretty good whodunit that kept me guessing. George Cleveland's crusty old man remains a real hoot, and a role he appears to be really enjoying. Note too cop Winton Graff's subtly droll reactions to Cleveland's scrappy character. Too bad they don't have more scenes together. Then there're the two sourpuss old women. I especially like Rosalind Ivan's ditzy old gal with her subtle tongue-in-cheek. (At the same time, i also can't help noticing the rather woeful Bernard Thomas as the young neighbor, demonstrating again how the war had depleted Hollywood's ranks of young male talent.)

And check out that elaborate Gothic set, so richly appointed that it adds needed spooky atmosphere. Speaking of atmosphere, the lighting bill must have come to all of five dollars. Come to think of it-- I wonder if the cast kept bumping into each other. Also, I certainly didn't anticipate the solution to the whodunit. Cleverly, it doesn't follow stereotype. No, there's nothing memorable here, but this series programmer is more subtly amusing than most and better than the series norm, at least, in my view.

This is super good whodunit for those who have not seen it. The film will keep you changing your mind on who you think the murderer is up until the very end. If you like trying to solve a mystery then you might like this film. It has some cute moments and leaves you in suspense for most all of the movie.

Someone killed Wayne Fletcher's (Lon Chaney Jr) wife - but who and why? Wayne is in love with Donna Kincaid (Brenda Joyce) she is in love with him. Bruce Malone (Bernard Thomas) is in love with Donna but Donna only likes him as her friend. So you have a strange love triangle going on in the film.

Donna comes from a family with money. Her family has hired a medium Julian Julian to find the ghost in their home. Ironically, Wayne's wife was talking to the same medium before her death.

Between the money, love triangle and the spirits in the home this sets up a strange but good whodunit story that is quite fun to watch.

9/10

"Pillow of Death" was the sixth and final film of Universal's "Inner Sanctum" series based on the popular radio series of the day and starring Lon Chaney Jr.

Lawyer Wayne Fletcher (Chaney) and his attractive secretary Donna Kincaid (Brenda Joyce) return to Donna's home after working late one night. Fletcher promises her that he is going to talk to his wife that night about a divorce so that he and Donna can be together.

Fletcher returns home to learn that his wife has been murdered and is greeted by Police Captain McCracken (Wilton Graff) and his wife's psychic Julian Julian (J. Edward Bromberg). McCracken immediately suspects Fletcher and arrests him. Next he goes to the Kincaid house, a creepy old mansion, to question the family.

Among those questioned are Belle Kincaid (Clara Blandick), her brother Sam (George Cleveland), an English relative Amelia Kincaid (Rosiland Ivan) and Donna. McCracken discovers a neighbor, Bruce Malone (Bernard B. Thomas) peeping through a window and brings him in for questioning. Julian arrives and is also under suspicion.

Fletcher is released for lack of evidence and he and Donna try to identify the killer. Julian later holds a séance where the voice of Fletcher's wife is apparently heard. Strange noises emanate from the attic of the old house. Secret panels are revealed. Suddenly other murders begin to take place. Finally, the murderer is discovered to be.............. And I'll bet you'll never guess what the murder weapon turns out to be.

For Chaney, this film marked the end of his Universal contract. He would appear in two more films for them, "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948) and "The Black Castle" (1952). Over the period 1941-45 Chaney managed to appear as all four of the Universal monsters (Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, The Wolfman and The Mummy) as well as, in several other films and serials. They never really developed the promise he showed in "Of Mice and Men" (1939) and was effectively type cast for the rest of his career.

The "Inner Sanctum" series (1943-45) at least gave him a chance to star in his own series, playing a different character in each film. The series, although a low budget "B" series was nonetheless an entertaining six mysteries and served to further display Chaney's talent.

Brenda Joyce is probably best remembered as "Jane" in the RKO "Tarzan" films with Johnny Weissmuller produced between 1943-48. Watch for old timer J. Farrell MacDonald as the cemetery Sexton.

Arguably the best of the six "Inner Sanctum" mysteries.