mark.waltz
Acceptable "Inner Sanctum" mystery has Lon Chaney Jr. bringing a bag to a powerful defense attorney and telling his story of how ruthless lab owner J. Carroll Naish did him and partner Lloyd Bridges dirt, purposely releasing it to the public before it was ready. His motive, to get Chaney out of the way so he could put the moves on Chaney's wife, Brenda Joyce, makes the revenge on the lecherous man double motivated. Chaney's a good family man, taking the fifth entry of the series to a domestic level, quite different as the short lived series winds down.This is a better than average entry, although the scene sacrificing monkeys for scientific research was disturbing, especially seeing Bridges holding one of the adorable critters. Naish, having earlier played one of the detectives in "Calling Dr. Death", is a great villain, although I found it absurd that Chaney would trust him again after having earlier had his career destroyed by him. Bridges, as usual, is a light hearted joy to watch, and for once, Chaney seems easy going in his work as well, as if Bridges' easy manner rubbed off on him. Mary Gordon gives her typical sweet and funny take as Chaney and Joyce's housekeeper.Topically, this is an interesting take on the subject of medical fraud with medicines made available or tainted, a topical subject today. With a better script than normal, this becomes intriguing because of how much has changed and not changed. It's less melodramatic than others in the series, because the dramatic elements of the story are far more relatable. A twist at the end is a real shocker that makes the revenge on Naish all the more desirable.
Rainey Dawn
This is one of the best - if not the best - film of the Inner Sanctum Mysteries series.Chaney plays Jeff Carter a chemist trying to find a cure for influenza. He is married to Mary (Brenda Carter)and they have a son together. He is not after fame nor fortune but sincerely wants to help mankind. His boss, Roger Graham, is not a nice guy - all he is wanting is the money from sales of the pharmaceutical drug that Jeff is developing. All seems fine when Jeff quits working for Roger but, later on, Roger talks Jeff into coming back to work for him - this is where things turn bad for Jeff and Mary. You'll have to watch the film for yourself to find out what went wrong and why.Great mystery - I highly recommend this one for fans of mystery, crime, and even horror.9/10
oldblackandwhite
You would think no one would want to mess with the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, or Dracula -- all of whom the brawny, sinister-looking Lon Chaney Jr would play during his years on the silver screen. However, in Strange Confession he plays a good-natured, altruistic chemist, interested only in helping mankind by finding cures for diseases. So it's not surprising the amoral boss of the pharmaceutical lab he works for, played with slimy sophistication by J. Carrol Nash, takes advantage of his naive employee. It was bad enough he took credit and even won awards for Chaney's discoveries. But now he sends his star chemist out of the country so he can start selling an unproven influenza remedy Chaney would have objected was not reliable, and even more dastardly, so he can hit on Chaney's wife. When Chaney returns home unexpectedly and is confronted with all the distressing developments which have accrued from his sneaky boss's nefarious doings, look out! No more Mr. Nice Guy!Strange Confession is one of the best of Universal Studio's six spooky little "B" potboilers inspired by the popular "Inner Sanctum" radio show. Each stared Chaney, enjoying a change of pace from his monster image as a suave, nattily dressed leading man. Instead of monster or moron, as in Of Mice And Men, in these nifty little thrillers he plays sophisticated, well-educated men, variously a psychiatrist, a professor, an artist, a hypnotist, a chemist, and an attorney. In the line of duty he receives the sexy attentions of some of Old Hollywood B-movie land's most beautiful babes, the glamorous likes of Evelyn Ankers, Anne Gynne, Patricia Morrison, Aquanetta, Elena Verdugo, and the afore-mentioned pretty Miss Joyce. Wow! Must have been an ego boost for he not-so-handsome Chaney. Could all the cigarettes he smoked in these movies have been to cover up the steam coming out of his ears!But Chaney was a better actor than his later unrewarding roles would indicate, and he carries these short but quite good little movies with his measured portrayals of the tormented heroes. I would rate Strange Confession as the third best of the series with Weird Woman (see my review) as the best. Calling Dr. Death (1943), first in the series, perhaps has a slight edge over Strange in spite of lesser production values, because it incorporates a strong mystery-suspense angle with a tense psychological element. Strange Confession is more of a straight melodrama and the least spooky of the series. Also, Dr. Death gets a boost from the always reliable Nash's scintillating performance as a sardonic detective. Because the six pictures of the series were big studio second features, rather than impoverished independent "B" productions, a lot of mileage was made out of small budgets by borrowing sets from other, often bigger productions and by tapping a stable of on-the-payroll solid character actors such as Nash, Thomas Gomez, Milburn Stone, Douglas Dumbrille, Lloyd Bridges, and Ralph Morgan. While tacky looking in places, these little flicks are not without artistic merit. Though seldom mentioned in the context, all six movies are fine examples of the period film noir style, all loaded with night scenes, darkly shadowed and obliquely angled cinematography, femme fa-tales, doom-laden ambiance, and themes of murder, corruption, and betrayal. All the Sanctums are well-acted, well-directed, handsomely filmed, and stylishly scored.Strange Confession and the rest of the Inner Sanctum series are enduring examples of how the big studios of Hollywood's Golden Era could turn out good-looking, entertaining pictures while only half-way trying. Once you have watched the entire series on Universal's economically priced album of meticulously restored DVD's, you may wish, as yours truly does, they had made sixty of them, instead of only six!
evilskip
The movie starts off with Jeff Carter picking up a tree and Xmas gifts for his family.He'd love to have dinner with his wife and little Tommy on Xmas eve, but he has to work for his mean boss.What is this?A Christmas Carol?No.It is a boring little flick about Carter's unfinished influenza cure released prematurely by Graham, his skunk of a boss.When little Tommy dies,Carter seeks revenge.The Inner Sanctum was a popular radio mystery show.A series of Universal films starring Lon Chaney was released to capitalize on its popularity. But the only mystery is how can you sit through this boring drivel.It isn't a mystery, just a confession.You know where this is going after the first ten painful minutes. If this is on your television, change the channel!
