The Frozen Ghost

From 1943 through 1945, Universal Studios made a string of six movies that starred Lon Chaney, Jr. that were all termed "The Inner Sanctum". Many of the actors were seen in several of the films, though Chaney managed to play the lead in all of them. The stories were B-films--with small budgets and running at just over 60 minutes each. In many ways, they were similar to the later "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" TV series. In addition, Columbia Pictures apparently thought there was money in the concept and brought out The Whistler series just a year after the first Inner Sanctum film. Like the other series, the same actor was supposed to star in the films and they all had different stories about murder and mayhem. Of the two series, I think the Inner Sanctum ones were just a bit better and part of this was because Chaney was excellent in the films.

Chaney plays a stage mentalist who apparently accidentally killed an audience member using his psychic powers. Since Chaney is such a nice guy, he can't live with himself and gives up the stage. Oddly, he is offered a job working in a wax museum and things seem okay, until yet another person dies--seemingly from Chaney's power.

THE FROZEN GHOST is a fun movie to watch, though I'll also admit that the plot was a bit silly and there were a lot of plot holes. At times, characters behave irrationally due to poor writing and plot is incredibly convoluted and tough to believe. However, for lovers of the genre, it's still well worth a look.