Pillow of Death

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

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.

Pillow Of Death is the last of Universial's well-made, entertaining Inner Sactum series of second feature thrillers, all utilizing the often wasted talent of Lon Chaney, Jr., off-beat stories, a rather spooky, Gothic atmosphere, a battalion of fine character actors, and a covey of beautiful "B" leading ladies, and second female leads as the love interests of the unglamorous Chaney. All get the job done in under seventy minutes, Pillow being the longest by a bit at an hour and six minutes. It is also the only picture of the series not to use the spooky, distorted talking head in a crystal ball as a prologue, a device apparently inherited from the popular radio show which inspired the movie series. It wasn't really missed. Neither the worst nor the best of the series, Pillow has arguably the best production values with most of the action set in a lavish Victorian mansion.

Chaney's secretary the beautiful Brenda Joyce, also his love interest in Strange Confession (see my review), lives in the "old dark house" with a set of eccentric, querulous relatives. Chaney, an attorney, leaves her there in the opening scene, then drives home and "have it out with" his wife. You see, he wants to marry said pretty secretary, who has apparently been sitting on big, strong bossy-wossy's lap while taking dictation. But he finds that his wife has been murdered by suffocation (with the title pillow no doubt). He becomes suspect numero uno of course and for the rest of the movie is subjected to investigation and harassment by the police and a goofy, fat spiritualist (J. Edward Bromberg). Seances and bodies pile up.

This well done "old dark house" mystery has you suspecting everyone, including Chaney and Joyce, before it is over. The suspects, as is traditional in one of these, are eliminated by becoming victims -- except for the resident ghost of course, which turns out to be a raccoon in the attic. I'm not so sure I didn't suspect that pest, too. The identity of the killer did in fact come as a surprise! Big hint: it wasn't the butler. The clever drawing room mystery style was what kept this rather confused entry in the Inner Sanctum cycle interesting. Well-acted by all. Chaney was always fascinating, and Brenda Joyce deserved better than swinging through the jungle on a vine with Tarzan.

Not as good as some of the others in the series, but mild entertainment for 66 minutes with the a/c going full blast on a hot August evening.

"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.

I recently purchased the Inner sanctum box set with all 6 of the Inner sanctum movies and was not disappointed at all.I really enjoyed Pillow of Death, OK its a corny title but it had everything in it if you enjoy old dark houses, whodunits,murders in the night etc.Lon chaney gave a decent enough performance in it and was supported by a good cast including the lovely Brenda joyce and the solid J.Edward bromberg i have read a few reviews which slate this film so i watched with trepidation and was pleasantly surprised it is a great little B movie which universal made in the 40's to much credit, it is atmospheric with many twists and turns moving along at a lively pace, i personally didn't find it dull or slow..if you enjoy the old black and white horrors from this period i am sure you wont be disappointed..just watch it with no great expectations and im sure you will see its not as bad as it has been painted. Without giving anything away it will keep you guessing all the way through..enjoy it for what it is.