Pillow of Death (1945)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Wallace Fox

Writers:

Dwight V. Babcock (story)
George Bricker (writer)

Release Date:

14 December 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Horror

Tagline:

HATE! Crawling back from the grave!

Plot:

Attorney Wayne Fletcher and his secretary are having an affair, so when Wayne's wife is found smothered to death...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Attorney | Murdered Wife | Eccentric Senior Citizen | Multiple Suspects

Cast

Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Wayne Fletcher (as Lon Chaney)
Brenda Joyce	...	Donna Kincaid
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Julian Julian
Rosalind Ivan	...	Amelia Kincaid
Clara Blandick	...	Belle Kincaid
George Cleveland	...	Samuel 'Sam' Kincaid
Wilton Graff	...	Captain McCracken
Bernard Thomas	...	Bruce Malone (as Bernard B. Thomas)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fern Emmett	...	Mrs. Williams (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

66 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #10862) | Sweden:15

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

This was the last feature in Univeral's "Inner Sanctum" series.

Quotes:

Julian Julian: Do you think your wife committed suicide?
Wayne Fletcher: I don't... really know what to think.
Julian Julian: Your wife was murdered, Mr. Fletcher. I instructed her to rest before coming to my studio for tonight's experiment... and then... I seemed to receive a message from her... I knew she had come to harm. I;m sure she was trying to contact me... from the other side.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Son of Svengoolie: First Anniversary Show: Pillow of Death (1945) (#1.50)" (1980)

Silly title but a pretty good movie

Last of the Inner Sanctum movies. It was pretty obvious these weren't making money--this doesn't even open with the floating head in the crystal ball.

Attorney Wayne Fletcher (Lon Chaney Jr.) is in love with his secretary Donna Kinkaid (Brenda Joyce), but he's married. His wife is found smothered to death and he's the prime suspect. He's released (lack of evidence) but a seance is held and his wife is heard accusing him of murder...then her body disappears from the crypt...then members of the Kinkaid family are getting murdered...

Busy little murder mystery. It's shot on big, beautiful, atmospheric sets (I'm assuming from another movie) and has good performances and keeps you guessing who's doing it, and why, till the very end. Entertaining--one of the better Inner Sanctums. I give it a 7.