Calling Dr. Death

Plot synopsis:
A respected neurologist, Dr. Mark Steele (Lon Chaney, Jr.) treats his patients successfully with hypnosis, but has troubles of his own from a marriage falling apart, that he cannot treat himself in the same way. His wife Maria (Ramsay Ames) is cheating on him on a regular basis, which is something Mark is well aware of. When Maria returns home one night in the early morning hours after a rendez-vous with her lover, Mark finally tells her that he has had enough and that he wants a divorce. Maria, who is leading a very comfortable life as a doctor's wife, refuses her consent to a divorce, and laughs at him as she does so. That night Mark has a dream about strangling his wife to death.
When Maria goes away for the weekend, Mark decides to leave and gets into his car and drives off. Come Monday morning he wakes up in his office only to learn that he is suffering a mental blackout and that the memories of the weekend is missing. He is informed by the police that his wife has been murdered, and that her face was disfigured by some kind of acid. Mark begins to worry about not remembering the slightest thing about his own actions during the weekend.
His worries increase after finding a button from his own jacket near where his wife's body was found. He starts suspecting that he himself has done off with her. His nurse, Stella Madden (Patricia Morison) tells him not to air his suspicions to the police until he knows more. The police go on to arrest Maria's lover, an architect named Robert Duval (David Bruce), for the murder. Inspector Gregg (J. Carroll Naish), one of the detectives on the case still believes that Mark is the murderer. Duval's disabled wife (Fay Helm) pays Mark a visit, trying to convince him to help her prove that her husband is innocent.
Duval is eventually convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. In a moment of guilt Mark gets the idea to hypnotize himself to find out if he really is the real murderer. The hypnosis, however, is not completed because inspector Gregg arrives and interrupts. Nurse Stella does make an audio recording of the session though, and on the audio Mark talks about meeting up with his wife at a cabin in the mountains. He also tells of having a quarrel with her and leaving the cabin just as Duval arrives, going straight to his office and sedating himself into deep sleep. Gregg listens to the recording, but still seems to suspect Mark of being the real murderer.
Curious and craving for information Mark visits the incarcerated Duval and finds out that he borrowed $10,000 from Maria in order to pay off some gambling debts. After the visit Mark hears that Duval's request for pardoning has been denied by the governor. He talks to nurse Stella, who faints right in front of him in the office. Mark assumes that the nurse is beat from too much work. He suggests hiring another nurse as a secretary to handle the bills for the time being, and drives Stella to visit her family.
Upon his return to the office Mark gets a visit from inspector Gregg. Mark is confronted with the fact that there's a connection between Mark's private clinic and the acid used on the face of his murdered wife. Mark realizes there might be more at stake than he first thought and decides to hypnotize Stella to see if she knows more than she is letting him believe. On the night of Duval's scheduled execution, with very little time left, Mark gets to hypnotize Stella. She tells him the truth about her plan together with Duval to get the $10,000 and that she killed Maria when Duval tried to give the money back. She also admits having tried to burn down the medical office, destroying numerous records, to cover the fact that she had been embezzling from him. Gregg overhears this and arrests Stella, explaining to Mark that he had never really suspected him but needed to gather evidence against Stella.

Tags: murder

Review:
In between making his classic monster films for Universal studios, Lon Chaney was given a periodic break of sorts with this series of modest but enjoyable mystery films based on the popular radio program, "The Inner Sanctum".
DEATH was the first of these, with Chaney playing a neurologist named Mark Steele who is hugely successful in everything but his own personal life.
His unfaithful wife Maria (the ineffective Ramsay Ames, who later stumbled her way through THE MUMMY'S GHOST) tricked him into a worthless marriage where she manipulates him for wealth and prestige, and Steele would like to put an end to the charade, even entertaining the possibility of murdering her to be freed.
Chaney is also in love with his dedicated secretary (Patricia Morison), and she comes to his aid one morning when he awakens at his office on a Monday with no memory of where he was or what he had done throughout the weekend, becoming even more bewildered when it is revealed that his controlling wife has been murdered.
J. Carrol Naish is very good in this film as the tough Inspector Gregg, and his constant suspicions of Chaney being the killer make for some interesting exchanges between both actors.None of the six Inner Sanctum thrillers could be called great movies, but they're quick and entertaining in their own right, and fans all have their own varying opinions of which are the best.
After the radio mystery show "Inner Sanctum" had been running for two years with huge success, Universal Pictures decided to make a movie out of it - which was itself so successful that it became a movie serial, consisting of six films altogether, all of them starring Lon Chaney Jr. in different roles; just like Richard Dix in the "Whistler" series - only with MUCH more suspense, mystery and a DEFINITE touch of Film Noir, especially this first and enormously impressive entry...Here, Lon Chaney Jr. plays a successful neurologist who's helping lots of people with severe psychological problems by entering into their subconscious hypnotizing them, and finding the underlying reasons for their diseases - only he can't help HIMSELF: his marriage has been unhappy for years, his beautiful wife has turned away from him, cheating on him with other men, making him feel ridiculous and jealous - and ANGRY...
And while hard-boiled Inspector Gregg starts bothering him immediately, trying to get a confession out of him, Steel himself begins to believe that he's guilty; so the only way to find out the truth (while his wife's boyfriend, who keeps protesting his innocence, is waiting on Death Row for his execution), he thinks, is by having his faithful assistant Stella hypnotize him and record his memories on disk...There are SO many twists and turns in this REALLY 'noirish', gloomy and fateful story (underlined by surrealistic camera and sound effects) that towards the end, we all feel almost like being under hypnosis ourselves, and no one knows anymore who the real killer is - and those who are realistic enough to guess, just don't want to believe it...
the music is very good and a cast with Lon Chaney Patricia Morison J.Carrol Naish makes this a great little b movie.
These inner sanctum movies are a lot of fun if you are a fan of the thirties and forties Universal horror pictures.
it may be an old movie,but i liked it.it's a very interesting,well acted murder mystery.the dialogue was quite good,the writing was good and the music adds a real atmosphere of creepiness to the proceedings.there's' not a lot of action.it's more of a psychological character study.and for me,unt9il near the very end,i wasn't sure who the murderer was.Lon Chaney Jr. is the main star.he plays a neurologist/hypnotist who ends up being accused of his wife's murder.the thing about it is,he can't remember the last couple of days,including the day his wife was killed.at least that's what he says.this is part of the Universal Pictures Inner Sanctum Mysteries movie collection.basically,an anthology series along the lines of Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.anyway,i thoroughly enjoyed this movie,and if you are a Lon Chaney Jr.fan,you might want to check out not only this movie,but the box set collection(five other movies)all starring Chaney.i give Calling Dr. Death a solid 8/10.
Dr. Steele (Lon Chaney Jr.) is a psychiatrist married to a cheating wife who refuses to give him a divorce.
Did he do it or is he being set up?The first of Universal's "Inner Sanctum" series based on a popular radio show of the time.
I hadn't intended to purchase this Set - and only did so after constant prodding by Joe Karlosi; in essence, these films are no worse than the lower-profile sequels of the Universal monster pictures, such as the follow-ups to THE MUMMY (1932) and THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933).This was the first of six "Inner Sanctum" mysteries all starring Lon Chaney Jr.
It's not too bad in itself, with the plot overly familiar but fairly involving - Chaney's mind goes blank one weekend and when he comes to, discovers his unloving wife has been murdered!
Carroll Naish (the best thing about the entire film) though it's the woman's lover, named Robert Duval(!), who's actually accused - and convicted - of the crime.
The characters are all relatively engaging (Chaney is a celebrated neurologist with beautiful Patricia Morison as his devoted assistant) and the plot development plausible enough, making for an entertaining and fast-paced 63 minutes.
The first of Universal's fun series of thriller films under the Inner Sanctum banner.
Steele's unfaithful wife (Ramsay Ames) is found murdered and he's a prime suspect.
Calling Dr. Death is a very good start to a fun, enjoyable series of mystery thrillers..
Calling Dr. Death (1943) is the first of six Inner Sanctum films starring Lon Chaney, Jr. The film is a dark mystery-thriller about a neurologist named Dr. Mark Steel and his cheating wife Maria.
A good watch if you like film-noir, mysteries, and the Universal classic horror films.8/10.
Hypnotist's faithless wife is murdered and cops suspect him until a likelier suspect emerges who may or may not be guilty.Old radio fans no doubt recognize the Inner Sanctum origins of this film and the series that followed.
(In fact, I think the origins of post-war noir lie as much in these radio shows as they do in the better-known movie precursors.) Fortunately, this series, like its radio namesake, trades on the offbeat and chilling, and though these programmers fail to reach the memorable level of Columbia's comparable Whistler entries, the Inner Sanctum movies have their own virtues and are worth catching up with.This first entry doesn't really grab until the last 15 minutes or so.
1943's "Calling Dr. Death" began Universal's six film 'Inner Sanctum' series based on the thriving radio show, all but one included in the popular SHOCK!
All six titles starred the studio's top horror icon Lon Chaney, who does look the part of neurologist Dr. Mark Steele, despite awkward dialogue and characterization.
Playing his faithful nurse Stella is luminous Patricia Morison, in her element as cool femme fatales in such films as "Hitler's Madman," "Dressed to Kill," "Danger Woman," "Tarzan and the Huntress," and "Song of the Thin Man." Steele is married to the beautiful (and faithless) Maria (Ramsay Ames), who enjoys her wealth and stature, refusing to grant him a divorce.
Other notable roles are played by David Bruce ("The Mad Ghoul") and Fay Helm ("The Wolf Man," "Night Monster," "Captive Wild Woman"), while actor David Hoffman provided the same mysterio crystal ball introduction for all but the last entry, "Pillow of Death." Reginald Le Borg had made his feature debut with the still unreleased "The Mummy's Ghost" (also with Chaney and Ames), and did two more for this series (along with "Jungle Woman" and "Destiny") before moving over to PRC (later titles included "The Black Sleep," "Voodoo Island," "Diary of a Madman," and "So Evil My Sister").
Lon Chaney Jr. stars as psychiatrist Mark Steele, who is an amiable man with a loyal nurse named Stella(played by Patricia Morison).
After a mysterious blackout one weekend, Dr. Steele has no memory, but is told by the police that his wife has been brutally murdered, and the Inspector on the Case(played by J.
Reasonably good film could have dispensed with the head-in-a-crystal ball routine, but acting is good(especially Naish in a role quite similar to later "Columbo"!) Not bad for a low budgeter..
In the 1940s, Universal Studios made a short series of films dubbed "The Inner Sanctum" movies.
In general, Bs were not great films, though compared to other films of the style, Inner Sanctum films are definitely a notch above the rest.In this installment, Chaney plays a Neurosurgeon who also does hypnosis (an odd combination by the way).
Dr. Mark Steele (neurologist) finds that his wife is being unfaithful and would love to divorce her and marry his nurse, Stella Madden, but Maria Steele would continue to be married to the doctor in order to keep her position and financial standing.
The film is very similar to the radio show, with the main character having the mind game with his conscience, but like the show, Calling Dr. Death suffers from a weak and factless climax.
Pretty Good Start To The "Inner Sanctum" Film Series.
The first of the "Inner Sanctum" series of six films based on a popular radio show at the time.
Good performances from Lon Chaney Jnr and J Carroll Naish , here cast in a good guy role.
Shot on a shoestring budget Calling Dr. Death is not a half bad murder mystery.
It has elements of I Wake Up Screaming and it anticipates Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound in its use of hypnotic sequences while a murder suspect is under.Calling Dr. Death also gives Lon Chaney, Jr. a starring role in a film that's not a horror feature.
Chaney plays a neurologist whose wife Ramsay Ames flagrantly steps out on him time and again.
Carrol Naish who thinks Chaney is the guilty party.The mark of a good mystery for me is the fact that I did not pick the murderer out early on.
CALLING DOCTOR DEATH (Universal, 1943), directed by Reginald LeBorg, marks the first of the "Inner Sanctum" mysteries, all starring Lon Chaney Jr.
This, and some subsequent films in a total of six, mostly come with an introduction before the title credits with an image of a man's head (David Hoffman) floating inside a crystal ball looking directly into the camera, and saying, "This is the Inner Sanctum, the fantastic world controlled by mass of living, cult seeking flesh.
Yes, even you, without knowing, can commit murder."Taken from an original screenplay by Edward Dein, inspired by the "Inner Sanctum" stories owned and copyrighted by Simon and Schuster Publishers, this initial entry is not one about a doctor performing mercy killings, (though not a bad idea), but about a neurologist, Doctor Mark Steel (Lon Chaney), who, through the assistance of his confident, Stella Madden (Patricia Morison), enters the minds of patients through hypnotism, and solving whatever problem they may have.
In spite the fact that Robert Duval (David Bruce), Maria's lover and married man with an invalid wife (Fay Helm), being arrested, tried and sentenced to be executed for the crime, Mark still believes him innocent.
Carrol Naish) of the police department has his doubts, continuing to hound and suspect Mark of foul play.A well-scripted 64 minute mystery, with eerie background music, voice-over thoughts through the minds of central characters, and occasional slanted camera angles, CALLING DOCTOR DEATH is satisfactory screen entertainment.
With Lon Chaney performing more of an actor than his usual tormented wolf man in a series of films, he's in fine support by Patricia Morison as his loyal assistant with few key scenes along her way, and J.
Carrol Naish in a performance not much different from Peter Falk's style from his seventies TV mystery series as "Columbo."Not broadcast regularly on television since the late 1970s, this and other "Inner Sanctum" mysteries starring Lon Chaney became available in a three set, double-feature packages on home video in the 1997, with CALLING DOCTOR DEATH double billed with the rarely seen and revived STRANGE CONFESSION (1945), and later the DVD format with three films on two discs collection in chronological order.
A treat for Chaney fans and or old-time movie mystery lovers.
Chaney's first Inner Sanctum mystery....
As many astute reviewers have already pointed out, this was the beginning of the "Inner Sanctum" series--a series that gave Lon Chaney Jr. the chance to break from his heavily made up monster roles and stretch his acting skills a bit.
It's just that there were better Innner Sanctum Mysteries to come--namely "Dead Man's Eyes" and "Strange Confession."Some points of CDD that I liked--Chaney of course, was very good in his role as was J.
Carrol Naish as the tough police inspector--watching this and "Strange Confession" just makes me marvel more at how Naish was able to literally transform himself and become the pitiable hunchback for "House of Frankenstein."Patricia Morison herself was another highlight of the film for me.
Calling Dr. Death (1942) ** (out of 4) First film in the Inner Sanctum series has Lon Chaney, Jr. playing a doctor who begins to think he murdered his wife during a jealous rage.
Labelled the "Inner Sanctum" films and released between 1943 to 1945, these quickie productions show a lack of both imagination and creativity."Calling Dr. Death" is no exception and it plods along and never rising above the tedium..
The "Inner Sanctum" films, of which I have now seen four, seem to fall somewhere between the "A"- and the "B"-movie categories; they're too "small" for the former, but also too polished for the latter.
This one, "Calling Dr. Death", is an above-average little murder mystery that keeps you wondering for quite a while.
Carrol Naish, who usually played villains, gives a decidedly offbeat performance as a police inspector who seems obsessed with getting Chaney to confess to the crime.
Even worse, Dr. Steele was found by his assistant, Stella, in his office, suffering amnesia, unable to determine his whereabouts during the weekend his wife was murdered.
Duval, Maria's lover, is the one arrested for the crime because he was there near the time of the murder, had a quarrel with her over leaving Steele, and seems like as good a candidate as any to kill the woman who could not abandon the position and social standing attributing to a life of luxury and prominence which comes from being married to a prestigious neurologist.
An Inner Sanctum Mystery starring Lon Chaney Jr who, at this time in his career, continued to mine the sad pathos of Lawrence Talbot with characters like his Doc Steele, a wrongfully mistreated innocent, caught in a trap, seeking to escape.
Of course, with any mystery, revelations regarding the true character of certain individuals emerge: Duval isn't a saint by any imagination and nurse Stella (the stunning Patricia Morison) may not be an angel Steele believes her to be.
J. Carrol Naish is wonderful as Inspector Gregg, the detective on the case who seems convinced that Steele is behind the murder of his wife and often muses about his feelings to the doctor, a cynical air about him which seems to hit a nerve on every occasion they meet.
Morison (the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes film, "Dressed to Kill" may be her most memorable role), I would have loved to see Universal use in more Gothic horror movies; not sure why she wasn't.
Most of the film has Chaney, whispering in voice-over, explaining Dr. Steele's thoughts to us..
"Calling Dr. Death" was the first of six "Inner Sanctum" mysteries produced by Universal between 1943 and 1945 starring Lon Chaney Jr. They were adapted from the popular radio program of the day of the same name.In the opener, Chaney plays neurologist Dr. Mark Steel who is stuck in a loveless marriage with gold digging wife Maria (Ramsey Ames) who is having an affair with Robert Duval (David Bruce).
Carroll Naish) is assigned to the case.Later it is learned that Maria's lover Duval has been arrested for the murder.
Lon Chaney Jr is called Dr. Death.
This is the initial mystery from Universal's "Inner Sanctum" series.
Doctor Steele (Chaney Jr.) is a well known neurologist plagued by a beautiful, but unfaithful wife (Ramsay Ames).
Carrol Naish), who advises him of the murder of his wife.
The doc's attractive nurse, Stella (Patricia Morison), in her loyalty tries to prove her boss is innocent.This Film-Noir thriller is directed by Reginald Le Borg.
"Calling Dr. Death" is a good movie and its DVD release as part of the "Inner Sanctum" series collection is welcome.
Lon Chaney, Jr. wasn't as rangy an actor as Universal clearly thought, but the part of a neurologist tortured by the clash between an unfaithful wife and an obsessive nurse, who blacks out and is unable to tell from his own conscious knowledge whether he killed his wife, suits him perfectly.
Patricia Morison is also good in her role as the nurse who (here comes the spoiler) actually committed the murder  it's not such a big surprise given that writer Edward Dein only gave us three suspects and it's clear early on that he wasn't going to make Chaney's character the real killer  as is Ramsay Ames as the faithless wife.
Carrol Naish as a good guy for a change, a homicide detective whose dogged pursuit of one suspect even as another is charged, tried, convicted and sentenced to death anticipates Peter Falk's TV character of Columbo..
One of the Universal INNER SANCTUM series and not one of Lon Chaney's greatest.
Co-starring as Chaney's overly-devoted nurse is Patricia Morison.
Better performance than the screeching Ramsay Ames in the very first of the "Inner Sanctum" series, part of Universal's "quota quickies", and pleasant time fillers if you can get past the ridiculous plots.
When Ames' lover (David Bruce) is arrested for her murder, Chaney begins to feel that he's more than just somehow involved.