Calling Dr. Death

I love these stories - what makes them work is their almost comical but also somewhat convincing treatment of the flaming hoops the human mind puts itself through under duress to turn fantasy into reality, or vice versa. It’s that old Catholic dogma that sins of the mind are also sins of deed. Chaney Jr. is a little too hapless in this one, but the quality is just above what you expect from the title.

Chaney's sloppy sadness works here, but nothing else does.

Lon Chaney Jr. goes film noir and scores a hit B-movie series under the "Inner Sanctum" banner for Universal, playing falsely accused victims. In the first one he's a Doctor suffering from memory lapse as evidence that he might have killed his wife keeps turning up. It's more the style than the story which makes this entry good, but it's certainly a interesting one.