Weird Woman
- Ben Pivar
- Oliver Drake
- Lon Chaney Jr.
- Anne Gwynne
- Evelyn Ankers
company
- March 1, 1944 (1944-03-01) (United States)
Weird Woman is a 1944 Inner Sanctum film noir mystery and horror film directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Lon Chaney Jr., Anne Gwynne, and Evelyn Ankers.[1][2] The "Inner Sanctum" franchise originated with a popular radio series and all of the films star Chaney Jr. The film is one of several films based on the novel Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber, the others including Night of the Eagle (1962) and Witches' Brew (1980). Co-star Evelyn Ankers had previously worked with Chaney in Ghost of Frankenstein, where Chaney played the Frankenstein monster, and The Wolf Man, where Chaney played the title role.
Plot
Professor Norman Reed falls in love with and marries a woman named Paula while on vacation in the South Seas. When they return to his hometown, she is greeted coolly by much of the community, especially Ilona, who felt that Reed was hers. Strange things begin to happen, including the death of a colleague, which turns people against her even more, especially as she believes in voodoo and other supernatural phenomena. Reed must work hard to prove her innocence and find the real culprit behind the strange doings.[3]
Cast
- Lon Chaney Jr. as Prof. Norman Reed (billed as Lon Chaney)
- Anne Gwynne as Paula Clayton Reed
- Evelyn Ankers as Ilona Carr
- Ralph Morgan as Prof. Millard Sawtelle
- Elisabeth Risdon as Dean of Women Grace Gunnison
- Lois Collier as Margret Mercer
- Harry Hayden as Dean Septimus Carr
- Elizabeth Russell as Evelyn Sawtelle
- Phil Brown as David Jennings
- Kay Harding as Student (billed as Jackie Lou Harding)[4]
Production
Director Reginald LeBorg recalls being given the script on a Friday and being told to begin shooting a week from Monday; the cast was filled out shortly before filming. This rushed production schedule was the norm at Universal.[5] Inner Sanctum films cost approximately $150,000 to produce, and shooting schedules were routinely 12 days.
Actress Evelyn Ankers would later say that she found playing a villainess rather difficult. When LeBorg would say "action" and Ankers would try to exact a menacing look, she and co-star Anne Gwynne would almost inevitably start laughing. Universal never hired her to play a villain again.[6]
References
- ^ Maddrey, Joseph (2012-02-15). Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film. McFarland. ISBN 9780786482740.
- ^ Dixon, Wheeler W. (1998). The Transparency of Spectacle: Meditations on the Moving Image. SUNY Press. ISBN 9780791437810.
- ^ Rowan, Terry (2016-10-14). Hollywood Monsters & Creepy Things. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781365461972.
- ^ Senn, Bryan (1998). Drums of Terror: Voodoo in the Cinema. Midnight Marquee & BearManor Media.
- ^ Weaver, Tom; Brunas, John (2011-12-20). Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931–1946, 2d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9780786491506.
- ^ Senn, Bryan (1998). Drums of Terror: Voodoo in the Cinema. Midnight Marquee & BearManor Media.
External links
- Weird Woman at IMDb
- Weird Woman at AllMovie
- Weird Woman at the TCM Movie Database
- Weird Woman at Rotten Tomatoes
- Weird Woman at Trailers from Hell
- v
- t
- e
- Calling Dr. Death (1943)
- San Diego, I Love You (1944)
- Weird Woman (1944)
- Jungle Woman (1944)
- The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
- Dead Man's Eyes (1944)
- Destiny (1944)
- Honeymoon Ahead (1945)
- Joe Palooka, Champ (1946)
- Little Iodine (1946)
- Susie Steps Out (1946)
- Fall Guy (1947)
- The Adventures of Don Coyote (1947)
- Philo Vance's Secret Mission (1947)
- Trouble Makers (1948)
- Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad (1948)
- Joe Palooka in Winner Take All (1948)
- Port Said (1948)
- Fighting Fools (1949)
- Hold That Baby! (1949)
- Young Daniel Boone (1950)
- Wyoming Mail (1950)
- G.I. Jane (1951)
- The Flanagan Boy (1953)
- The Great Jesse James Raid (1953)
- Sins of Jezebel (1953)
- The White Orchid (1954)
- The Black Sleep (1956)
- Voodoo Island (1957)
- War Drums (1957)
- The Dalton Girls (1957)
- The Flight That Disappeared (1961)
- Deadly Duo (1962)
- Diary of a Madman (1963)
- The Eyes of Annie Jones (1964)
- So Evil, My Sister (1972)