What a beautiful movie!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The screeching white cockatoo gives a. 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. Lon Chaney Jr. is a troubled doctor married to harridan Ames who whispers his thoughts to the audience in an annoying manner. A scene with the bellowing Ames makes him unsure if he killed her (after she boasted that he didn't have the guts), and his loyal nurse (Patricia Morison) gives him an alibi. When Ames' lover (David Bruce) is arrested for her murder, Chaney begins to feel that he's more than just somehow involved. But that's just the beginning of his nightmare, one that only Dr. Death can cure him of.Some great photographic choices give this a unique look, particularly Chaney walking into the cottage to see his wife's corpse. The audience gets to see everything here from Chaney's mind, a great technical aspect that helps this at least on that front. But the constant whispering from Chaney eventually becomes headache inducing, not aided by Chaney's one note acting. Ir goes into overkill when Chaney undergoes hypnosis. Elements of the script too are ridiculously over the top and extremely melodramatic, although Broadway vet Patricia Morison (the original "Kiss Me Kate") adds a touch of class...in fact, the only touch of class. Veteran character actor J. Carroll Naish plays a particularly obnoxious detective who seems to sneer every word. Like "Lucy wants to be a writer", this is evidence of "How not to write a script".

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. But when she winds up murdered it's her married lover David Bruce who winds up in the jackpot. Tried and convicted he's scheduled for execution. Still that doesn't satisfy police inspector J. 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. In fact one of the strengths of this film is that it shifts your attention from one suspect to another just when you think you figured it out. Calling Dr. Death is a cheapie from Universal's B picture unit. But it still delivers some fine entertainment.

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. This sixty-minute film feels like it should have been a ten-minute short at the very most. The story is pretty thin and the supporting players are all rather bland. Chaney is good but another actor probably would have been better in the role. The "flashbacks" on the end of the film to reveal the killer had quite a few unintentional laughs.Available on DVD through Universal.

"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). After he learns that the two plan a weekend together at the Steel's country house, Mark becomes despondent and drives aimlessly around the country.The following Monday morning Mark's assistant Stella Madden (Patricia Morison) finds him asleep at his desk. He is unable to remember his whereabouts for the last part of the weekend. Suddenly he is arrested for Maria's murder. Detective Inspector Gregg (J. Carroll Naish) is assigned to the case.Later it is learned that Maria's lover Duval has been arrested for the murder. He is convicted and sentenced to death. Meanwhile Insp. Gregg who believes Duval to be innocent, continues to dog Mark. As Duval's execution date approaches, Mark allows himself to be hypnotized in order to find the truth. Who done it? Hmmmmmmm.Universal continued to use Chaney to the maximum, not really knowing how to handle his talent. In addition to his horror roles (Wolf Man, Dracula, Frankenstein's Montster etc.) he would also show up in the studio's serials, westerns or even in Abbott & Costello comedies.Watch for 30s "B" movie hero Rex Lease as one of the detectives who arrest Chaney.