Takes itself way too seriously

It is a performances centric movie

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Possibly director Ulmer's worst movie. I simply can't understand the bizarre raves for this terrible picture. People go on about it as if it were made by Hitchcock! The plot is obvious, there is no suspense, it's fast=paced yet still manages to be tedious, Everyone knows what's going on practically from the first so there are no surprises. Inspired by Hamlet? Give me a break! As for the acting, Lydon is okay and Warren William is wasted.

It's a run-of-the-mill suspense story with a couple of curious quirks. While on a fishing trip, young Jimmy Lydon has a terrible dream that's all confused but apparently has something to do with a strange man taking the place of his recently deceased father, a bracelet as a gift, a train, and a Schumann piano concerto.By the way, I must remark that this kid's dreams are not nearly as nebulous as mine, where one character can easily become another, the lighting is too dark to see much, nobody pays any attention to me, and people and things go about their business as if I weren't there. The sex dreams are kind of fun, doctor, except when the censor brings in those furry little lemurs or whatever they are, but at least I'm spared the horror of being chased in slow motion through a vat of molasses by some unseen ghoul, which once bothered me a lot. Whew.Disturbed, Lydon rushes home to find that Warren William has been courting his mother. William is a real charmer too -- polite, generous -- and everybody likes him, even Lydon's sister.So far, it's no more than a decently directed suspenser. But it does have its oddities. In "Detour", Edgar J. Ulmer allowed an allusion to a pair of sabers from the Franco-Prussian War. (The Franco-Prussian War?) Here, between letting Hamlet peep through the arras once in a while, he's got Schumann's concerto playing a role in the mounting Angst. Schumann? Not even Schubert, but Schumann? The composition gets a little nightmarish, true, but lots of composers composed nightmares.There are two villains. Dr. Mulbach is a psychiatrist who helps Warren William in his attempt to marry, then dispose of, Lydon's wealthy mother. Dr. Mulbach isn't very interesting -- bald, mousy, full of self confidence, and an obvious phony. As the other heavy, William is more interesting as a character. He has a personal reason for wanting to destroy Lydon's family, which I won't get into. But William the actor is a sort of mannequin with a Hollywood face and a pencil-thin mustache. He "acts" the way a traffic light sends out signals. He could have made a fine career out of supporting parts in the 30s. How he snared so many leads is beyond imagining. Or maybe, as Woody Allan is supposed to have said, ninety percent of success is just showing up.The ending devolves into a confused chase involving police cars and dark sedans. The narrative thread gets lost and a minor weakness of William emerges from the shadows -- a penchant for younger girls -- that becomes the motive for a fate worse than death and -- oh, well, forget it. The acting is execrable and so is the editing.

Strange Illusion is directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and written by Fritz Rotter and Adele Comandini. It stars Jimmy Lydon, Warren William, Sally Eilers, Regis Toomey, George Reed and Jayne Hazard. Music is by Leo Erdody and cinematography by Phillip Tannura.Adolescent Paul Cartwright (Lydon) is startled by a dream he has about his father's death. In the dream he comes to believe the death was not an accident, but murder, and there seems to be a shadowy figure moving in on his mother and sister. When the mysterious Brett Curtis (William) arrives in his mother's life, Paul begins to suspect his dream may be coming true...It's a tricky one to recommend, for it's one of Ulmer's most divisive noir movies amongst his fans. It's hard to argue with some of the complaints put forward because undoubtedly the acting is poor, the villains weak (and revealed way too early), the score obtrusive and it's a good 15 minutes too long. Yet Ulmer could quite often make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, and here he manages to rise above the flaws to craft a most intriguing picture. A film in fact of many psychological pangs.The framing device for the story is essentially that of a evil step- father, and since we know early on that Brett Curtis is indeed evil, it becomes a simple case of if young Paul can find the proof before harm comes to his mother and sister. He willingly checks into a mental health sanatorium as part of his investigation, while the clock ticks down elsewhere as the sinister Curtis homes in on his prey. There's a dastardly accomplice with Curtis and a good old family doctor aiding Paul from the sidelines. That's pretty much it for plotting.However, analysis shows plenty to keep the film from sinking without trace. There's obviously the Freudian factor concerning dreams, the interpretation of such, but there's also oedipal overtones pulsing throughout. The relationship between Paul and his mother never feels natural, evident in the way he holds her or talks to her. Ulmer cannily keeps it bubbling under the surface, but it is there. Then there is Brett Curtis, a monstrous creation, a serial killer and sexual predator of young ladies, the latter of which is deftly handled by Ulmer as we pick up on his sordid ways only via aftermath clues and conversations.It's also a moody picture visually, as you would expect from Ulmer. The budget of course is small, thus the production design is accordingly tight, but the director gets much atmosphere from such sparsity. It's filmed in shadowy black and white and this perfectly marries up with the psychological discord of Paul Cartwright, while dastardly conversations unfold in darkened rooms. One particular shot of Paul in the sanatorium standing in front of a huge barred window, the shadows stretched around him, is very striking and it makes you wish there was more shots like that, but Ulmer doesn't short change us for moody atmospherics.From the hazy dream beginning to the denouement that plays out in a rickety old cabin, there is much to enjoy and pay attention to. Oh it's a mixed bag for sure, but the good far outweighs the bad in my humble opinion. 7/10

Certainly, quite early on in his career, Jimmy Lydon was "trapped" in the Henry Aldrich series and while "Life With Father" may have been his most prestigious film, "Strange Illusion" gave him his best role.Paul Csrtwright (Jimmy Lydon) is troubled by recurring nightmares in which his dead father warns him about a stranger's evil intentions about his family. He is staying with his teacher Dr. Vincent (Regis Toomey) but feels he must go home at once to protect his mother and his sister. When he arrives home he finds his mother, Virginia (Sally Eilers) has been seeing a lot of Brett Curtis (Warren William) - a man who Paul feels uneasy about at first sight. His sister Dorothy has a great crush on him but Brett is a sinister villain with a weakness for young girls.Paul's dream starts to come true, Dorothy receives a bracelet from Curtis, he hears a very loud concerto and then faints. He decides to investigate Curtis, with the help of the family servant, Ben (George Reed), who has never liked Curtis. Before he died, Paul's father started to investigate a shocking unsolved crime involving the drowning of a wealthy young widow. Paul has a right to be worried, Brett has a grudge against Cartwright, whose meddling stopped his plans years before - he now wants revenge. Brett's first plan is to convince Virginia to marry him and then to have Paul committed to a sanatorium. Meanwhile Paul's friend Lydia confesses that she has had a confrontation with Brett at her family pool and has always felt uncomfortable around him. Paul is keen to go to the hospital - he thinks he will find out something there as Brett is very close with the head doctor.This was a really good movie with the dream sequences a bit of a twist on the tired old "why won't anyone believe me" style plot. Warren William made these type of roles his own - the icy exterior hiding deep feelings (in this case murderous). Sally Eilers looked lovely as the mother, caught in the middle of a suave conman and her son's concern. Both of these fine actors left the screen in the next couple of years. Again, it is a movie I would recommend.