Calling Dr. Death (1943)

Losing his memories of the last few days, neurologist Dr. Steele is told that his wife has been brutally murdered. Steele, aware of his conniving wife's infidelity, believes he may have ... See full summary »

Director:

Reginald Le Borg

Writer:

Edward Dein (original screenplay by)

Stars:

Lon Chaney Jr., Patricia Morison, J. Carrol Naish

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Dr. Mark Steel (as Lon Chaney)
Patricia Morison	...	Stella Madden
J. Carrol Naish	...	Inspector Gregg
David Bruce	...	Robert 'Bob' Duval
Ramsay Ames	...	Maria Steele
Fay Helm	...	Mrs. Duval
Holmes Herbert	...	Bryant, the Butler
Alec Craig	...	Bill, the Watchman
Frederick Giermann	...	Marion's Father (as Fred Gierman)
Lisa Golm	...	Marion's Mother
Charles Wagenheim	...	Coroner
Mary Hale	...	Marion
George Eldredge	...	District Attorney
John Elliott	...	Priest
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Earle Hodgins	...	Bartender (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Losing his memories of the last few days, neurologist Dr. Steele is told that his wife has been brutally murdered. Steele, aware of his conniving wife's infidelity, believes he may have been the killer and enlists the aid of his pretty nurse Stella to hypnotize him into recovering his lost memories.

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Plot Keywords:

nurse | hypnosis | prisoner | coroner | jealousy | 

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Taglines:

SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HIS MINDS "BLACKS OUT"! (original ad - all caps; includes grammatical error)

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

El doctor Muerte

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

63 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the first of six films in Universal's INNER SANCTUM series,shot October 25- mid November 1943,released December 17.

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Connections

Followed by The Frozen Ghost (1945)

User Reviews

terrific little murder mystery

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