Pillow of Death (1945)

Attorney Wayne Fletcher and his secretary are having an affair, so when Wayne's wife is found smothered to death, he becomes the prime suspect. As the police investigate the murder, a ... See full summary »

Director:

Wallace Fox

Writers:

George Bricker (screenplay), Dwight V. Babcock (original story)

Stars:

Lon Chaney Jr., Brenda Joyce, J. Edward Bromberg

Cast

Credited cast:
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Wayne Fletcher (as Lon Chaney)
Brenda Joyce	...	Donna Kincaid
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Julian Julian
Rosalind Ivan	...	Amelia Kincaid
Clara Blandick	...	Belle Kincaid
George Cleveland	...	Samuel 'Sam' Kincaid
Wilton Graff	...	Police Captain McCracken
Bernard Thomas	...	Bruce Malone (as Bernard B. Thomas)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fern Emmett	...	Mrs. Williams (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Attorney Wayne Fletcher and his secretary are having an affair, so when Wayne's wife is found smothered to death, he becomes the prime suspect. As the police investigate the murder, a psychic with questionable motives tries to contact the deceased woman. Soon, Wayne begins seeing visions of his dead wife, and other people involved with the case begin to be killed, one by one.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | attorney | series film | wisecrack humor | cantankerous old man | 

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Taglines:

HATE! Crawling back from the grave!

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Genres:

Mystery | Horror

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

I nattens skugga

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

66 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the only one of the six Inner Sanctum films to omit the "Spirit of the Inner Sanctum" prologue.

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Quotes

Captain McCracken: Oh, by the way, just for the record, what is your real moniker?
Julian Julian: Julian.
Captain McCracken: Julian what?
Julian Julian: Julian Julian.
Captain McCracken: You're in a rut.

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Crazy Credits

The only Inner Sanctum film not to have the floating head in the crystal ball before the opening credits.

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Connections

Follows Dead Man's Eyes (1944)

User Reviews

Definitely watchable, but not as good as some other Inner Sanctum B-pictures

On video, this film is part of a two film set of Inner Sanctum mysteries--the other being the more interesting DEAD MAN'S EYES.

PILLOW OF DEATH is a "B-movie"--a shorter film with a lower budget that is meant as the second film at a double-feature. In most cases, people came to the theater to see the "A-picture" and the B-movie was more like an added bonus. Most B-films are definitely on the cheap side and have pretty anemic budgets, though occasionally one rises above these lower expectations. While most of this film is purely average and not particularly noteworthy for the genre, the film definitely ends very well as a murder mystery--catching me by surprise by who the real murderer was. So, for lovers of mystery and suspense, this film is well worth seeing, though others might be a bit unimpressed by the overall product. Not bad at all, but far from great or memorable.