Weird Woman (1944)

While on a South Seas trip, a professor falls in love and marries an exotic native woman. What he doesn't know is that she was raised by superstitious natives who believe her to be some ... See full summary »

Director:

Reginald Le Borg (as Reginald LeBorg)

Writers:

Fritz Leiber Jr. (novel), Scott Darling (adaptation) (as W. Scott Darling)

Stars:

Lon Chaney Jr., Anne Gwynne, Evelyn Ankers

Cast

Cast overview:
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Norman Reed (as Lon Chaney)
Anne Gwynne	...	Paula Reed
Evelyn Ankers	...	Ilona Carr
Ralph Morgan	...	Prof. Millard Sawtelle
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Grace Gunnison
Lois Collier	...	Margaret
Harry Hayden	...	Prof. Septimus Carr
Elizabeth Russell	...	Evelyn Sawtelle
Phil Brown	...	David Jennings
Kay Harding	...	Student (as Jackie Lou Harding)

Storyline

While on a South Seas trip, a professor falls in love and marries an exotic native woman. What he doesn't know is that she was raised by superstitious natives who believe her to be some kind of supernatural being.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | native | professor | exotic | jealousy | 

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Taglines:

Daughter of Death! A Gorgeous...Loving...Killer!

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

During filming of more than one scene Evelyn Ankers was trying to appear menacing and resentful towards Anne Gwynne. The two actresses were best friends and so both found it difficult to keep a straight face during these scenes and would begin laughing uncontrollably.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the movie, Lon Chaney Jr's wife walk near a picture of her husband but in the next plan, the picture is different.

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Quotes

Grace Gunnison: Ilona, there's something about your smile right now that makes me think of Jack the Ripper.

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Alternate Versions

Some TV prints delete the brief "Inner Sanctum" prologue.

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Connections

Referenced in Hail, Caesar! (2016)

User Reviews

Engaging little thriller

A professor (Lon Chaney Jr.) at a college returns from a visit to a South Seas island with his native wife (Anne Gwynne). His ex girlfriend (Evelyn Ankers) is not pleased. Chaney makes his wife burn all her superstitous, good luck charms. Then everything in his life goes horribly wrong.

Fun movie. It's fast-moving and very interesting. Chaney is just so-so but Gwynne is beautiful and very good as his wife. The best performance is by Ankers--she was usually playing the "good girl" in pictures--here she plays the villain and she's just great! This is one of the few times she was allowed to show her acting ability.

This was remade as "Burn Witch Burn" in the 1960s. That was a better movie but this still is a neat little film. Recommended.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 March 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Weird Woman

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