Strange Illusion

A square B-mystery for teens. A waste of William, and Ulmer should do better.

We're moving into the end of precode favorite Warren William's career. And he was coming across really washed-up at this point. He's just trying to stay alive, say his lines, and then out. More a decent role for Regis Toomey helping young Jimmy Lydon figure out what wrong is happening with these con-men entering their life. This is good for a PRC production, as it's handled by cult director Edgar G. Ulmer, but nowhere near any of the great noir experiences.

This feels like a really hokey and silly film, with an awful lead. But there are some things to make up for it. The villains, thin though they may be, are fine to watch in what little screentime they get, and the cinematography is really good. The most surprising thing, though, is that the mystery story is actually engaging. I don't know how that manages to happen when the dialogue writing is so bland and the premise is idiotic, but I was interested in seeing what would happen anyway.

Quite a disappointment, due to a cardboard script and the mostly innocuous performances of the kids, especially Lydon. Indeed, it started seeming like the Bowery Boys, or maybe Leave It To Beaver Goes Gothic. The score was often irrelevant, as though he was working on some Stanley Donen glitz. The evil shrink btw sounded oddly like Floyd the Barber. Still, contains one of the funniest exchanges I've ever seen: "Was that some kind of code?" "No, just juvenile vernacular." LOLOL

A poverty-row mystery with echoes of Hamlet directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, the master craftsman of the six-day shooting-schedule cheapie. It's not good, but it's better than it has any right to be, with some bizarre dream sequences, good pacing, moody noir photography and a fine late performance by Warren William as the suave, world-weary murderer. Jimmy Lydon, best known for the "Henry Aldrich" films, is slightly less annoying than usual.

A kind of Hardy Boys-ish mystery that's really no mystery at all, with lousy acting, very few surprises and an overbearing score. Not to mention some instances of sexism and racism, thankfully somewhat mild. The one really unusual thing about it is that it all centers around a premonition, as Lydon's dreams come true. This really turned me off... I'm not interested in the paranormal when it comes to my noir. A couple of interesting touches but not enough to save the rest of it.