Strange Illusion

Starring:Jimmy Lydon, Warren William, Sally Eilers, Regis Toomey, Charles Arnt, George Reed, Jayne Hazard, Jimmy Clark, Mary McLeod, Pierre Watkin, Sonia Sorel, Victor Potel, George Sherwood, Gene Roth, John Hamilton, Theresa Harris, Edmund Cobb, Charles Wagenheim
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
Studio: ROAN
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Clean-cut American teen Jimmy Lydon is tormented by nightmares in which his deceased father warns him about Mom's new boyfriend, and he feigns madness to infiltrate a mental hospital where he suspects the answers lie. Yes, it's Hamlet refigured as a suburban film noir thriller with a psychiatric twist. Former Hollywood leading man Warren William is thoroughly wolfish as a silver-haired lothario whose slick charm and classy manners hide a disturbing taste for teenage girls, and Sally Eilers plays his mark, the young widow with two teenage kids and a sizable life insurance payoff. B-movie legend Edgar G. Ulmer (Detour) overcomes a starvation budget to create a modest little thriller with understated mood, simple but eerie dream sequences, and a creepy undercurrent of corruption and sexual deviance. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

A Poverty Row psychological thriller, with Warren William making a sleazy, creepy villain.......2006-09-25

Hamlet, Freud and Edgar Ulmer may seem like an unnatural group of pals, but among them they have come up with a tidy little psychological thriller. In fact, with a bigger budget and stronger actors, Ulmer might have had a classic on his hands. As it is, Strange Illusion can't escape its Poverty Row heritage. Even so, it's a well-paced movie that keeps a person's interest. Even if the best-acted roles are the bad guys, that's not necessarily a drawback in a B movie.

Paul Cartwright's father, an older man and a respected judge, died two year ago in a train accident...at least it appeared to be an accident. Paul's not so sure. Paul (James Lydon) is a young man from a good family. He has a younger sister and an attractive mother, Virginia Cartwright (Sally Eilers). The family is well off. Paul lately has been having dreams, disturbing dreams, of his father telling him to take care of his mother, to be wary of a shadowy someone who is coming into her life. Paul confides in an old friend of the family, Dr. Martin Vincent (Regis Toomey), who tries to calm Paul but who also respects Paul's intelligence. Paul is, in fact, smart and resourceful. Then one day Paul's mother introduces him to Brett Curtis (Warren William), a smooth, gracious man Paul feels he's met before. Curtis and his mother announce that they plan to wed.

Paul becomes suspicious of Curtis and Curtis' association with Professor Muhlbach (Charles Arnt), a psychologist who runs an exclusive and very private sanitarium. Before long, Paul becomes a "guest" in the place so that he can investigate Muhlbach and Curtis. But things begin to go wrong. It becomes a race to see if Paul can break away, if Dr. Vincent can convince the police that there may be a link between the death of Paul's father and the team of Curtis and Muhlbach, and if Paul and some of his friends can get to the lake cottage where Curtis has gone with Paul's sister.

James Lydon had a great success as a child actor, especially playing in the Henry Aldrich films. He was typecast as a gawky, friendly, well-intentioned kid. Strange Illusion was an attempt by him to break out of those roles as he grew older. He's not a gifted enough actor to carry the weight of the movie, but he certainly gives the role all he's got. He's no embarrassment. The acting interest, however, comes from Charles Arnt and, especially, Warren William. Arnt gives the professor a great gloss of smiling insincerity. He's unethical down to his polished fingernails.

Warren William really shines. William was a tall, broad-shoulder man with a profile that out-Barrymored Barrymore's. He had a creamy baritone voice and a smooth manner. Although he was in private life a shy man long-married to one woman, in movies he became typed as a charming rotter. He was big stuff in the early Thirties, but by the late Thirties had slowly moved down to B movies. In Strange Illusion, at 51, his profile was still as sharp as a crease, but his face was beginning to look its age. His eyes were a little puffy and pouched, the jaw line not quite so firm. With the Curtis character, William's face looks like dissipation. As soon as we see Brett Curtis walk into Virginia Cartwright's parlor to be introduced to Paul, we know this man is as insincere as a head waiter. Later, while we watch him try to sweet-talk Virginia into to an early marriage, all the while subtly looking over the daughter, we know the ghost in Paul's dream was right on. William does a fine job showing us a creepy, dangerous charmer.

Ulmer starts the movie with the dream sequence. It's B movie special effects but it serves the purpose of getting us into Paul's mind and preparing us to believe in Paul. Be forewarned. There's a brief dream sequence at the end which verges on the icky. I've seen this movie on DVD and on VHS tape. The transfers are watchable but nothing special for either one. Both bear all the poor quality hallmarks of a public domain movie: Soft images, specks, too contrasty in places and impenetrable night scenes.

Solid B-Movie Thriller from a Master of Shoestring Budgets........2005-05-29

"Strange Illusion" was directed by the great B-movie director Edgar G. Ulmer, sometimes called "The Poet of Poverty Row" -meaning independent film and small studios, who is perhaps best known for making the famous and famously low-budget film noir "Detour" in 1946. "Strange Illusion" is more a conventional thriller than film noir, as it lacks film noir's introversion, alienation, and cynicism. It's a creepy but optimistic crime film that's well-conceived despite its shoestring budget and overstated acting. Ulmer's background in production design is evident in the thoughtful set design.

Paul Cartwright (James Lyndon) is a college student haunted by a dream in which an impostor, posing as Paul's deceased father, fools his mother and sister into accepting him into the family. Paul's father, an eminent criminologist, was killed in an unexplained car accident 2 years before, and left letters with his estate to be sent to Paul every few months. When Paul receives a letter from his father asking that he guard his mother and sister against unscrupulous associates, shortly after his troubling dream, Paul heads for home anxious as to what he might find. Paul's mother (Sally Eilers) is being romanced by a slick middle-aged bachelor named Brett Curtis (Warren William). When Curtis' words and actions recall his dream, and Curtis resembles a notorious criminal in his father's files, Paul becomes intent on finding out more about his mother's suitor.

"Strange Illusion" isn't subtle or multi-layered. It pretty much hits you over the head with these characters and their story. But this is a B-picture, probably part of a double bill, and it works as enjoyable, creepy, occasionally licentious entertainment. The film's flaw, looking at it from 60 years hence, is the character of Paul. He's an 18-20 year old man who has the speech and manners of a 12-year-old. In other words, he's annoying. Audiences at the time may have liked his boyish...um...charm. And he does contrast sharply with Curtis. As for me, I got used to Paul's demeanor and enjoyed the film in spite of it.

The DVD (This refers to the 2001 Roan Group DVD only.): During the opening titles, the picture quivers, and the sound quality is poor. Once the film starts, the picture is steady and sound is ok. About an hour into the film, the volume drops off, though, and I had to turn it up. The picture is watchable but has some white specks and scratches. Bonus features are a "film background" essay about director Edgar Ulmer and a list of credits for the DVD. No subtitles on the Roan Group DVD.

What's the trouble? Nightmare?.......2005-02-03

Review of the Alpha Video release.
Young Paul (James Lydon) isn't having a good time of it. His father has recently died, and, while on a fishing trip with avuncular family friend Dr. Martin Vincent (Regis Toomey), he dreams of his father's death. The dream convinces him that the death wasn't an accident, after all. Worried enough to cut their vacation short, they return home to find Paul's mother (Sally Eilers) engaged to the outwardly charming stranger, Brett Curtis (Warren William.) Before they leave Paul receives a letter from the grave. It seems the old man instructed his estate to send his son these epistles from beyond. The latest one warns against `unscrupulous imposters.' Cue a few bars from Schumann's Concerto (the score of the boy's premonitory dreams.)
Cross-cut to the manor - Paul's father was a judge and a `famed criminologist,' and if they sold the young man's house they'd probably be able to finance ten STRANGE ILLUSIONS. Famed criminologists did well for themselves back then, and the fatted calf he left for his young family sets oily wolf Brett Curtis off on the chase. Mother seems deeply in love, Paul is hesitant and then secretly opposed when Curtis repeats not only complete lines of dialogue from his dream but also tinkles a bar or two of Schumann's Concerto.
STRANGE ILLUSION borrows heavily from Shakespeare's Hamlet early on. The dead father communicating from the grave, the unavenged murder, the mother with the murderous beau. Being a big fan of suspense thrillers from the 40s I was salivating by the time Paul and the Doc stowed the rods and tackle and made for home. This was going to get weird.
Then, I believe, the movie remembered James Lydon, or Jimmy Lydon, was Henry Aldrich, Paramount's response to MGM's Andy Hardy. Oh, Warren's homme fatale was sinister enough, and Mother (distractingly referred to by her children as `Princess') was blind enough to his wicked, wicked ways, but our dauntless young hero is immune to corruption. The bad stuff stays Out There. STRANGE ILLUSION is a distressingly affirmative movie.
Director Edgar Ulmer may have borrowed a plot point or two from Hamlet, but his young hero is anything but a young man who cannot act. In place of a melancholy Dane our intrepid young hero embodies the soul and spirit of can-do Americanism. Rather than brooding over his beautiful young mother, for instance, he's mixin' with his vixen girlfriend - in a chaste, Judge Hardy approved manner, I hasten to add.
So, instead (alas) than a cast full of characters shaking their fragile libidos we have one deviant nutcase (Warren) and the Eagle Scout (Lydon, star of HENRY ALDRICH, BOY SCOUT, 1944), who is alone in seeing through Warren's veneer of normalcy and certainly seems more than capable of bringing him to justice.
You'll likely find STRANGE ILLUSION satisfying if you're a fan of Andy Hardy, or Nancy Drew, or the Hardy Boys mysteries, or any tale that features blunt-witted adults and clever adolescents. The film quality is choppy in spots, but overall quite acceptable.

Low budget, high style.......2004-09-18

Ulmer's ambitious, cockeyed update of "Hamlet" is one of his best Poverty Row films. Cheesy sets, half-baked scripts, and overwrought acting are to be expected from these ultra low-budget productions, and they're all in abundance here. But because Ulmer brought his screwy artistry to even the seamiest Z-grade projects, this film is shot through with a grimy gutter poetry. _Strange Illusion_ isn't a cult masterpiece like _Detour_, but it's still worth seeing.

For my money, this film's treatment of psychoanalysis, exploitative though it may be, is still superior to Hitchcock's _Spellbound_.

The Creepy Warren William Film.......2001-07-24

My never-ending search for Warren William movies eventually led me to "Strange Illusion", one of the last films of his career, in which he plays an honest to God creep!

Teenage Jimmy Lydon has been plagued by nightmares since his father's unsolved murder--and the latest one seems to suggest danger surrounding his mother. The next thing you know, mom announces she has a suitor, Warren William. Guess what? Uh huh, that's right. So this is partly David Copperfield/Mr. Murdstone and partly Hamlet/Claudius, as one reviewer made note. An unsavory twist is that Warren William has a fancy for underage girls, which doesn't bode well for Jimmy's girlfriend.

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

A Poverty Row psychological thriller, with Warren William making a sleazy, creepy villain.......2006-09-25

Solid B-Movie Thriller from a Master of Shoestring Budgets........2005-05-29

What's the trouble? Nightmare?.......2005-02-03

Low budget, high style.......2004-09-18

The Creepy Warren William Film.......2001-07-24

My never-ending search for Warren William movies eventually led me to "Strange Illusion", one of the last films of his career, in which he plays an honest to God creep!

Amazon.com

Description

The highly acclaimed DVD collection of low-budget auteur Edgar G. Ulmer's classic genre films continues with this fabled film noir. "Strange Illusion is another stylish low-budget feature directed by Edgar G. Ulmer," writes Carl Macek in Silver & Ward's indispensable guide "Film Noir," "The most interesting aspect of the film rests in its updating of Hamlet, complete with a message from beyond the grave and the faked insanity, into contemporary thriller. The asylum sequences are controlled visions of chaos and corruption, a mental hell sardonically defined by Ulmer." A Poverty Row suspense classic as only Ulmer made 'em.

Customer Reviews:

A Poverty Row psychological thriller, with Warren William making a sleazy, creepy villain.......2006-09-25

Solid B-Movie Thriller from a Master of Shoestring Budgets........2005-05-29

What's the trouble? Nightmare?.......2005-02-03

Low budget, high style.......2004-09-18

The Creepy Warren William Film.......2001-07-24

My never-ending search for Warren William movies eventually led me to "Strange Illusion", one of the last films of his career, in which he plays an honest to God creep!

Product Description

The legends of Crime Drama are gathered here for you in this definitive DVD collection of some of the greatest Crime Drama classics to ever come out of Hollywood. This 8 DVD collection is sure to provide you with countless hours of entertainment. Crime Drama Movie Marathon Volume 2: 8 Movie Pack includes: Strange Illusion directed by Edgar Ulmer and starring James Lydon; Shoot to Kill directed by William Berke and starring Russell Wade; Dishonored Lady directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Hedy Lamarr; Parole, Inc directed by Alfred Zeisler and starring Michael O' Shea; Borderline directed by William Seiter and starring Fred MacMurray; The Hoodlum directed by Max Nosseck and starring Lawrence Tierney; The Limping Man directed by Cy Endfield and starring Lloyd Bridges; The Island Monster directed by Roberto Bianchi Montero and starring Boris Karloff

DVD:

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