Calling Dr. Death (1943) is the first of six Inner Sanctum films starring Lon Chaney, Jr. The film is a dark mystery-thriller about a neurologist named Dr. Mark Steel and his cheating wife Maria. Maria has a lover which has upset Dr. Steel. Dr. Steel and his nurse Stella Madden has developed a closeness but refrains themselves from a romance. Maria goes away for the weekend but has been found murdered. The police are investigating while Dr. Steel feels he may have murdered his own wife... the question is did he (Dr. Steel) kill her or was it someone else? A good watch if you like film-noir, mysteries, and the Universal classic horror films.8/10

1943's "Calling Dr. Death" began Universal's six film 'Inner Sanctum' series based on the thriving radio show, all but one included in the popular SHOCK! package of Universal classics issued to television in the late 50s. The first three definitely benefit from the ambitious direction of Viennese-born Reginald Le Borg, recently graduating to features after nearly 30 shorts in seven years. All six titles starred the studio's top horror icon Lon Chaney, who does look the part of neurologist Dr. Mark Steele, despite awkward dialogue and characterization. Playing his faithful nurse Stella is luminous Patricia Morison, in her element as cool femme fatales in such films as "Hitler's Madman," "Dressed to Kill," "Danger Woman," "Tarzan and the Huntress," and "Song of the Thin Man." Steele is married to the beautiful (and faithless) Maria (Ramsay Ames), who enjoys her wealth and stature, refusing to grant him a divorce. Naturally, he becomes the prime suspect when she's horribly murdered, struck dead by a fireplace poker, then her face destroyed by acid. The most striking element used by Le Borg comes when Steele arrives at the scene of the crime, the camera effectively 'becoming' the doctor as he slowly approaches the front door and meets Inspector Gregg (J. Carrol Naish). Alas, the mystery angle falls flat, the killer's identity fairly obvious, so it's up to Naish's tenacious investigator to maintain a faithful vigil on things, and his Columbo-like determination does not disappoint. There was a detective in all but one future Inner Sanctums, none of which enjoyed the stature held by Naish. Other notable roles are played by David Bruce ("The Mad Ghoul") and Fay Helm ("The Wolf Man," "Night Monster," "Captive Wild Woman"), while actor David Hoffman provided the same mysterio crystal ball introduction for all but the last entry, "Pillow of Death." Reginald Le Borg had made his feature debut with the still unreleased "The Mummy's Ghost" (also with Chaney and Ames), and did two more for this series (along with "Jungle Woman" and "Destiny") before moving over to PRC (later titles included "The Black Sleep," "Voodoo Island," "Diary of a Madman," and "So Evil My Sister"). "Calling Dr. Death" made four appearances on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater- May 24 1975 (in the middle of a rare triple bill, preceded by 1940's "Chamber of Horrors" and followed by 1933's "Secret of the Blue Room"), Aug 14 1976 (following 1965's "Monster Zero"), Sept 10 1977 (following 1941's "The Wolf Man"), and Feb 19 1983 (solo).

In the 1940s, Universal Studios made a short series of films dubbed "The Inner Sanctum" movies. They all apparently starred Lon Chaney, Jr. and were B-movies. In other words, they were lower budget and ran at only a little over one hour, as they were intended to be the second (and lesser) film during a double-feature. In general, Bs were not great films, though compared to other films of the style, Inner Sanctum films are definitely a notch above the rest.In this installment, Chaney plays a Neurosurgeon who also does hypnosis (an odd combination by the way). He seems like a nice guy and you have to feel sorry for him since he's apparently married a horrible woman who treats him like dirt. When this lady is killed, you'd think that would be the end of his problems, however, police think he might be the killer and Chaney isn't sure himself since his memories of that weekend are missing! Using hypnosis, he gets to the heart of the problem.By the way, the hypnotic portions of the film were wrong in that hypnosis works very little like they showed it. However, as most people watching the film are NOT trained hypnotists (I am), they really won't notice or care that this aspect of the movie is mostly mumbo-jumbo. Aside from that, the acting, writing and direction are all pretty good--and the film is a nice diverting little mystery.By the way, this film is one of six that have been released on DVD--with three episodes on each DVD. This is from Disk 1 and also includes DEAD MAN'S EYES and WEIRD WOMAN--both of which are of comparable quality. I strongly recommend you see the series and if you like it, also try Columbia Pictures' WHISTLER series--as it's very similar in style.

"Calling Dr. Death" was the first of six "Inner Sanctum" mysteries produced by Universal between 1943 and 1945 starring Lon Chaney Jr. They were adapted from the popular radio program of the day of the same name.In the opener, Chaney plays neurologist Dr. Mark Steel who is stuck in a loveless marriage with gold digging wife Maria (Ramsey Ames) who is having an affair with Robert Duval (David Bruce). After he learns that the two plan a weekend together at the Steel's country house, Mark becomes despondent and drives aimlessly around the country.The following Monday morning Mark's assistant Stella Madden (Patricia Morison) finds him asleep at his desk. He is unable to remember his whereabouts for the last part of the weekend. Suddenly he is arrested for Maria's murder. Detective Inspector Gregg (J. Carroll Naish) is assigned to the case.Later it is learned that Maria's lover Duval has been arrested for the murder. He is convicted and sentenced to death. Meanwhile Insp. Gregg who believes Duval to be innocent, continues to dog Mark. As Duval's execution date approaches, Mark allows himself to be hypnotized in order to find the truth. Who done it? Hmmmmmmm.Universal continued to use Chaney to the maximum, not really knowing how to handle his talent. In addition to his horror roles (Wolf Man, Dracula, Frankenstein's Montster etc.) he would also show up in the studio's serials, westerns or even in Abbott & Costello comedies.Watch for 30s "B" movie hero Rex Lease as one of the detectives who arrest Chaney.