Strange Illusion (1945)

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

It is a performances centric movie

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Well, I feel this one was geared more towards the teenagers and young 20-somethings for the time era with a message of "don't take people at face value" (a conversation between Paul and his friend Dr. Vincent explains it fairly well). Even though it's geared for a younger audience of the 1940s it's still a pretty good film to watch - nothing special but fun to watch.I will agree with others that the film's music is a bit too loud - it sometimes muffles the voices of actor's which is not good. There are times they do that in films as we are not suppose to hear what they are saying but in this case we are suppose to hear them and can but not as clearly as we should due to the music in a couple of scenes... but that does not spoil the plot/story.I like this film for some reason - maybe even more than I should for personal reasons.6.5/10

I've recently seen "Strange Illusion". It's a film that I had been wanting to see for a while. Considering it came from the low-budget studio PRC, I didn't know if it would be one of their better, mediocre or worst films. It's not one of their worst, but it just about reaches the PRC level of mediocrity. It seemed like it had an interesting plot. Jimmy Lydon plays a young man who is convinced that his mother's new beau is a killer. He's enlists the aid of a doctor friend to help him solve the mystery which surrounds the household. Jimmy Lydon has had a memorable career as "Henry Aldrich" in the popular 1940's series. He was seen in many other films and in the classic "Life With Father". However, he is served with a somewhat juvenile script here and, at one point in the film, is given a few lines of 1940's teenage vernacular to speak! It is very strange to see him suddenly break away from his normal way of speaking and start using this vernacular on his girlfriend. He says things like "Hello, vixen. What's mixin'?" and "Are ya missin' my kissin'?"! Strange, indeed! I wonder what PRC was thinking! Warren William is good, as usual, portraying the mother's sinister new beau. It's unfortunate that a little more thought about plot, suspense and dialog didn't go into this film. It could have been a much better film. For it's brief length, it seems overlong and much too uneventful. I would suggest seeing this film only if you must, but you can certainly find much better low-budget thrillers out there!

Enjoyed viewing this 1945 film and was surprised to see Jimmy Lydon,(Paul Cartwright), star of all the "Henry Aldrich Films of 1943", who gave an outstanding role as a young man who experienced dreams that could help his mother from getting involved with a man called Brett Curtis(Warren William),"Fear", who wanted so desperately to marry his mother and enjoy the great riches she possessed. Regis Toomey, (Dr. Martin Vincent),was the only person Paul Cartwright could turn to with all his troubling dreams and did his very best to find out the real mystery to his nightmares. Paul Cartwright was placed in a mental institution and notice there was two-way mirrors in his room and tried to hang his clothing over the mirrors to prevent his being spied on. If you like a good 1940's mystery from the past, you will enjoy viewing this great Classic Film!

Much has been made of Mr. Ulmer's talent, and here, he makes good use of it. While someone on the order of a brooding Farley Granger, for example, would have been preferable as the lead, James Lydon, nonetheless, turns in a commendable job as Paul Cartwright, a college student haunted by prophetic dreams. It's genuinely refreshing for a change, to look back upon a time, when teen-agers were still presented in a wholesome and appealing light. And, Mr. Lydon, movieland's "Henry Aldrich" certainly had the credentials for those traits. But, here, Lydon is caught in a story of deathly threats, with implications far more threatening, than the "Golly--Gee!" consequences of smashing his date's corsage for the Senior Prom.As for the plot, Paul, manages to prevent his wealthy widowed mother from marrying a male gold-digger, with a string of unsolved murders in his past. Naturally, Paul has to undergo any number of travails before the violent denouement, including amateur "detective" work that triggers both a feigned and a near real nervous collapse. He is even "voluntarily" committed to an asylum where further sinister developments befall him. The ending, cleverly finds him lost in an unconscious dream state again, but now enjoying a vision of a liberated and happy future.Mr. Lydon was "slumming" at PRC, on loan from Paramount, and preparatory to his turns with glamorous Elizabeth Taylor in "Life With Father" and "Cynthia" both glossy, expensive, mainline productions. Nonetheless, this PRC production possesses relatively handsome art direction and production values, given that, based on production files with the American Film Institute, it was actually shot in just 15 days, (as opposed to the erroneous oft-cited 6 day schedule.) By the way, take a good, hard, look at the exteriors of the Lydon family chateau in this. Look familiar? Yes, it's the same house used as Robert Walker's home in "Strangers on a Train" and June Lockhart's in "Bury Me Dead."All told, if you enjoy crime stories focused on young people trapped in traumatic circumstances, it's definately worth a look.