From PRC productions, "Strange Illusion" from 1945 is directed by Edgar Ulmer, a man known for making a low-budget film look it isn't. He succeeds.
Paul Cartwright is a young man still mourning the death of his father, who was once Lieutenant Governor of California. He died while looking into the drowning of a wealthy woman.
While away at school, Paul dreams that his mother (Sally Eilers) is in love with someone who is a danger to her; the dream also shows an image of his father's automobile accident that doesn't look like one.
After consulting a family friend, a psychiatrist (Regis Toomey) he decides to go home, especially after a couple of things happen similar to his dream. When he arrives, he realizes his dream was spot on -- his mother is in love with Brett Curtis (Warren William), and Paul is immediately suspicious of him.
Paul begs his mother to wait to get married. He wants to look into Curtis a little more. Curtis, however, a maniac living as an outpatient in a sanitarium, is in a big rush to get his hands on Virginia's inheritance. In cahoots with him is the doctor who runs the sanitarium.
This film is in the public domain, so I may have seen a heavily edited version. It may have been released as an A movie - hard to tell.
The story is compelling and holds interest, and one really cares about the characters. This is partly because Warren William is as oily as a gusher, and Sally Eilers seems to vacillate as to whether or not she will adhere to her son's wishes.
The dream sequences were very good and atmospheric. However, there were a couple of problems with the film. I'm not sure why Sally Eilers (born in 1922) was cast as the mother of Jimmy Lydon (born 1923) and Jayne Hazard (born in 1923). They were all pretty much the same age! I know Paul's father married a younger woman, but from looking at his portrait, she could have been in her forties.
Though the acting was okay, Jimmy Lydon is slightly miscast as the son. This is basically the plot of Hamlet, so someone a little less sunny would have been good and would have given the film more gravitas.
As it is, it's very good. Lydon, still alive as of this writing, acted through the '80s and helped create the series 77 Sunset Strip and M*A*S*H. He also produced the television adaptation of the film Mister Roberts.
Paul Cartwright is a young man still mourning the death of his father, who was once Lieutenant Governor of California. He died while looking into the drowning of a wealthy woman.
While away at school, Paul dreams that his mother (Sally Eilers) is in love with someone who is a danger to her; the dream also shows an image of his father's automobile accident that doesn't look like one.
After consulting a family friend, a psychiatrist (Regis Toomey) he decides to go home, especially after a couple of things happen similar to his dream. When he arrives, he realizes his dream was spot on -- his mother is in love with Brett Curtis (Warren William), and Paul is immediately suspicious of him.
Paul begs his mother to wait to get married. He wants to look into Curtis a little more. Curtis, however, a maniac living as an outpatient in a sanitarium, is in a big rush to get his hands on Virginia's inheritance. In cahoots with him is the doctor who runs the sanitarium.
This film is in the public domain, so I may have seen a heavily edited version. It may have been released as an A movie - hard to tell.
The story is compelling and holds interest, and one really cares about the characters. This is partly because Warren William is as oily as a gusher, and Sally Eilers seems to vacillate as to whether or not she will adhere to her son's wishes.
The dream sequences were very good and atmospheric. However, there were a couple of problems with the film. I'm not sure why Sally Eilers (born in 1922) was cast as the mother of Jimmy Lydon (born 1923) and Jayne Hazard (born in 1923). They were all pretty much the same age! I know Paul's father married a younger woman, but from looking at his portrait, she could have been in her forties.
Though the acting was okay, Jimmy Lydon is slightly miscast as the son. This is basically the plot of Hamlet, so someone a little less sunny would have been good and would have given the film more gravitas.
As it is, it's very good. Lydon, still alive as of this writing, acted through the '80s and helped create the series 77 Sunset Strip and M*A*S*H. He also produced the television adaptation of the film Mister Roberts.