In this, the fourth of the "Inner Sanctum" series of psychological thrillers, series star Lon Chaney Jr. Plays Alex Gregor, a man with a popular "mentalist" radio show. When a skeptical drunk (a hilarious Arthur Hohl) belittles the act, Alex wishes the man dead ... and indeed the man does actually die. Guilt-ridden, Alex goes to stay at the wax museum operated by his lady friend Valerie Monet (Tala Birell). There he gets caught up in more macabre events as Valerie goes missing and Alex is afraid that, once again, the powers of his mind have resulted in death.
"The Frozen Ghost" is typical shenanigans for these short & sweet movies, with an "it's all a plot" type story, and another situation where it seems that every major female character has designs on Chaney (also including Maura Daniel (Evelyn Ankers), his partner in his act, and the young and enchanting Nina Coudreau (Elena Verdugo), Valerie's niece). The story IS pretty straightforward, with director Harold Young giving the proceedings adequate atmosphere without any major stylistics. It's all easy enough to watch, with Lon doing a typically engaging job. His whining to the obligatory police inspector character (a very good Douglas Dumbrille) about believing to be guilty of the audience members' death is a hoot.
Every cast member gets an A for effort here, especially utility supporting player Martin Kosleck, a top character actor who specialized in villainous roles. Here, he plays a plastic surgeon-turned-sculptor who acts blatantly suspicious at every conceivable junction. Even in light of the fact that Ankers and Chaney did NOT get along in real life, that didn't stop the studio from putting them together fairly frequently, and they DO manage to work well together onscreen. Young Verdugo is a delight, but the true highlight of the film has to be the performance of Dumbrille, who in some ways is your standard cop-on-the-case character, but who also takes time to quote Shakespeare, offer art critiques, and compulsively straighten crooked paintings.
"The Frozen Ghost" may not exactly be anything special, but if you're looking for an amiable little thriller with a trim running time of BARELY over an hour, it fills the bill.
Seven out of 10.
"The Frozen Ghost" is typical shenanigans for these short & sweet movies, with an "it's all a plot" type story, and another situation where it seems that every major female character has designs on Chaney (also including Maura Daniel (Evelyn Ankers), his partner in his act, and the young and enchanting Nina Coudreau (Elena Verdugo), Valerie's niece). The story IS pretty straightforward, with director Harold Young giving the proceedings adequate atmosphere without any major stylistics. It's all easy enough to watch, with Lon doing a typically engaging job. His whining to the obligatory police inspector character (a very good Douglas Dumbrille) about believing to be guilty of the audience members' death is a hoot.
Every cast member gets an A for effort here, especially utility supporting player Martin Kosleck, a top character actor who specialized in villainous roles. Here, he plays a plastic surgeon-turned-sculptor who acts blatantly suspicious at every conceivable junction. Even in light of the fact that Ankers and Chaney did NOT get along in real life, that didn't stop the studio from putting them together fairly frequently, and they DO manage to work well together onscreen. Young Verdugo is a delight, but the true highlight of the film has to be the performance of Dumbrille, who in some ways is your standard cop-on-the-case character, but who also takes time to quote Shakespeare, offer art critiques, and compulsively straighten crooked paintings.
"The Frozen Ghost" may not exactly be anything special, but if you're looking for an amiable little thriller with a trim running time of BARELY over an hour, it fills the bill.
Seven out of 10.