OK, new to this forum. For a while now I have, with a mixture of hilarity and horrified fascination, been going down the rabbit hole of Patricia Kennealy's narcissistic delusions. One of the most unpleasant things about this deeply her is her crazed vendetta against the conveniently unable-to-defend-herself Pamela Courson - you don't have to think Pam was a saint or that she and Jim had a healthy relationship to be appalled at Kennealy's treatment of her. It's noticeable that many of the vindictive attacks (brainless junkie whore and possible murderer) Kennealy flings at Pam can easily be applied to her. Let's see:
-
Stupidity. Kennealy loves banging on about how stooopid Pam was. I have a feeling, however, that, while she may be well-read and knowledgeable about certain topics, Kennealy (a grown woman who has spent decades acting like an immature teenager over her crush) is nowhere near as clever as she thinks. In Strange Days, she seems totally lacking in self-awareness or the ability to judge people and situations accurately. Perhaps my favourite moment is when she dramatically reveals the affair to Pam, clearly hoping for an epic showdown. Instead, an unfazed Pam comments that she's 'never met one of Jim's girlfriends before' - basically telling Patricia she isn't a threat and is just one of many side pieces. 'Stung', Patricia tells Pam about the pregnancy and abortion, not realising that this only further proves how uninvested in her Jim was, something Pam (likely sharper than Kennealy perceives) clearly grasps, as she comments that he wouldn't have given Kennealy money or acknowledged the baby.
-
Junkiedom. Let's just say that when you boast about regularly guzzling fistfuls of cannabis, Valium, cocaine and Quaaludes, you're not really in a position to judge anyone else for doing drugs.
-
Whoredom. There are two parts to this. First, the fact that Pam, like Morrison, had sex with other people during their relationship. Given that Kennealy was having an affair with Pam's partner while, according to Janet Erwin, still sleeping with her ex, so that she didn't know who caused her pregnancy, she's hardly the Virgin Mary herself. Second, and worse, Kennealy's allegations that Pam became a prostitute after Morrison's death. As Satireknight points out (https://satireknight.wordpress.com/authorial-madness/authorial-madness-patricia-kennealy-morrison/patricia-kennealy-morrison-faq-2/) this claim seems to have originated with Kennealy herself, and even if
I’m genuinely curious as to what she looks like now. Does anyone have any pics??
Dir: Reginald LeBorg
From 1943, this was the first of the six "Inner Sanctum" mysteries which Universal made with Lon Chaney in the lead of each one. None of them really appealled to me, and most of them are real stinkers. I don't understand why, having made a deal to use the Inner Sanctum name, Universal didn't use any of the bizarre and extreme plots of the radio series. Certainly, the movies would have benefited from a few morbid comments by your host, Raymond. One thing this first entry does use is a steady voiceover of the lead character's thoughts, meant to build suspense but here falling flat.
As it is, the Inner Sanctum flicks open with a scene in a conference room where a dismebodied head in a crystal ball gives us a little speech about how anyone can commit murder. How much better it would have been to show that famous creaking door and having Raymond start things up with some gruesome puns and warnings!
CALLING DR DEATH has a workable basic premise. A neurologist named Mark Steele (how more dashing a name could you ask?) is using hypnotherapy with great success but his home life is an awful trainwreck. He has a cold-hearted wife who is openly running around on him and taunting him about it but who refuses to give him a divorce. At the same time, he is deeply attracted to his nurse Stella (played by Patricia Morrison) who is completely smitten with him. Is there no way out of this mess for the doc? Methinks I smell a murder or two coming on.
Sure enough, Steele leaves his home Saturday night in an overwrought turmoil and wakes up Monday morning at his desk, unshaven and not looking his best. Yep, his wife is dead, all right, and his blackout leaves him without an alibi. It doesn't look good but then the late Mrs Steele's last boyfriend gets fingered for the crime. On the night that loverboy is going to sit in the final chair, Dr Steele decides to use his own hypnotherapy methods to find out what actually happened. Of course, there's a dramatic twist. What kind of a mystery would it be if it turned everything was just as it seemed?
The biggest drawback in this movie is its choice of star. In certain roles, Lon Chaney could be quite moving and effective. But he had a lot of limits to his range, and he is not believable for one second as a successful neurologist. Chaney was a big hard-living moose of a guy who couldn't sound cultured or educated if it meant saving himself from being drowned. (Watch SON OF DRACULA and see what I mean.)
... keep reading on reddit ➡