Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
Weird Woman (1944)
Directed by Reginald Le Borg; written by Scott Darling and Brenda Weisberg, from the novel Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber, Jr.
This is one of half a dozen "Inner Sanctum Mysteries" starring Lon Chaney, Jr., made during the 1940's. They're all low budget and run only about an hour. This one was of interest to me because it's based on the classic novel Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber, Jr., published only the year before. (The book was later adapted into the very good film Night of the Eagle AKA Burn, Witch, Burn [1962] as well as a 1960 television production and the 1980 comedy Witches' Brew, neither of which I have seen.)
Chaney is a professor (of cultural anthropology, it would seem) who goes to an island in the South Seas to study the local customs. He meets the daughter of a deceased colleague, who has been raised by the local high priestess. Back in the States they marry, despite Chaney's hardheaded rationalism and his new bride's superstitious clinging to primitive rituals. On hand is his old flame, now bitterly jealous over his new love. After Chaney forces his wife to destroy all her magical objects, things go from bad to worse. A colleague kills himself when his plagiarism of a former student's work is threatened to be exposed. A co-ed with a schoolgirl crush on Chaney does some heavy flirting with him and is rejected, leading to an accusation of improper behavior on his part and an attempt on his life by a jealous boyfriend. Although he survives, it leads to further tragedy. His wife receives telephone calls playing recordings of a death chant. Will they be able to escape their doom?
Although not anywhere near as good as the 1962 film, and not at all up to the excellent novel, this is an entertaining little movie. Possibly because one of the screenwriters was female, and probably because of the themes found in Leiber's novels, this is very much a film dominated by women. The male characters are naive and powerless in comparison to them, from the sweet and innocent but witch-like young wife, to the vengeful jilted ex, to the ambitious wife of the plagiarist, to the seductive student, to the wise and benign dean of women. Fans of old scare flicks will recognize many of the Scream Queens in these roles, particularly Evelyn Ankers in a rare villainous role and Elizabeth Russell, a remarkably striking actress who was memorable in Val Lewton chillers.
Although the novel is unambiguously fantastic, the movie only offers one small hint at the very end that something supernatural might actually be going on. The book also has nothing to do with the South Seas, and simply establishes the fact that many women are witches, unknown to the men whose lives they control for good or evil.
Directed by Reginald Le Borg; written by Scott Darling and Brenda Weisberg, from the novel Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber, Jr.
This is one of half a dozen "Inner Sanctum Mysteries" starring Lon Chaney, Jr., made during the 1940's. They're all low budget and run only about an hour. This one was of interest to me because it's based on the classic novel Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber, Jr., published only the year before. (The book was later adapted into the very good film Night of the Eagle AKA Burn, Witch, Burn [1962] as well as a 1960 television production and the 1980 comedy Witches' Brew, neither of which I have seen.)
Chaney is a professor (of cultural anthropology, it would seem) who goes to an island in the South Seas to study the local customs. He meets the daughter of a deceased colleague, who has been raised by the local high priestess. Back in the States they marry, despite Chaney's hardheaded rationalism and his new bride's superstitious clinging to primitive rituals. On hand is his old flame, now bitterly jealous over his new love. After Chaney forces his wife to destroy all her magical objects, things go from bad to worse. A colleague kills himself when his plagiarism of a former student's work is threatened to be exposed. A co-ed with a schoolgirl crush on Chaney does some heavy flirting with him and is rejected, leading to an accusation of improper behavior on his part and an attempt on his life by a jealous boyfriend. Although he survives, it leads to further tragedy. His wife receives telephone calls playing recordings of a death chant. Will they be able to escape their doom?
Although not anywhere near as good as the 1962 film, and not at all up to the excellent novel, this is an entertaining little movie. Possibly because one of the screenwriters was female, and probably because of the themes found in Leiber's novels, this is very much a film dominated by women. The male characters are naive and powerless in comparison to them, from the sweet and innocent but witch-like young wife, to the vengeful jilted ex, to the ambitious wife of the plagiarist, to the seductive student, to the wise and benign dean of women. Fans of old scare flicks will recognize many of the Scream Queens in these roles, particularly Evelyn Ankers in a rare villainous role and Elizabeth Russell, a remarkably striking actress who was memorable in Val Lewton chillers.
Although the novel is unambiguously fantastic, the movie only offers one small hint at the very end that something supernatural might actually be going on. The book also has nothing to do with the South Seas, and simply establishes the fact that many women are witches, unknown to the men whose lives they control for good or evil.
