| Strange Illusion | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Edgar G. Ulmer |
| Screenplay by | Adele Comandini |
| Story by | Based on an original story byFritz Rotter |
| Produced by | Leon Fromkess |
| Starring | James Lydon Sally Eilers Warren William Regis Toomey Charles Arnt George H. Reed Jayne Hazard Jimmy Clark Mary McLeod Pierre Watkin John Hamilton Sonia Sorel Vic Potel |
| Cinematography | Philip Tannura,A.S.C. Eugen Schüfftan (uncredited) |
| Edited by | Carl Pierson (supervising film editor) |
| Music by | Musical score composed and conducted byErdody |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | P R C Incorporated |
Release date |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Strange Illusion is a 1945film noir. Loosely inspired byHamlet, it was envisioned as a moderncrime film. It was directed byEdgar G. Ulmer and starredJimmy Lydon,Warren William andSally Eilers. According to noir historian Spencer Selby the film is "a stylish cheapie by the recognized master of stylish cheapies."[1]
A college student has a recurrent dream that leads him to suspect there is something sinister about his widowed mother's suitor.
Film critic Dennis Schwartz liked the film's atmospherics but gave a mixed review to the production as a whole, writing, "The dark psychological thriller had an engrossing premise courtesy ofMr. Shakespeare and was influenced further byFreudian dream analysis, but it was unconvincing as a melodrama, the script was weak, the plot was full of holes and the acting was as lame as it gets...What's interesting is that the film is shot as an intense dream sequence in shadowy black-and-white hues and its sense of delirium powerfully filters through the story almost wiping away the unconvincing heavy-handed performances of the villains and the mummified acting by the leads. It's a film where Ulmer's unique style and his film noir moody interjections work better than the derivative mystery story."[2]
Critic Matthew Sorrento ofFilm Threat also lauded the film: "Though saddled with the script’s fetish for Freud, Ulmer stylizes his thriller without sending it adrift. Like his other great films,Strange Illusion is a shaggy quickie that takes fine shape throughout."[3]
