| Strange Illusion | |
| Director: | Edgar G. Ulmer |
| Producer: | Leon Fromkess |
| Screenplay: | Adele Comandini |
| Story: | Based on an original story by Fritz Rotter |
| 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 |
| Music: | Musical score composed and conducted by Erdody |
| Cinematography: | Philip Tannura, A.S.C. Eugen Schüfftan (uncredited) |
| Editing: | Carl Pierson (supervising film editor) |
| Studio: | P R C Pictures, Inc. |
| Distributor: | P R C Incorporated |
| Runtime: | 87 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Strange Illusion is a 1945 film noir. Loosely inspired by Hamlet, it was envisioned as a modern crime film. It was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starred Jimmy Lydon, Warren William and Sally 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 gave the film a mixed review, yet liked the atmospherics of the film, and wrote, "The dark psychological thriller had an engrossing premise courtesy of Mr. Shakespeare and was influenced further by Freudian 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 of Film 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]