| Weird Woman | |
| Director: | Reginald Le Borg |
| Producer: |
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| Story: | W. Scott Darling |
| Screenplay: | Brenda Weisberg |
| Music: | Paul Sawtell |
| Cinematography: | Virgil Miller |
| Editing: | Milton Carruth |
| Studio: | Universal Pictures |
| Distributor: | Universal Pictures |
| Runtime: | 63 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Weird Woman is a 1944 noir-mystery horror film, and the second installment in The Inner Sanctum Mysteries anthological film series, which was based on the popular radio series of the same name. Directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Lon Chaney Jr., Anne Gwynne, and Evelyn Ankers.[1] [2] The movie is one of several films based on the novel Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber. Co-star Evelyn Ankers had previously worked with Chaney in Ghost of Frankenstein, where Chaney played the Frankenstein monster, and The Wolf Man, where Chaney played the title role.
Professor Norman Reed falls in love with and marries a woman named Paula while on vacation in the South Seas. When they return to his hometown, she is greeted coolly by much of the community, especially Ilona, who felt that Reed was hers. Strange things begin to happen, including the death of a colleague, which turns people against her even more, especially as she believes in voodoo and other supernatural phenomena. Reed must work hard to prove her innocence and find the real culprit behind the strange doings.[3]
Director Reginald LeBorg recalls being given the script on a Friday and being told to begin shooting a week from Monday; the cast was filled out shortly before filming. This rushed production schedule was the norm at Universal.[5] Inner Sanctum films cost approximately $150,000 to produce, and shooting schedules were routinely 12 days.
Actress Evelyn Ankers would later say that she found playing a villainess rather difficult. When LeBorg would say "action" and Ankers would try to exact a menacing look, she and co-star Anne Gwynne would almost inevitably start laughing. Universal never hired her to play a villain again.[6]