Movie Review: Pillow of Death (1945)
Synopsis: When his wife, Vivian, is murdered, attorney Wayne Fletcher, who has been having an affair with his secretary, Donna Kincaid, becomes the primary suspect. While Fletcher arguably had the most to gain from her death, a case can also be made for a psychic, a stalker and a household of eccentric family members, especially when more people are murdered.
Who's in it? The movie stars Lon Chaney Jr., Brenda Joyce, J. Edward Bromberg, Clara Blandick and Wilton Graff.
Review: One thing I've learned as I've watched Lon Chaney, Jr. movies is he was an actor who could play a variety of roles. While he's arguably best known for monster movies, he also was a great addition to other genres, including Pillow of Death.
The thing that ultimately impressed me about this movie was the murder mystery. A lot of times with classic films like this, the mystery is a little too easy to figure out or, in way too many cases, the film actually reveals the killer early on. In this case, even though Fletcher (Chaney Jr) seemed to be the most likely suspect, there were quite a few others that were behaving suspiciously.
This was especially true of the psychic, Julian (Bromberg), who seemed to be trying a little too hard to point the police in Wayne's direction and convince his deceased wife's family members he was a cold-blooded killer. I, personally, thought he was a red herring. However, as the movie progressed and revealed a little more about him, I did have my doubts about that theory.
Further complicating things was Fletcher hearing his wife's voice and the discovery her body was missing. This, at minimum, made me wonder if someone was trying to mess with Fletcher and also had me questioning whether or not she was actually dead (though I wasn't certain how she would have been able to fool the police, etc.). At the same time, her voice also could have been a sign of his guilt. As it turns out, I ended up being correct when I guessed who the killer was, but stuff like this did have me occasionally second-guessing myself.
My only real complaint about this film is i thought the ending left a few too many loose ends, especially when it came to some of the other characters. In the interest of not giving away too many spoilers, let's just say the police find the murderer but completely ignore at least two others who were arguably mentally unhinged enough to also justify being put behind bars or in a mental institution. It wasn't a huge deal, but it just felt like the ending was a little incomplete as a result of this.
Final Opinion: Lon Chaney, Jr.'s performance helped a lot, but I think this was a film that would have still been entertaining even if he wasn't starring in it. I would have still changed the ending, but it is a movie that is worth watching.
My Grade: B+
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Here are some reviews of other Lon Chaney, Jr. movies:
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