Weird Woman on AllMovie

The second of Universal's "Inner Sanctum" thrillers, Weird Woman stars Lon Chaney Jr. as Norman Reed, a college professor worried about the sanity of his new bride, Paula (Anne Gwynne), who was raised in Hawaii with all manners of superstitions, including voodoo. Jealous of Paula, Norman's former girlfriend, librarian Ilona Carr (Evelyn Ankers), does what she can to ruin the marriage, including suggesting to fellow professor Millard Sawtelle (Ralph Morgan) that Norman is about to expose him as a fraud, and helping moonstruck college girl Margaret Mercer (Lois Collier) obtain a job as Norman's assistant. Margaret's advances quickly become grating to Norman, who summarily throws the girl out of his office, and Sawtelle commits suicide rather than face disgrace. Mrs. Sawtelle (Elizabeth Russell) blames her husband's death on Paula's supposed witchcraft and Margaret's boyfriend, David (Phil Brown), physically attacks Norman. The boy is killed in the ensuing struggle and Norman begins to question his own sanity. Until, that is, he finally puts two and two together and sets a trap for Ilona. Based on the 1943 novel Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber Jr., Weird Woman was remade twice, as Burn, Witch, Burn (1962) starring Janet Blair and Witches' Brew starring Lana Turner.