Strange Confession (1945)

Genres - Mystery  |   Run Time - 60 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Review by Craig Butler

One of the stronger entries in Universal's "Inner Sanctum" series, Strange Confession is still very much a B-level movie, but is entertaining nonetheless. Unlike other "Sanctum" entries, this one is light on the supernatural/horror elements, and equally light on the mystery elements. It's essentially a revenge melodrama, and as such the audience knows early on who did it and to whom -- and many will figure out the gimmick that makes the title character's confession so strange. Still, Confession is tidily entertaining, utilizing its short running time to its advantage to create a solidly put together excursion into a world in which profits are given much more importance than morality. It's a fairly harsh indictment of the pharmaceutical industry, although that comes about really only because the picture required the villain of the piece to be quite heinous. It works well, though, as long as one doesn't delve too deeply into what is of course a more complex issue in reality. Lon Chaney, Jr. and J. Carroll Naish play the "good" and "evil" characters, and they attack their parts with the appropriate gusto. Brenda Joyce does well as the wife, and a young Lloyd Bridges does the best he can as Chaney's friend, although he has to struggle with some weak comic relief material. While not a classic, Confession is a solidly entertaining way to kill an hour.