wmschoell Possibly director Ulmer's worst movie. I simply can't understand the bizarre raves for this terrible picture. People go on about it as if it were made by Hitchcock! The plot is obvious, there is no suspense, it's fast=paced yet still manages to be tedious, Everyone knows what's going on practically from the first so there are no surprises. Inspired by Hamlet? Give me a break! As for the acting, Lydon is okay and Warren William is wasted.

kidboots Certainly, quite early on in his career, Jimmy Lydon was "trapped" in the Henry Aldrich series and while "Life With Father" may have been his most prestigious film, "Strange Illusion" gave him his best role.Paul Csrtwright (Jimmy Lydon) is troubled by recurring nightmares in which his dead father warns him about a stranger's evil intentions about his family. He is staying with his teacher Dr. Vincent (Regis Toomey) but feels he must go home at once to protect his mother and his sister. When he arrives home he finds his mother, Virginia (Sally Eilers) has been seeing a lot of Brett Curtis (Warren William) - a man who Paul feels uneasy about at first sight. His sister Dorothy has a great crush on him but Brett is a sinister villain with a weakness for young girls.Paul's dream starts to come true, Dorothy receives a bracelet from Curtis, he hears a very loud concerto and then faints. He decides to investigate Curtis, with the help of the family servant, Ben (George Reed), who has never liked Curtis. Before he died, Paul's father started to investigate a shocking unsolved crime involving the drowning of a wealthy young widow. Paul has a right to be worried, Brett has a grudge against Cartwright, whose meddling stopped his plans years before - he now wants revenge. Brett's first plan is to convince Virginia to marry him and then to have Paul committed to a sanatorium. Meanwhile Paul's friend Lydia confesses that she has had a confrontation with Brett at her family pool and has always felt uncomfortable around him. Paul is keen to go to the hospital - he thinks he will find out something there as Brett is very close with the head doctor.This was a really good movie with the dream sequences a bit of a twist on the tired old "why won't anyone believe me" style plot. Warren William made these type of roles his own - the icy exterior hiding deep feelings (in this case murderous). Sally Eilers looked lovely as the mother, caught in the middle of a suave conman and her son's concern. Both of these fine actors left the screen in the next couple of years. Again, it is a movie I would recommend.

classicsoncall The plot of "Strange Illusion" can be summed up by main character Paul Cartwright (Jimmy Lydon) in conversation with his friend Dr. Vincent (Regis Toomey) - "This may sound kinda crazy Doc but, that dream is beginning to happen". The story finds college student Paul, who's overly protective of his mother Virginia (Sally Eilers), conflicted over her romance with Brett Curtis (Warren William). Curtis' manner is just a little too smooth, hiding the fact that his mission is to exact revenge on Paul and his family. It was Paul's deceased father, a former judge, who sent Curtis to jail years ago, but under his real name of Claude Barrington.Curtis becomes suspicious that Paul is on to him, and together with psychiatrist friend Professor Muhlbach (Charles Arnt), they intend to take him out of the picture one way or another. Paul uncharacteristically agrees to be a 'guest' at Muhlbach's Restview Sanitarium, where his own detective skills are put to the test. With cool self assurance and with the help of Doc Vincent, the pair begin to unravel the mystery behind the death of Paul's father and the sinister alliance between Muhlbach and Curtis/Barrington.Lydon's portrayal of young Cartwright is decidedly angst driven, though he manages to slip out of character every once in a while when conversing with friends. He caught me off guard with that phone call to would be girlfriend Lydia (Mary McLeod) - "Hello vixen, what's mixin'?"; and he really went into Henry Aldrich mode when he learned his sister might be in danger with Curtis.It was after the film doing some research that I learned of an interesting fact about Lydon. In the movie, his sister Dorothy (Jayne Hazard) is talking with Curtis about moonlight and poetry, and they share a thought about Omar Khayyam. Dorothy remarks that most people her age wouldn't know who the Persian poet was, surmising that to them he could just as well be a Turkish wrestler. That remark seemed to come out of left field, but it turns out that Lydon's grandfather was professional wrestling champion Jim Londos! When the opening credits of this film rolled declaring itself a PRC release, my guard immediately went up for poor production values and a disjointed story, however I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligent presentation of Paul's dilemma and it's resolution. It might have been more fitting if Paul's dream sequence to end the movie had him talking with his dead father. Other than that, I only found one other story element to be annoying. Why, one asks, would a grown woman allow her own kids to call her 'The Princess'?

whpratt1 Enjoyed viewing this 1945 film and was surprised to see Jimmy Lydon,(Paul Cartwright), star of all the "Henry Aldrich Films of 1943", who gave an outstanding role as a young man who experienced dreams that could help his mother from getting involved with a man called Brett Curtis(Warren William),"Fear", who wanted so desperately to marry his mother and enjoy the great riches she possessed. Regis Toomey, (Dr. Martin Vincent),was the only person Paul Cartwright could turn to with all his troubling dreams and did his very best to find out the real mystery to his nightmares. Paul Cartwright was placed in a mental institution and notice there was two-way mirrors in his room and tried to hang his clothing over the mirrors to prevent his being spied on. If you like a good 1940's mystery from the past, you will enjoy viewing this great Classic Film!