BURN, WITCH, BURN

Janet Blair indulges in witchcraft as Peter Wyngarde sleeps

BURN, WITCH, BURN (aka Night of the Eagle/1962). Director: Sidney Hayers.

Professor of sociology Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde) is disturbed to discover that his wife, Tansy (Janet Blair) is using fetishes and other talismans of witchcraft to increase his good fortune and protect him from his enemies at university. This goes against everything the rational man believes in (or doesn't), so Norman destroys all of Tansy's little items, and things go from bad to much, much worse ... Fritz Leiber's novel "Conjure Wife" was first filmed in 1944 as Weird Woman; this version is also very creditable. The two leads are quite effective and there is also solid support from Margaret Johnston (The Psychopath) as Flora, a sinister background figure. One of the best sequences has to do with a huge stone eagle that comes to life and pursues Norman through passages and corridors at the college.The story was filmed a third time as the comedic Witch's Brew. The versatile Blair was Red Skelton's leading lady in The Fuller Brush Man while Wyngarde was Peter Quint in The Innocents and did a lot of television work as well. Hayers also directed the British chiller Circus of Horrors.

Verdict: Zesty supernatural item. ***.

WEIRD WOMAN

WEIRD WOMAN (1944). Director: Reginald LeBorg.

Undoubtedly the best "Inner Sanctum" feature, this is the first film version of Frtiz Leiber's novel "Conjure Wife." Lon Chaney Jr. is a college professor who marries Paula (Anne Gwynne), much to the consternation of gal pal Ilona (Evelyn Ankers, in one of her best roles). When Chaney has one bit of good fortune after another, he discovers his wife is using witchcraft to ward off his enemies' influences. A disgusted Chaney destroys all of Paula's magic talismans -- and boy does his luck begin to change for the worse. This study of small town college jealousies and romantic rivalries with a supernatural twist is compelling and creepy, with good performances and a suspenseful climax. Chaney isn't bad (although his whispered utterances are as annoying as ever and he's not very credible as a romantic figure), and in addition to the above-named performances there is solid work from Elisabeth Risdon as the blunt Dean of Women, Ralph Morgan as a professor, Elizabeth Russell as his ambitious wife, Lois Collier as an amorous student, and Phil Brown as her jealous boyfriend. This was remade as Burn, Witch, Burn and again as a comic version, Witches' Brew.

Verdict: Quite good little B movie. ***.