Dead Man's Eyes

About two years back, I mentioned a movie called Inner Sanctum that took its name from a popular radio show from the 1940s telling stories in the genre of a mild precusor to Alfred Hitchcock Presents or The Twilight Zone. In fact, an entire series of B movies based loosely on the idea of that radio show was made back in the 1940s. When TCM had its salute to B movies some months back, They picked an Inner Sanctum movie as part of the spotlight: Dead Man's Eyes.

Dave Stuart (Lon Chaney) is an artist who isn't yet truly successful, but has a lot of potential. He's currently working on the painting that will presumably be his masterpiece and make him a household name, using the model Tanya (Acquanetta), who acts as though she expects Dave to be in love with her. In fact, Dave has a fiancée, Heather Hayden (Jean Parker), who has a decidedly well-to-do father (Edward Fielding).

Meanwhile, Dave has done something extremely stupid: he has eye wash in his medicine cabinet, which isn't the stupid thing; no, what's stupid is that he keeps it next to a bottle of acid that looks very similar and which will blind anyone who uses the acid as eyewash. So you know that somebody is going to use that acid on their eyes. Indeed, Tanya rummages around the medicine cabinet for whatever reason and switched the bottle of acid and the bottle of eye wash; whether it's accidentally or on purpose is part of the later mystery of the movie. But when Dave goes to use the eye wash again, he picks up the acid and blinds himself!

Now Dave won't be able to finish that painting, and as a result he takes pity on himself, breaking off the engagement with Heather because he doesn't want to be dependent on her. However, there is a slim chance that Dave's eyesight could be restored, thanks to a then-revolutionary new procedure called a cornea transplant. (Apparently experimentation goes all the way back to the early 20th century, broader explanation of the procedure in the 1930s.) And in a really wacky plot twist, Dad Hayden says that when he dies, Dave will be more than welcome to inherit the corneas for the surgery.

It's such a bizarre plot twist that you just know Dad Hayden is going to get murdered and that of course Dave is going to be one of the prime suspects. Unfortunately, this being a B movie, The filmmakers didn't have the money to have Perry Mason solve the case in a courtroom tour-de-force. Instead, Dave is going to have to clear his name himself, but only after undergoing the surgery that may or may not restore his sight. To be fair, however, there is a police detective, Drury (Thomas Gomez), working on the case.

Dead Man's Eyes has a really nutty premise, but as far as B movies go, it's not a bad little film. It's definitely entertaining and full of enough twists to keep you guessing.