The next film of the project “Secrets of the inner sanctuary” tells about an artist who accidentally loses his sight. The father of his bride, who has great sympathy for the victim, asks not to despair, because an eye transplant is possible. He will become a donor immediately after natural death. The benefactor is an elderly person, so you should wait a while. However, it did not take long to wait - the old man was brutally killed, despite the fact that everyone around him made a friendly prefix "dad" to his name. A blind artist caught at the crime scene is confused, because the beloved is stunned by the spectacle, and the most obvious motive for the crime points to him. But the police detective, distinguished by his coolness, is in no hurry to press charges, suspecting many people.
The picture is interesting in that it moves exclusively in the direction of the detective, resembling a fascinating puzzle with a number of faces alternately casting a shadow of suspicion on each other. In addition, the main participants of events are closely intertwined by friendly or love relationships, when affairs of the heart can become a motive for crime. Everyone loves someone or has views on another, assuring of tender feelings that are not shared by the object of desire, striving for another person. Amorous threads connect everyone in a common tangle, where there are many contradictions and little reciprocity. The artist loves the bride, but does not want their union to be based on pity, which causes atypical anger at others. It is easier for him to be alone than to be a burden. His father loved her father, giving him eyes, but the circumstances were terrible, darkening the gesture of goodwill. The model is a sweet girl who cares for the artist from secret love, only because of his illness next to him, otherwise, if the eyes are transplanted, the lover will return to the bride. On one side of the scale is his health, on the other - the hope of sympathy for himself. The boyfriend of the model, on the contrary, counts on the speedy recovery of the artist to console the feelings that rejected him. And these are not all motives with the participants of the events, who benefit or harm the crime of murder, committed by a secret murderer who only stepped on a crooked path, where any obstacle is removed by a bloody crime. As you know, from love to hate – one step, and the film is great to screen such an expression intriguing scenario.
Lon Cheney Jr., being not only the star of “Universal”, but also an integral face of the entire cycle of “Sanctuary”, deservedly plays the main role. He does this diligently and skillfully, because his on-screen role, in addition to monsters in makeup, often had tragic heroes who evoked sympathy for a good-natured nature and spiritual suffering from not accepting evil, especially when it indirectly came from themselves. His blind artist depicts the drama on the screen, worried about the suspicions of the police and the lover who lost his father, whose death he was still interested in, counting on new eyes. In addition, being the owner of a cane and black glasses, our hero himself is forced to search for the truth in such a fragile position, where the impending darkness hides an already cunning killer. Even as if a scripted mockery will be the first lead in the form of a found tiny screw on the floor at the fateful moment, but which will “complete” the whole picture of the crime. And the artist’s canvas, half abandoned until better times, is very symbolic here. Cheney's character is interesting to watch, but Universal wasn't limited to one, decorating the screen of Jean Parker performing his fiancée, who was considered a successful actress at several major film studios at once. The poster also lured the viewer in large letters that Asquanette was playing here. Depicting a pretty model, the young actress was distinguished by the burning appeal of the indigenous population of America, whose origins still remain within several versions of her contemporaries and historians of that period of cinema. And she starred in two parts of a fresh fantastic trilogy from Universal about a beauty created from a gorilla, so the studio did not miss the chance to invite such an exotic young lady to the new film. Add to this all the charm of black and white noir with sinister silhouettes, play of shadows and get a tempting opportunity to visit for the third time the inner sanctuary, which gave us a fascinating detective.
7 out of 10