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.
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.