to know him terribly well - he was a rather shy man, but I enjoyed working with him very much. He was very nice to me." Release Calling Dr. Death was distributed by Universal on December 17, 1943. The film was followed by the second Inner Sanctum film that was also directed by LeBorg, titled Weird Woman. It was released on April 14, 1944. Reception From contemporary reviews, A. H. Weiler wrote in The New York Times that the film was "mildly interesting but not thrilling. [I]t has a dreary habit of talking itself out of promising situations" and that Chaney's voice-overs dissipated the suspense. Dorothy Masters of The New York Daily News opined that if "Reginald LeBorg been as masterful with his cast as he was with the script, Calling Dr. Death could have been a most promising introduction to Universal's new "Inner Sanctum" series" and concluded that the film was "good enough for everyday consumption, and likely to encourage an appreciable following." The Hollywood Reporter found LeBorg's direction was "filled with imaginative touches and extracts a maximum of suspense from the psychological plot" and that Chaney "gives an arresting portrayal of the doctor." From retrospective reviews, the authors of the book Universal Horrors declared the series "feeble melodramas with little to recommend them beyond their camp qualities and the morose spectacle of seeing a badly miscast Chaney struggle his way through acting assignments that were painfully beyond his depth." They concluded that the series were "generally regarded by buffs and film historians as a missed cinematic opportunity." References Footnotes Sources External links 1943 films 1943 mystery films American black-and-white films Universal Pictures films Films based on radio series Films directed by Reginald Le Borg Medical-themed films American mystery films 1940s American films