Inner Sanctum Mysteries: Death Is a Joker

Peter Lorre stars in this episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries. It’s called Death is a Joker and Lorre plays actor Charles Luther who is accused of murder. Luther is an Ugly man and he admits it. “Look at my face,” he tells the jury. “Ugly heh? So ugly that whoever looks at it laughs.” Luther does not want the jury’s sympathy, he only wants them to understand what happened.

It all began with a visit to his friend, the actor Robert Langwell. Luther had just found out about his intention to marry Julie Winthrop and he wanted to talk him out of it. It didn’t take Langwell long to realize that Luther was also in love with Julie and he had a good laugh about it. “You in love with a girl like Julie! Do you think she would have you?” Langwell found the idea very amusing, his words were hard, and they hurt Luther who could think of only one way to stop the ridicule: he placed his hands around his friend’s neck and squeezed. Only when he saw the lifeless body on the floor below him, did he realize what he had done, but by then it is was too late.

Filled with remorse, Luther arrived home with only one thing on his mind: suicide. He was just about to do away with himself when the doorbell rang. It was Julie. She had come to tell Luther that she loved him, not Langwell. Fate had dealt the actor a lousy hand and the poor man got quite hysterical about it and confessed his crime to Julie. Her love was sincere though, Luther’s looks were unimportant to her and neither was the fact that he was now a murderer. In true Tammy Wynette fashion, she decided to stand by her man. In fact, when she heard the full story of what happened she was confident that he may be able to get away with it. Unfortunately for the two lovebirds fate was getting ready to deal another joker from her pack.

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: Death Is a Joker

(Listen to the Full Episode)

(Listen to the Full Episode)