Inner Sanctum Mystery series When
Blue Network began airing the popular
Inner Sanctum Mystery on radio in 1941, Universal Pictures acquired the screen rights from
Simon & Schuster to adapt the series to film. LeBorg was reluctant to take on this assignment of adapting this series, preferring to make musicals. Indeed, “he openly disdained his work on the
Inner Sanctum series.” His Inner Sanctum oeuvre consists of five films:
Calling Dr. Death (1943), ''
Dead Man's Eyes (1944) and Weird Woman'' (1944). Aside from his proficiency in delivering these films, Universal recognized LeBorg's talent for creating the “proper mood and atmosphere” in the horror genre, a talent that manifested itself at the box office. He also did works for other series by Universal, such as
Jungle Woman (1944) and ''
The Mummy's Ghost'' (1944), The popularity of these pictures was such that LeBorg became "typed as a
horror director", much to his disgust.
Lon Chaney, Jr., famous for his role as Lawrence Talbot in
The Wolf Man (1941), starred in four of these films. An actor of limited expressive range, he delivered some of his most “disciplined performances” under LeBorg's direction. Ironically, despite LeBorg's low opinion of his
Inner Sanctum films, they enjoyed perennial revivals in television re-runs in subsequent years. LeBorg's open contempt for his horror films, expressed at film industry social gatherings, gained him a reputation as a malcontent among studio executives.
”Program” director Universal typically assigned LeBorg to direct program pictures. His acumen for delivering these “on time and under budget” was prized at Universal, and LeBorg was ranked a “house director.” As such, LeBorg performed in a two-tier system, in which studios offered a double-feature per theatre showing: a higher budget production, followed by a low-budget program. Biographer
Wheeler Winston Dixon notes the implications for LeBorg's artistic aspirations as a filmmaker: LeBorg was an avid screenplay writer, spending months or more developing projects, only to have studio executives reject the material after encouraging his efforts. Dixon notes that LeBorg was well aware of the mediocrity of the scripts he was offered. Nonetheless, LeBorg was serious-minded in his efforts to make the most of the material within the imposed financial and time constraints.
San Diego, I Love You (1944): An opportunity to escape his low-budget
B movie projects materialized when LeBorg was allowed to film a comedy based on a screenplay written in part by
Ruth McKenney, author of
My Sister Eileen (1938).
San Diego, I Love You (1944) was LeBorg's biggest budget film to date. LeBorg adroit handling of the material and the actors, including
Louise Allbritton,
Edward Everett Horton and famous silent film star
Buster Keaton, promised to be a success. Universal, however, was unwilling to invest in an outstanding comic talent for the lead male role (LeBorg had requested
Cary Grant), and Universal failed to adequately promote the film. The production stalled at the box office, and LeBorg returned to making “B” films. In retrospect, LeBorg regarded San Diego, I Love You as the work of which he was most proud. The quality of LeBorg's script offerings subsequently declined, reflecting Universal's low opinion of his recent efforts. After completing
Destiny (1944) LeBorg rebelled against the front office, demanding better resources and scripts. Universal responded with an “unambitious programmer,” imposing a budget and cast that resulted in
Honeymoon Ahead (1945). Though completing the film with dispatch, LeBorg repeated his request for better material, and Universal dismissed him from the studio.
Freelance director: 1946-1974 After LeBorg's departure from Universal he proceeded to make films with the “low-budget” arm of
United Artists, Comet Productions, as well as “
Poverty row” studios such as
Monogram Pictures and
Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). LeBorg recalled: “It was a disgrace. I never got the big chance again.” His Comet productions included "the cheerful, if unremarkable"
Susie Steps Out, and a
comic strip adaption in
Little Iodine (both 1946). He also completed his first color film
The Adventures of Don Coyote in 1947. At Monogram, LeBorg made ten feature films from 1946 to 1951. Notable are the seven films in the Joe Palooka series, based on the popular
Ham Fisher comic book about a young pugilist. LeBorg undertook the Palooka project determined to make the boxing scenes realistic, achieved in part by cinematographer
Benjamin H. Kline. Actor
Joe Kirkwood, Jr. as Palooka was supported by
Joe Sawyer,
Elisha Cook, Jr. (known for his role in the 1941
The Maltese Falcon), and comic
Knobby Walsh. Boxing champions
Joe Louis,
Henry Armstrong, and
Manuel Ortiz appear in cameos. Though the series remained in demand for a number of years, these films are “all but forgotten today.” LeBorg completed a single picture for the poverty row studio PRC: ''
Philo Vance's Secret Mission'' (1947). Though perhaps the best of PRC's three adaptions of the character created by
S. S. Van Dine, LeBorg left PRC to join
Columbia Pictures “B” unit to make a programmer,
Port Said (1948), set in Turkey in the early 20th century involving foreign intrigue. Returning to Monogram, LeBorg directed three “routine” entertainments featuring
Leo Gorcey and
The Bowery Boys:
Trouble Makers (1948),
Fighting Fools (1949), and
Hold That Baby! (1949). In 1950, LeBorg was afforded a single-movie contract with Universal to direct in color a "B" western,
Wyoming Mail (1950), starring
Alexis Smith with a talented supporting cast. The film garnered little critical attention. At Monogram, LeBorg directed another lackluster western,
Young Daniel Boone (1950) and completed the Joe Palooka series, the latter which LeBorg felt “was becoming almost as much a trap as the horror movies.” The next producer who engaged him as a free-lancer was
Robert Lippert, for whom LeBorg directed three films, including a musical-comedy,
G. I. Jane. The facilities provided by Lippert studios were substandard and the film's “cheap” appearance is indicative.
Models, Inc. (1952) was the only film LeBorg made at
Mutual Film, starring
Howard Duff and
Coleen Gray. A story of the
demi-monde world of prostitution, it was shot in shadow by cinematographer
Stanley Cortez. The production received favorable reviews but few box office receipts Actress
Paulette Goddard, who co-starred in
Charlie Chaplin’s 1936
Modern Times, was the leading lady in Lippert's
Sins of Jezebel (1953). Despite the color cinematography by
Gilbert Warrenton, the picture “lacks any real distinction.” LeBorg completed his work for Lippert with a "routine western",
The Great Jesse James Raid (1953). LeBorg decided to finance a picture with United Artists and invested his own money in the project:
The White Orchid (1954). He wrote and cast the color feature about an archeologist (
William Lundigan), and a news photographer (
Peggie Castle), who search for the surviving remnants of an indigenous culture in the jungles of Mexico. The commercial success was just sufficient to pay off his creditors; LeBorg accrued no profit, and returned to contract directing. Producers
Aubrey Schenck and
Howard W. Koch convinced LeBorg to return the horror genre with
The Black Sleep (1956) for Bel-Air Productions, a B unit subsidiary of United Artists. Also titled ''Dr. Cadman's Secret'', the movie featured a who's who of Gothic character actors:
Basil Rathbone,
Lon Chaney, Jr.,
John Carradine,
Tor Johnson, and
Bela Lugosi (in one of his final roles). When the film proved a genuine box office success, Schenck and Koch prepared another project in which LeBorg directed iconic horror actor
Boris Karloff.
Voodoo Island (1957) was filmed on the Hawaiian island of
Kauai. The film, “lacking in suspense and imagination,” also suffered from slip-shod executions of the special effects. LeBorg, who scorned his identification with horror pictures dating from the Inner Sanctum work in the 1940s, was troubled that he was trending again into that genre. In an effort to escape, he directed two westerns in tandem for United Artists:
War Drums and
The Dalton Girls, both in 1957.
War Drums, a “patronizing and mechanical” recounting an episode in the life of
Apache leader
Mangus Coloradas, stars
Lex Barker.
The Dalton Girls, is an “overlooked and unusual addition” to LeBorg's oeuvre. Considered an early Feminist western, and starring
Merry Anders,
Lisa Davis, and
Penny Edwards, it concerns the exploits of the daughters of
Dalton Gang members following summary executions at the hands of vigilantes. The young women adopt the methods and the clothing of their fathers, successfully robbing and exchanging brutality for brutality with the male authorities who seek to suppress them. LeBorg did not win another directing contract for several years, until producer
Edward Small offered him a science fiction script for
The Flight That Disappeared (1961). The movie reflects social anxieties concerning
Cold War fears of
nuclear devastation and calls for nuclear disarmament. LeBorg accepted the project exclusively for the money, and declined to acknowledge the film. The efficiency and speed with which he completed the movie allowed it a small profit, convincing Small to sign LeBorg to direct
Deadly Duo (1962), starring
Craig Hill and
Marcia Henderson, in a dual role. Pleased with LeBorg's work, Small offered him a horror film,
Diary of a Madman (1963), starring
Vincent Price as the demented Simon Cordier. LeBorg was attracted to the project due to the literary origins of the screenplay, a short story by 19th century French author
Guy de Maupassant. Enjoying a “lavish budget” by LeBorg standards, with set designs by
Daniel Haller, was a box office success. Diary of a Madman is perhaps the most admired work of LeBorg's late career. LeBorg's next project was for
20th Century Fox’s “B” production unit, a drama filmed in England:
The Eyes of Annie Jones (1964). Starring
Richard Conte and
Francesca Annis, the picture was quickly dropped from screenings shortly after it opened. LeBorg's penultimate directoral assignment was limited to shooting night-time, outdoor “atmosphere” sequences for the horror movie
House of the Black Death (1965).
Harold Daniels directed the production which starred John Carradine, Lon Chaney, Jr. and
Jerome Thor; LeBorg “had no creative control over the final film.” Not until 1974 did LeBorg direct a movie again, and this his last film,
So Evil, My Sister (1974). Also known as
Psycho Sisters, starring
Susan Strasberg and
Faith Domergue, the film "never received a general theatrical release." ==Television==