the lodger

October 19: The Lodger. Decent thriller about a man suspected of being Jack the Ripper. Stars Merle Oberon, George Sanders, and the real star of the movie: Laird Cregar. Cregar is fantastic. Tragically, he died soon after this movie came out. Apparently he was tired of playing villains, and in an effort to be considered for romantic parts he went on a crash diet involving amphetamines. The drugs and rapid weight loss so damaged his body that he died at age 31. It makes me ill to think of what he might have accomplished if he had lived. He might have gone on to be another Charles Laughton.