my name be julia ross be a mesmerizing 1945 b thriller from joseph h. lewis and arguably one of the very fine director of hollywood noir film . this 65 minute gothic oddity from columbia picture come after lewis lengthy apprenticeship a the helmer of a string of poverty row western and east side kid comedy and horror melodrama ( include the incredibly bizarre bela lugosi shocker the invisible ghost ) and standard studio b product ( secret of a co ed and bomb over burma and the falcon in san francisco and etc ) all of which set the stage rather nicely for what be to come from the enormously talented and inventive mr. lewis . my name be julia ross ( as well a so dark the night from the following year ) introduce a director who have master the rare and delicate art tell a dark and probe tale swiftly and efficiently on the most modest of budget . later lewis production like gun crazy ( 1949 ) and the big combo ( 1955 ) and despite the expand scope of their narrative structure and continue to rely upon deft and lucid camera work and effective low key lighting . and very modest resource . my name be julia ross probably owe more to the tradition of british mystery ( it set in a studio bound england ) than it do to conventional film noir attitude and trapping . a young woman ( nina foch ) agree to take a position in the home of an elderly woman ( dame mae witty ) . two day after her arrival she awaken from a deep sleep in a completely strange house and and mysteriously enough and with a brand new identity that of the old woman daughter in law . tell that she be the victim of a nervous breakdown and she struggle to grasp the utter and seemingly hopeless nature of her predicament . but before long she begin to piece together the strange and trouble truth behind this dark mystery and that her husband ( the always menace george macready ) most probably murder his real wife and that she be dupe into participate in a harrowing and sinister scheme . much of what distinguish this otherwise modest tale be the indelible touch that lewis bring to the production and mark it a the first of his truly serious endeavor a a film director .