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The Clairvoyant (1935)

This is a British movie with the flavor, and look, of Hitchcock's British films, and it's as good in many ways.

And Claude Rains as the title character is sharp, funny, sophisticated, warm, all in that way Rains has of being a little removed, gently above it all without being above his peers. He is way younger (of course) than his famous persona from, say, "Casablanca" or "Notorious" but it's still the same Rains, and in a way if you appreciate him in his American films, you should see this to see where he came from.

The filming and editing feels so much like Hitchcock at times I wondered just what kind of connections there might be between him and the director here, Maurice Elvey, and couldn't find anything obvious (like a shared cinematographer). But Elvey was the most established and famous and therefore the most influential of British filmmakers, making a hundred films before Hitchcock made his first. So the influence is probably one way at first, with Hitch picking up on Elvey's methods.

But by 1932, when Elvey made a talkie remake, "The Phantom Fiend," of an earlier Hitchcock masterpiece, the 1927 "The Lodger," the influence is obviously going the other way. The whole train scene in the first half of this movie is a masterpiece of filming and editing. In all, the plot is so interesting, with some honest twists to accompany what seems at first to be a slightly mystical theme, it deserves an honest remake of its own.

I think it's further worth noting some serious content. The movie deals (at least obliquely) with labor relations in the mines, with the acceptance by the establishment that mediums and clairvoyants are charlatans (or entertainers, as the charlatan says), with greed (in the depression), and with marital fidelity.

The copy you can stream on Netflix is only fair--not especially sharp, and with muddled sound, probably thrown together for television broadcast decades ago. It's good enough to watch anyway, but let's all hope for a remastered version soon.

Always enjoyed the great acting of Claude Rains, who became very famous for his role in "The Invisible Man",'33. It was after this film that Rains went on to become a great dramatic actor as in "Casablanca",42, and many greater starring roles. Rains never needed cue cards, he remembered his many long lines to perfection in great Classics of the 30's, 40's and 60's with many TV appearances. In this picture Rains plays a Clairvoyant, who is really a con-artist and for some unknown reason gains great powers to foretell the future, but is unable to prevent them from happening. There is a train wreck, a horse race and many more fascinating events he predicts. Fay Wray stars as his wife and looks very attractive without her blonde hair as she appeared in "King Kong". Fay Wray also became very famous because of her role in the Kong picture and went on to have a great acting career, without all the screaming. If you have not viewed this film, try to catch it on TV.

"The Clairvoyant", also known as "The Evil Mind", is a far-fetched but interesting story, which works primarily because of Claude Rains' excellent acting in his role as a phony music-hall psychic who suddenly discovers that he has genuine psychic powers whenever a particular woman is nearby.

Rains was one of the finest actors of his era, and was at his best in playing complex, multi-faceted characters. In "The Clairvoyant", his character must struggle both to understand the nature of the unexpected ability that he has discovered, and also to handle the complications that it produces in his life and marriage, since the woman whose presence grants him real extra-sensory ability is not his wife.

The concept itself is an interesting premise, although quite implausible. It preserves some believability that no convoluted attempt is ever made to explain just why the psychic gift worked as it did - the film concentrates instead on the gift's consequences. The rest of the film works as well as it does because of Rains and also because of good work by Fay Wray and Jane Baxter as the women in his life.

There is a good suspense climax and an amusing final scene.

The writing is also good. The screen version was written by Charles Bennett, who is better known for writing the screen adaptations for several of Alfred Hitchcock's finest movies, including "The 39 Steps", "Foreign Correspondent", and both versions of "The Man Who Knew Too Much".

"The Clairvoyant" will definitely appeal to any fan of Rains, and it is a short, fast-moving picture that should also provide good light entertainment to who anyone who enjoys vintage cinema.

The Clairvoyant is directed by Maurice Elvey and adapted to the screen by Charles Bennett and Bryan Edgar Wallace from the novel written by Ernst Lothar. It stars Claude Rains, Fay Wray and Jane Baxter.

Maximus: King of the Mind Readers.

Out of Gaumont British and Gainsborough Pictures, The Clairvoyant is a compact 80 minute picture that tells of a bogus clairvoyant played by Rains who suddenly finds he does in fact have the gift. However, it's a gift he can only bring out when he is in the presence of a woman named Christine (Baxter), something which greatly unsettles his marriage to Rene (Wray). Film is structured in two wholesome parts, the first finds Maximus and Rene bluffing their way on the entertainment circuit, with Maximus then finding the gift and predicting events that really occur, both good and bad. Then the film greatly shifts in tone to play out as the gift being a curse, Maximus' private life comes under great strain and a turn of events see him come under snarling scrutiny by his peers. The seamless shifts from moody to jovial and back again is a credit to the makers, with Rains turning in a powerful performance in one of the last British films he made before heading to America and the big studio contract.

It will not surprise with the ending, and the running time means that some interesting themes are not fully born out and expanded upon. But it's very well performed across the board and has genuine moments of tension and horror once the jovial atmosphere dissipates. 7/10

1935's "The Clairvoyant" was a Gaumont-British production retitled "The Evil Mind" for US release, starring native son Claude Rains and actress Fay Wray, imported from Hollywood like Boris Karloff in 1933's "The Ghoul." Following on from "The Invisible Man," "The Man Who Reclaimed His Head," and "Mystery of Edwin Drood," Rains plays the title role of The Great Maximus, who has been developing a phony mind reading act with devoted wife Rene (Wray), but whenever in the presence of young Christine Shaw (Jane Baxter) is mysteriously able to foretell actual future events in a trance-like state. Simple predictions such as who will win the Darby earn Maximus top dollar doing his phony routine, but his enjoyment of his newfound fame is soon compromised by the public's demand for prophecies. His loving marriage is strained by his close involvement with Christine, who admits to Rene that she loves him, but the climax comes when the predicted mining disaster is blamed on Maximus himself, his attempt to warn the workers ahead of time labeled a publicity stunt. Among the unbilled faces are Donald Calthrop (soon to appear with Karloff in "The Man Who Changed His Mind"), who convinces Maximus to be true to his wife, and especially Felix Aylmer, memorable presence in such later Hammers as "The Mummy" and "Never Take Sweets from a Stranger," who truly excels as the scene stealing prosecutor tormenting Maximus on the stand. While Rains is excellent, it's really Fay Wray who stands out, turning what could have been a rather thankless role as the neglected wife into a living breathing human being, and a happy ending was had by all.

There are plenty of rough edges throughout this early CLAUDE RAINS film (released by Gainsborough), before his career went into high gear at Warner Bros. during the '30s and '40s. And yet, the story of a man who starts out as a charlatan and then really begins to see tragic events unfold, does hold the interest.

The story moves rather briskly but there's a low-budget look to the proceedings that gives it the flavor of a second feature. The performances are a bit over the top (in melodramatic '30s style), with Rains obviously enjoying his central role as a man who finds he really can predict disasters when a certain woman (JANE BAXTER) is nearby.

FAY WRAY is appealing and pretty (as a brunette) in the role of Rains' wife who is a partner in his act and JANE BAXTER does well as the other woman.

Summing up: Implausible and a little creaky in the telling, it's an old-fashioned but better than the average programmer thanks to the interest sustained by Rains' performance.

I saw this few days back on a dvd. The print n sound wasnt that great. The film is about a fake clairvoyant (Claude Rains - The invisible man) who is able to tell about things blindfolded as he is assisted by his devoted wife (Fay Wray - first scream queen) who gives him hidden clues. The fake psychic suddenly turns into a genuine one whenever he is close to Christine... There is romantic angle, drama, off-screen disasters like train n mining accidents n courtroom trial. Rains' eye expressions during psychic visions were laughable. Warning, it is not a horror film.

Claude Rains gives one of his finest performances ever -- and that's saying a lot. The rest of the cast is also first-rate in this story of a fake fortune-teller who suddenly starts seeing visions of the future for real. I really liked the small touches that director Elvey put in to make you feel as if Claude and his family really were a family -- little things like the way wife Fay Wray will touch his shoulder, the way the family talks on top of one another -- it's all carefully and perfectly done. Congratulations also to Glen MacWilliams' photography -- his footage of the mine shaft rivals Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS. Good work all around.

The Evil Mind AKA The Clairvoyant (1935) Maximus (Rains) started out as a phony clairvoyant - scamming people for money with his fake stage act. He was ridiculed harshly in front of an audience one night and the trauma was so bad he ended up with the real gift of foresight and proved it in front of all that very night. After that night he began predicting real events unfolding. But when he predicted a major disaster and decided he had to warn those involved he is accused of distracting the workers and causing the accident - now he must stand trial. Can he prove he is innocent? Can it be proved he is a real clairvoyant? Wonderful roles for Claude Rains and Fay Wray. A very good mystery-thriller of the 1930s.

7.5/10

Originally promoted with the wild tagline: "Ruled by a female Svengali, he tortured women with his world prophecies!", "The Clairvoyant" has no female Svengali and no world prophecies. And the main character does not torture women anywhere near as much as the screenwriter tortured the actresses who had to speak his lines with straight faces. Maybe women in the theatre audiences were tortured by the sight of Claude Rains' wide eyed expression in close-up whenever he is supposed to be going into a clairvoyant trance.

If trying to interest friends in old movies, this would be a poor choice. The audio is so poor that lip reading skills would be a great asset. The picture quality of the TCM print is poor, especially the contrast which has almost no mid-tones (grays). That this was a low budget production with lots of stock footage is immediately apparent but does not become glaring until they stage a really lame mine disaster, flashing the film stock to simulate the explosion and cutting in frames to create unconvincing shock waves.

Max, billed as "The Great Maximus" (Rains), is a sideshow mind reader whose act is a harmless scam. His beautiful wife Remmy (Fay Wray) and his parents feed him verbal clues from the audience and from backstage. They usually manage to fool the audience but are strictly small-time.

Then early in the film he suddenly discovers that he has actually become clairvoyant, at least when in the presence of Christine, a newspaper owner's daughter who attends one of his shows. What follows are predictions about a train wreck, a horse race, and a mining disaster. Max begins to make big money from his growing reputation. As his standard of living increases his marriage begins to unravel.

Then things get really bad for Max when it is pointed out that his actions in stopping the train and trying to keep the miners out of the tunnel actually set the events in motion that led to the disaster.

The fundamental problem with "The Clairvoyant" is a lack of unity. The first half of the film (through the horse race) and the tacked-on ending are going for humor and are quite enjoyable. Rains and Wray play off each other quite well. But the wheels fall off for most of the second half as the film changes into an overwrought melodrama with a hint of suspense and the supernatural.

Although 45, Rains was very new to films and had not yet developed the style that would make him one of Hollywood's greatest character actors. Wray is unbelievably beautiful (even more attractive minus the blonde look from "King Kong") and already had plenty of experience to go with her considerable talent. As long as she is in the frame the film is worth watching, but things bog down almost immediately when she is not present.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Seems very strange to see two famed Hollywood actors, Rains and Wray paired together in this early British low-budget film, but there they are...and a marvellous job they make of it. Rains plays Maximus, a charlatan "clairvoyant", and Wray plays his wife and act sidekick. The act is dying on it's feet when Rains pulls of an act of genuine clairvoyance, with a little help from Jane Baxter. All good fun from there...a nice little twist at the end. Well worth a look at.

Claude Rains plays the psychic Maximus, a man with no discernable talent until his mind connects with a newspaperman's heiress daughter. This little film directed with some panache and skill by Maurice Elvey chronicles the abrupt rise and fall of a vaudevillian-like music hall act. Rains is, as always, very good. A good performance with some moments of genuine ham - just watch him do the things with his eyes. Fay Wray is also a nice asset as his wife. She seems to be very bubbly and brings some gentle humor and emotion to the film. The story has some nice twists and turns and has a surprise ending of sorts. The film is obviously somewhat old and has some creaky qualities to it as well. All in all, however; I found The Clairvoyant to be a nice way to spend a cold evening.

Another typically solid production from Britain's Gainsborough Pictures, this adaptation of Ernest Lothar's novel has a terribly dated third act set in the British Royal Court but is otherwise quite entertaining. Claude Rains is fittingly mercurial as a phony psychic who is suddenly hailed as a prophet after he predicts both a train crash and a racehorse winner; however, after he attempts to save miners from a shaft he is certain will collapse, the newspapers and public turn on him as a publicity seeker. There's an odd thread involving a strange young woman who proves to be a conduit to Rains' psychic mind--her hypnotic stare provides him with the power he needs to go into a trance--yet the movie just shucks it off as second-hand business. Instead, a subplot with Claude's faithful but jealous wife is given an over-abundance of screen-time (it just makes her look like a ninny); and when Rains is lauded by a prestigious men's club, we're not sure exactly what they're celebrating or offering to him. Still, Maurice Elvey's direction is very tight (even though the crowd shots and second-unit footage are sloppy)--and when Rains goes into one of his wide-eyed, transcendental arias, look out! **1/2 from ****

Claude Rains' follow-up to THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933), for which he briefly returned to his native country, was in this stylish psychological thriller; the notion of second sight lying at its center faintly links it with the horror genre – but, then, there is Fay Wray in an adequate dramatic showcase! Rains is, as ever, compelling in the title role; interestingly, the first scene has him rehearsing the mind-reading act with wife/assistant Wray – suggesting that his 'power' is merely a pretense. Later, however, when in the presence of newspaper owner's daughter Jane Baxter, he is able to predict a train wreck – which, discovering to be the one he is traveling on himself, is able to get out of in time! Anyway, this symbiosis proves fortuitous to Rains' career (Baxter thus becomes a fixture in his life) but, at the same time, threatens to disrupt his marriage – especially when the other woman confesses her love for him! The event which turns his fortunes around is his unsuccessful attempt in alerting mine workers to an impending disaster, for which he is eventually brought to trial accused of striking panic into the workers and actually bringing about the tragedy foretold! Prosecuting attorney Felix Aylmer similarly contends that, had he not pulled the cord to disembark during that fateful train journey, the accident would not have happened either! This, of course, is a severe blow to Rains' ego (having just opted to take Baxter's side rather than Wray's because he believes it his destiny to use his new-found gift for the good of mankind!)…but, then, he gets another genuine vision (economically but very effectively handled by shining a spotlight on Rains' bulging eyes) and predicts the mine survivors' burrowing to safety – which, of course, exonerates him of all charges. After this, he gives up his gift and the very last scene has Rains (reunited with Wray) scoffing at another mind-reader's act. Trivia: chubby Graham Moffatt (best-known for his frequent sparring with my favorite British comedian Will Hay) appears briefly as the page-boy who tips the clairvoyant about the winner of the horse-racing derby.

**1/2 out of ****

Claude Rains is an entertainer named Maximus, who has a fake stage act where he reads people's minds in the audience. Fay Wray plays his wife and pretty assistant. Things become more prosperous for Max each time he sets his eyes upon another woman who inexplicably endows him with the ability to "really" predict events; he then becomes something of a celebrity. The woman falls in love with him and it jeopardizes his marriage. Worse still, Maximus goes from preventing tragedies to becoming accused of causing them.

I expected a little more from this thriller, though it was nice to see Rains and Wray together in it.

Maurice Elvey was the David Lean of the WW1 period but his status and reputation declined over the years.

This eerie thriller is one of his best sound films, playing the spooky material off against the drab British setting - theatrical boarding houses, rail travel and unruly music halls. Claude Rains and Fay Wray did better but make interesting leads here and Elvey manages some ingenious staging, particularly having the family quit the stalled train, in a tunnel. The mob storming a line of London Bobbies in the fog evokes Elvey's most important work, his many years lost Lloyd George biography and the one scene with Donald Calthrop (the blackmailer from "Blackmail") registers.

Neglected by his own industry and ignored by critics, it would be nice to see Maurice Elvey get the credit he deserves.

Claude Rains stars as Maximus in "The Clairvoyant," a British film from the Gainsborough studio which costars Fay Wray. Rains and Wray are a husband and wife team who have a mind-reading act that is dependent on a code (as I just saw demonstrated in the film "Nightmare Alley"). During a moment of anxiety on stage when his wife loses her way backstage and gets locked out, Maximus makes a prediction to the audience that turns out to be true. His new gift seems dependent on the presence of a newspaper owner's daughter (Jane Baxter) and also, though not pointed out in the film, being under great stress. His foreseeing of the future, however, seems more like a curse than a gift as it threatens his marriage, and he is incapable of stopping the trouble he sees ahead.

This is an old-fashioned, entertaining melodrama starring two people who had just become big stars, Rains (Invisible Man) and Wray (King Kong). Both are excellent, with Wray looking especially stunning. The script was written by Charles Bennett, who wrote for Hitchcock.

The curious thing about the movie was Robert Osborne's description of it on TCM, which didn't seem to jibe with the film itself. He states that the character of Maximus had predictions after terrible headaches, which I don't recall from the story, and that Maximus starts out as a con artist. A mind-reading act that describes an object being held as a fountain pen is not exactly a con, more like a parlor trick. It wasn't as if he had storefront where he took money for fortune telling.

That aside, it's interesting to see Rains and Wray in this 72-year-old film.

This film is a great tribute to the acting talent of Claude Rains. The Clairvoyant is a rather far fetched story of a fake medium who has a music hall act with his wife Fay Wray. One night he sarts making some startling predictions that come to pass.

After that he's a controversial figure, but Rains discovers the predictions only some to him when June Baxter is around. Makes for a sticky domestic situation.

Yet while you watch The clairvoyant your admiration for Rains is overwhelming. It's only after the film is over that you ask yourself wgat did I just see?

It's nonsense, but Rains makes it work.

Claude Rains stars as Maximus, a vaudevillian who pretends to have psychic powers as part of his act. He really is not a fraud per se, anymore than a magician that pulls rabbits out of a hat is a fraud. Maximus is happily married to Rene (Fay Wray), who assists him in his act. One night during a performance she accidentally gets locked out of the theatre and then has to argue with the cashier that she is an actor in the show, not someone trying to sneak in to see the show for free. While all of this is going on, the act stalls of course. The crowd becomes rowdy and a blindfolded Maximus - the blindfold is part of the act - stumbles around on stage and finally takes off the blindfold. His eye catches the piercing stare of a pretty girl in the balcony (Jane Baxter as Christine). Maximus for the first time in his life issues two real and correct prophecies - one about a man's sick wife and another about a train wreck. When the train wreck prediction comes true Maximus is bombarded with offers for higher paying jobs as a bonified psychic. He takes one of these jobs only to find that he has no more visions at all. He's about to be fired when he meets up with Christine again and correctly predicts the winner of the derby.

The situation is now complicated - Maximus only has visions in the presence of a beautiful girl who loves him, and that girl is not his wife. But things get worse. The next vision Maximus has involves a potential construction disaster in a tunnel. Since this is the first prediction that Maximus has had that will cost rich people money, none of the powers that be - not the press nor the owners of the construction project - want to stop work on Maximus' word. Maximus goes to the construction site before the shift starts and warns the workers himself. The workers are of course nervous about the prediction, but they are threatened with being fired if they don't report for their shift.

The accident happens as predicted, and Maximus is blamed and put on trial for what he has done. The theory being that the disaster happened because the workers were so nervous about the prediction that they made mistakes that caused the explosion. What we see in the tunnel doesn't contradict that statement. Will Maximus' wife leave him? Will Christine get him? Will neither of them get him because he goes to prison? Watch and find out.

This film approaches the question of predestination versus free will - did Maximus' vision of the disaster take into account his own actions before he even made a decision of what to do, or would the disaster have occurred anyways? In other words, was Maximus' action predestined or was the disaster itself predestined, or both? Do people have connections to one another that they don't really understand that bring out their own supernatural powers? Is there something more to the phrase "you bring out the best/worst in me" than meets the eye? All interesting questions, and in the tradition of the subtlety of British film they are not explicitly asked, but they are left out there hanging.

Finally there is the issue of Claude Rains' performance here. In the hands of a less capable actor you might dislike his character or find his trances hammy. Instead you feel his internal struggles and believe the guy really wants to do the right thing, he's just truly confused as to what that right thing is. Fay Wray is good here as Maximus' wife, but she's just a little too good to be true when she's faced with another woman - Christine - who admits to her that she wants to take her husband away from her. I'd recommend this one quite highly.

The story revolves around Claude Rains' character named Maximus who is a clairvoyant and who have predictions that seem to come true to much of his surprise in the beginning. It is evident that this film is a low budget, but low budget does not necessarily bad. This movie by itself was just interesting fun and easy to watch. There is a stable plot, but it doesn't really go to much depth. It's only a little over an hour anyways. But when you don't feel like thinking about all the symbolism and subplots in movies, the Clairvoyant (The Evil Mind) is a perfect film for entertainment. Besides the unmistakable Claude Rains makes the role come alive with out trying to hard! And perhaps a warning: The copy i have is ancestored, so if you play to rent or buy this movie from a seller, it may not be restored. So that's another thing to get over. There are a few jumpy parts in the condition of the film.

Charlatan clairvoyant Claude Rains (as Maximus) and impetuous wife Fay Wray (as Rene) become wealthy and successful when their con act benefits from his acquisition of real powers. The newfound ability to foretell the future comes in handy when Mr. Rains visits the racetrack. Rains' predictive powers seem to stem from mysterious Jane Baxter (as Christine Shawn), which makes Ms. Wray jealous. Call it her "woman's intuition." There are more problems for Rains when he predicts a horrific disaster, inviting some "kill the messenger" reaction from the public. Both Rains and the film's credulity are put on trial - one wins, one loses.

***** The Clairvoyant (1934) Maurice Elvey ~ Claude Rains, Fay Wray, Jane Baxter Mary Clare