The Amazing Mr. X

What a weird film! SPOILERS THROUGHOUT. 'The Amazing Mr X' starts out implying that it's going to be a supernatural story, featuring a medium (Turhan Bey as the sinister Alexis) with genuine psychic powers, which he kindly wields for the benefit of wealthy widow Christine. Then, about a third of the way through the movie, we learn that Alexis is a fraud, using various tricks (including a confederate in his victim's household) to 'mind-read' his mark. When we've convinced ourselves that this is a standard caper movie with spooky trimmings, abruptly Christine's husband comes back from the dead ... and we wonder if this movie is going to be supernatural after all. But then there's ANOTHER twist...

Filmed on a medium-low budget, this movie is quite stylish, with subtle camera movements and moody set dressing. I was impressed by the performance of Cathy O'Donnell as Christine's sister. O'Donnell never got very far in Hollywood: her chief assets were her good looks and the fact that she was related to director William Wyler. Much less impressive is stodgy Richard Carlson as a successful lawyer who doesn't seem to have any respect for the legal principle of probable cause, nor for the laws against breaking and entering.

A major flaw in this film is that I didn't have much sympathy for the heroine. She's allegedly mourning her dead husband, yet she recently bought a new ermine ... and she's got plenty of other furs and dresses. Frankly, it doesn't bother me at all when people with lots of money and free time (and very little sense) get clipped by phony clairvoyants.

Christine's husband Paul, back from the dead after two years, was never dead after all. This is another flaw in the film's credibility: we never learn how this man, accustomed to luxury, has been supporting himself for two years while officially declared dead. The entire film would have been so much more plausible if the script had given Paul a single explanatory line such as "Good thing I had somebody else's Social Security number handy, so I could get a job...".

The stand-out performance in this film is given by Harry Mendoza, a professional magician who demonstrates solid acting ability here as Hoffman, the cynical private eye. In his key dialogue scene, Mendoza keeps performing simple prestidigitation -- palming a cigar, then making the same cigar appear out of nowhere, over and over -- that's quite impressive in its own right, and made more impressive by the way it underlines the cynical tone of his words. Also quite impressive is a trained crow who really deserved to get his (her?) own billing in the cast list. Norma Varden is good in a very brief role as one of Alexis's other victims.

Also impressive are the seance sequences, in which we witness some of the genuine techniques used by phony clairvoyants using the most advanced electronics of the time: 1948. Can you imagine the 'magic' these charlatans are able to produce nowadays, with modern electronics? 'The Amazing Mr X' is wildly implausible but stylishly enjoyable, and I'll rate it 7 out of 10.

Several people posting about this film have mentioned that it must be preserved or ought to be preserved, so I am writing to say: www.archive.org has the film digitized in several formats. I downloaded the smaller version, about 250MB, and it's watchable. But they have also digitized it for DVD burning, with an enormous and detailed file that is 2.8G in size.

Archive.org is a non-profit preservation site that digitizes old films whose copyright has expired. They are a wonderful resource, and I encourage all old film lovers to use them extensively and recommend them to their friends.

I have watched more than a dozen of their films in the past month. They're wonderful.

After two years of mourning, lovely Lynn Bari (as Christine "Chris" Faber) seems ready to re-marry. But, Ms. Bari is haunted by the memories of her dead husband (or her dead husband himself, you will have to decide). Bari lives in a Gothic seaside mansion with her younger sister Cathy O'Donnell (as Janet Burke), who encourages her to wed proposing Richard Carlson (as Martin Abbott). Then, off to date Mr. Carlson, Bari meets spooky spiritualist Turhan Bey (as Alexis), who talks to dead people... John Alton's gorgeous photography should knock you out of your séance chair. Director Bernard Vorhaus is nearly as seamless. Mr. Bey's performance patches up a few irritating production details. The bird is terrific. This film needed a little more effort, but it very often glows like a gem.

******* The Amazing Mr. X (1948) Bernard Vorhaus ~ Turhan Bey, Lynn Bari, Cathy O'Donnell

This unusual little thriller, which turned up in a DVD collection of cheapie horror "classics" that I picked up, turns out to be a real discovery. Unusually fine camera-work, a smart, witty script, and good performances (especially by the feline Bey) suggest the makers took a few tips from the Val Lewton films, and maybe from Gregg Toland's cinematography on "Citizen Kane." (Note the fine deep-focus shots.) The set-up, with Bey as a dubious medium enticing a widow by claiming contact with her late husband, allows for some fun sequences involving the medium's tricky house, and some good spooky haunting scenes. All around, an enjoyable, tightly-made little treat.

I'd heard a lot of good things about this movie and I'm pleased to say that when I finally watched it I wasn't disappointed. Aside from an occasional choppy edit there really isn't much to find fault with here --- I'll echo the praise many other viewers have offered for the striking imagery, the acting, and the clever script. The movie features several ingenious plot twist which manage to keep you guessing right up to the last scene. Not a film for jaded slasher fans, of course, but so what. THE AMAZING MR. X was made for more sophisticated palates and can hold its head up beside the works of Val Lewton or Jacques Tourneur's NIGHT OF THE DEMON.