The Amazing Mr. X

For the next few weeks I'll be taking a look at films directed by Bernard Vorhaus, a director of mostly B-films in the post-war era. He was a mentor to David Lean, and was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He died at age 96 in 2000.

First up is The Amazing Mr. X, from 1948. When I started it, I figured it would be good for some laughs, as the print looks as if it were unearthed from a peat bog. But I was in for a pleasant surprise. It's a well made little thriller that has a twist that I didn't see coming, and at the center a character who is both villain and hero.

Also known as The Spiritualist, the film introduces us to Lynn Bari as a rich widow. She's still pining for her dead husband, but is proposed to by Richard Carlson. But she starts to hear voices coming from the sea, and while walking on the beach she runs into a strange man, Turhan Bey, who seems to know all about her. He is a psychic consultant. Why he is walking along the beach in a dinner jacket is never explained.

Bari goes to see him, and we learn that Bey is nothing but a con man. Carlson and Bari's sister, Cathy O'Donnell, try to talk reason to her. O'Donnell goes undercover to see Bey, but his smooth talk convinces her he's on the level. Even after Carlson gets a detective to try to expose Bey, the women believe him. That's where the twist comes in, and I won't spoil it.

The film is highlighted by the atmospheric black and white photography by John Alton. A scene in which Bari imagines her wedding gown coming at her is breathtaking, and though the special effects are primitive, a seance with projected images is quite effective. Vorhaus also uses non-standard angles, such as shooting from the point of view of a sink drain, or shooting from below through a glass table, giving the film a noir look.

The Amazing Mr. X, despite it's horrid condition, is well worth a look.