The Amazing Mr. X
Reviews
John Chard
And he used it to rule their lives…win their love! The Spiritualist (AKA: The Amazing Mr. X) is directed by Bernard Vorhaus and collectively written by Crane Wilbur, Muriel Roy Bolton and Ian McLellan Hunter. It stars Turhan Bey, Lynn Bari and Cathy O'Donnell. Music is by Alexander Laszlo and cinematography by John Alton. Christine Faber ( Bari) thinks she hears the voice of her late husband calling out to her from the beach. Upon investigating she bumps into a mysterious stranger called Alexis (Bey) who seems to know all about her. It turns out that Alexis is a spiritualist, but is he genuine? Christine and her younger sister Janet (O'Donnell) quickly fall for Alexis' spiel and charms, but there are surprises in store for all involved… Sources suggest that preview screenings of The Spiritualist didn't go down too great, some of the more supernatural aspects of the story proved to be unintentionally funny. Apparently? In truth when viewing now it is a bit creaky in that department, but atmosphere is everything in a film like this and the makers get it mostly right. It sort of floats on ethereal waters, never hurried it indulges us in some impressive imagery whilst letting us into the trick laden world of a phony medium. The moon and the sea are characters in their own right, and Alton and Vorhaus bring them into the psychological play, while primary human characters are either gorging on obsession or manipulating to feather ones own nest. Then a twist comes that doesn't hinder the narrative or mood, in fact it aids the story considerably. Director Vorhaus pitches the film somewhere in between a noir and a ghost story, sprinkles a bit of romanticism on the top and has fun debunking the art of spiritualism in the process. There's also a fun glint in the eye during proceedings (with one incredulous reaction from Alexis particularly joyous), something that is clearly intentional and was most likely misread by those preview audiences mentioned earlier. With John Alton working his cinematography wonders (expressive light and angles, looming shadows and misty close ups) and a very agreeable cast (including a smart Raven) making the story work in spite of some credibility stretching in the script, it rounds out as a very enjoyable, sometimes intelligent, picture. Undeniably without Alton though, it wouldn't be half as decent, he is the guiding force in the production. Alton's book Painting with Light (1949) features The Spiritualist prominently and it's evident the great man was tinkering with his talents here. The other notable link to the film is a sad one, the role of Christine Faber was signed sealed and delivered to Carole Landis, but just before the film went into production she committed suicide, aged just 29. On to more cheery things, home format availability? Numerous releases of the film have surfaced over the years, most have been bad transfers from public domain sources, however, now we do have a definitive release from Sony Classic (under the title The Spiritualist) that is a very decent print and takes us viewers firmly into the strange world of Mr. X. It makes a nice accompaniment to John Farrow's Night of a Thousand Eyes, also from 1948, with both films serving as perfect appetiser's to Edmund Goulding's Nightmare Alley (1947). 7.5/10
Movie Recommendation
American Graffiti1973-08-11A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.More...
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands1948-10-30Bill Saunders, a former prisoner of war living in England, whose experiences have left him unstable and violent, gets into a bar fight in which he kills a man and then flees. He hides out with the assistance of a nurse, Jane Wharton, who believes his story that the killing was an accident.More...
My Dear Secretary1948-11-05A budding young writer thinks it's her lucky day when she is chosen to be the new secretary for Owen Waterbury, famous novelist. She is soon disppointed, however, when he turns out to be an erratic, immature playboy. Opposites attract, of course, but not without sub-plots that touch on competitiveness within marriage and responsibility.More...
Parasite2019-05-30All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.More...
Schindler's List1993-12-15The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.More...
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End2007-05-19Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann join forces with the revived Captain Barbossa to free Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones' locker. The group must navigate dangerous waters, confront many foes and, ultimately, choose sides in a battle wherein piracy itself hangs in the balance.More...
Shutter Island2010-02-14World War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by troubling visions and a mysterious doctor.More...
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone2001-11-16Harry Potter has lived under the stairs at his aunt and uncle's house his whole life. But on his 11th birthday, he learns he's a powerful wizard—with a place waiting for him at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he learns to harness his newfound powers with the help of the school's kindly headmaster, Harry uncovers the truth about his parents' deaths—and about the villain who's to blame.More...
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes2024-05-08Several generations following Caesar's reign, apes – now the dominant species – live harmoniously while humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all he's known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.More...
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban2004-05-31Year three at Hogwarts means new fun and challenges as Harry learns the delicate art of approaching a Hippogriff, transforming shape-shifting Boggarts into hilarity and even turning back time. But the term also brings danger: soul-sucking Dementors hover over the school, an ally of the accursed He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named lurks within the castle walls, and fearsome wizard Sirius Black escapes Azkaban. And Harry will confront them all.More...
Brothers2009-12-02When his helicopter goes down during his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan, Marine Sam Cahill is presumed dead. Back home, brother Tommy steps in to look over Sam’s wife, Grace, and two children. Sam’s surprise homecoming triggers domestic mayhem.More...
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire2005-11-16When Harry Potter's name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, he becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools—the Triwizard Tournament. But since Harry never submitted his name for the Tournament, who did? Now Harry must confront a deadly dragon, fierce water demons and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of He Who Must Not Be Named.More...
The Hangover Part II2011-05-25The Hangover crew heads to Thailand for Stu's wedding. After the disaster of a bachelor party in Las Vegas last year, Stu is playing it safe with a mellow pre-wedding brunch. However, nothing goes as planned and Bangkok is the perfect setting for another adventure with the rowdy group.More...
Joker2019-10-01During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.More...
The Green Mile1999-12-10A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.More...
Oppenheimer2023-07-19The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.More...
Tremors 3: Back to Perfection2001-10-02Survivalist Burt Gummer returns home to Perfection, to find that the little town has been shaken up again by morphing, man-eating Graboids.More...
Before Sunset2004-06-16Nine years later, Jesse travels across Europe giving readings from a book he wrote about the night he spent in Vienna with Celine. After his reading in Paris, Celine finds him, and they spend part of the day together before Jesse has to again leave for a flight. They are both in relationships now, and Jesse has a son, but as their strong feelings for each other start to return, both confess a longing for more.More...
Tokyo Story1953-11-03The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.More...
Fargo1996-03-08Jerry, a small-town Minnesota car salesman is bursting at the seams with debt... but he's got a plan. He's going to hire two thugs to kidnap his wife in a scheme to collect a hefty ransom from his wealthy father-in-law. It's going to be a snap and nobody's going to get hurt... until people start dying. Enter Police Chief Marge, a coffee-drinking, parka-wearing - and extremely pregnant - investigator who'll stop at nothing to get her man. And if you think her small-time investigative skills will give the crooks a run for their ransom... you betcha!More...
Similar Movies
Broken Threads
1976-04-11A foreign agent, Sami Ameni, wants to find another agent, with whom he has collaborated during WWII, in order to blow up a factory.Vampyr
1932-05-06A student of the occult encounters supernatural haunts and local evildoers in a village outside of Paris.The Day the Earth Sto...
1951-09-28An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.M
1931-05-11In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.Strangers on a Train
1951-06-27Having met on a train, a smooth-talking psychotic socialite shares his theory on how two complete strangers can get away with murder to an amateur tennis player — a theory he plans to test out.Nosferatu
1922-02-16The mysterious Count Orlok summons Thomas Hutter to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen. After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle, knowing that Ellen is in grave danger. Meanwhile Orlok's servant, Knock, prepares for his master to arrive at his new home.Out of the Past
1947-11-25The peaceful life of a gas station owner is disrupted when a man from his past arrives in town and forces him to return to the dark world he had tried to escape.A Streetcar Named Des...
1951-09-19A disturbed, aging Southern belle moves in with her sister for solace — but being face-to-face with her brutish brother-in-law accelerates her downward spiral.Murder at the Gallop
1963-06-24Miss Marple and Mr. Stringer are witnesses to the death by heart attack of elderly, rich Mr. Enderby. Yet they have their doubts about what happened. The police don't believe them, thus leading Miss Marple to yet again investigate by herself.Murder Most Foul
1964-03-01A murderer is brought to court and only Miss Marple is unconvinced of his innocence. Once again she begins her own investigation.Murder Ahoy
1964-09-22During an annual board of trustees meeting, one of the trustees dies. Miss Marple thinks he’s been poisoned after finding a chemical on him. She sets off to investigate at the ship where he had just come from. The fourth and final film from the Miss Marple series starring Margaret Rutherford as the quirky amateur detective.Godzilla
1954-11-03Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Kyohei Yamane soon discover something far more devastating than imagined in the form of a 50 meter tall monster whom the natives call Gojira. Now the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.Godzilla Raids Again
1955-04-24Two fishing scout pilots make a horrifying discovery when they encounter a second Godzilla alongside a new monster named Anguirus. Without the weapon that killed the original, authorities attempt to lure Godzilla away from the mainland. But Anguirus soon arrives and the two monsters make their way towards Osaka as Japan braces for tragedy.Double Indemnity
1944-07-06A seductive housewife draws an insurance salesman into a plot of adultery and crime to collect on her husband's life insurance.The Third Man
1949-08-31In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime, only to learn he has died. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a "third man" present at the time of Harry's death, running into interference from British officer Major Calloway, and falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken lover, Anna.Elevator to the Gallo...
1958-01-29A self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.Touch of Evil
1958-03-30When a car bomb explodes on the American side of the U.S./Mexico border, Mexican drug enforcement agent Miguel Vargas begins his investigation, along with American police captain Hank Quinlan. When Vargas begins to suspect that Quinlan and his shady partner, Menzies, are planting evidence to frame an innocent man, his investigations into their possible corruption quickly put himself and his new bride, Susie, in jeopardy.Singapore Sling
1990-12-06Singapore Sling is chasing after Laura, a romantic memory from his past. One night he finds himself in a mysterious villa, watching two women bury a body. He falls into their trap and, in an atmosphere of isolation and decadence, the trio act out insane pleasure games and a ritual of blood and murder.Criss Cross
1949-02-04An armored-car guard must join a robbery after being caught with his ex-wife by her gangster husband.Dressed to Kill
1946-05-24A convicted thief in Dartmoor prison hides the location of the stolen Bank of England printing plates inside three music boxes. When the innocent purchasers of the boxes start to be murdered, Holmes and Watson investigate.