The Amazing Mr. X

"In his eyes, the threat of terror! In his hands, the power to destroy!"

1948 1h 18m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 51

ThrillerHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

On the beach one night, Christine Faber, two years a widow, thinks she hears her late husband Paul calling out of the surf...then meets a tall dark man, Alexis, who seems to know all about such things. After more ghostly manifestations, Christine and younger sister Janet become enmeshed in the eerie artifices of Alexis; but he in turn finds himself manipulated into deeper deviltry than he had in mind...

“In his eyes, the threat of terror! In his hands, the power to destroy!”

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Cast

Turhan Bey
Alexis
Lynn Bari
Christine Faber
Cathy O'Donnell
Janet Burke
Richard Carlson
Martin Abbott
Donald Curtis
Paul Faber
Virginia Gregg
Emily
Norma Varden
Wealthy looking woman
Harry Mendoza
Hoffman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Bernard Vorhaus
Writers: Ian McLellan Hunter, Muriel Roy Bolton, Crane Wilbur
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 78-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

78 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Bernard Vorhaus, shot by John Alton. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alexander Laszlo. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Norman Colbert shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Turhan Bey and Lynn Bari and Cathy O'Donnell carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In his eyes, the threat of terror! In his hands, the power to destroy!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Bernard Vorhaus directs. John Alton behind the camera. Alexander Laszlo scores. Norman Colbert cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 78-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
278 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Bernard Vorhaus, shot by John Alton. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Alexander Laszlo. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Norman Colbert shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Turhan Bey and Lynn Bari and Cathy O'Donnell carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "In his eyes, the threat of terror! In his hands, the power to destroy!".
9IMDB entry: tt0040829 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 51 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
11Classified under 16 themes, including "mystic", "film noir", "black and white", "beach house".

The technical file

Cinematography: John Alton
Original score: Alexander Laszlo
Editing: Norman Colbert
Makeup / hair: Joan St. Oegger
Runtime: 78 min · 1h 18m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Amazing Mr. X (1948)

Also by

Bernard Vorhaus

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2013-11-02
★ 7.5/10
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

Production companies