The deception with tact
Just what are you trying to say?
You've got a butt face, which irritates
And with these wise words from the old master, let's go postal and "dwelve" into two films where the fix is in, and deception is often the matter at hand:
A Shriek in the Night (1933)
Grade: C-
Humdrum murder mystery starts out with a man falling to his death, goes downhill from there. It has Ginger Rogers as a spunky female reporter, Lyle Talbot as a not-spunkless male reporter, a passable plot, and not much else.
Now, though we get some stock characters (the superstitious black maid who won't go near a dead body) and sequences (the obligatory denouement in which we're reminded that "a woman's place is in the home"), it'd be unfair to say that the whole movie is purely by-the-numbers.
But a few clever touches (the cards, the little games of tit-for-tat that go on between Rogers and Talbot), plus a subtle hint of pre-Code edginess (the incinerator!), still aren't enough to elevate A Shriek in the Night beyond mediocrity. Too much of the film is slow and, alas, not terribly engaging.
Perhaps A Shriek in the Night's biggest liability is Lillian Harmer's performance as the dull-witted, hysterical housekeeper Augusta. Seldom has "comic relief" been so actively grating, so categorically unfunny.
No doubt there are vaudeville antecedents for the approach she brings to the role -- but then again, a lot of vaudeville sucked. Maybe there's some kind of Andy Kaufman-esque "unperformance" angle going on here, but we doubt it.
You might want to bump this grade up a bit if you're a Ginger Rogers fan (we're not) or a Lyle Talbot completist (we're working on it). Otherwise, no need to bother.
The Amazing Mr. X (1948)
Grade: B-
Stylish tale of two wealthy sisters who fall under the influence of a charismatic medium. The elder sister, Christine (Lynn Bari) -- a "handsome woman" if one there ever was -- is haunted by the memory of her late husband Paul, a mercurial pianist with a fondness for Chopin (particularly the Prelude in E Minor, i.e. the same damn piece everyone uses in every movie with a piano).
Nonetheless, Christine has recently become engaged to an attorney, a debonair but predictable man. He's the kind of guy who's never neglected to dot an I or cross a T in his life, but he's clearly wild about her.
Somehow, though, she still can't quite get over Paul. (It probably doesn't help to have a crappy oil painting of the dead guy glowering at them, Bea Arthur-style, whenever they make out.)
Enter the psychic (played by Turhan Bey), the Amazing Mister...
...well, Alexis, actually, since despite the title of this movie, no one ever calls him "Mr. X". Even his business cards say "Alexis", so we're guessing Marketing just picked the most interesting letter in his name and ran with it.
Anyway, he offers Christine a chance to reconnect with her deceased spouse, and also attracts the attention of her fresh-faced younger sister, Janet (Cathy O'Donnell).
We leave our viewers to discover what happens next, lest we spoil the story's ensuing twists and turns (many of which surprised us).
That said, The Amazing Mr. X is really one of those films where atmosphere and mood are almost as important as the plot. And it does achieve a kind of quirky, haunted ambience, thanks to the restrained score, impressive visual effects, and creative shot compositions. (Whoever handled the cinematography had a real fondness for unusual camera angles: one scene is shot from the bottom of a sink!)
So despite a few hokey moments, The Amazing Mr. X stands as a worthwhile effort that might not please contemporary tastes (and certainly won't scratch the itch of a blood-and-guts horror buff), but would be a fine option for a rainy afternoon with Grandma.
Well, unless Grandma's still getting over Grandpa, and Grandpa was a douchey pianist (or had a bit o' the boot-fa-chay).
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