Must See Movie...

Don't listen to the negative reviews

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Of course, most (if not all) mind readers are phony, and that is definitely the case with Warren William here, playing one of his most notorious scoundrels. He's a second-rate carny medicine man salesman who sees a mind reader at work and decides to get in on the scam. At first doing a tacky mind reading act, he's soon the toast of women's society, finding out the scoop on various men cheating on their wives and this leads to a confrontation by one of the husbands and a struggle for a gun that leads to the man's death. Constance Cummings, cast as his naive wife, happens to be a friend of one of the socialites with a cheating spouse, and arrives at William's office, unaware that the notorious society psychic is in fact her own husband. She's held for his murder as William disappears, but when his conscience takes over and she lies ailing in a prison hospital, he must make a life-changing decision that could bring on either atonement or damnation.One of the premiere scoundrels of the pre-code era of Hollywood cinema, Warren William was the George Sanders of his day. He played either likable, dashing schnooks or borderline criminals, all on the take, all after women (married or not) and all morally reprehensible. His right-hand man (Frank McHugh) stands by him through thick and thin, and he even has a black assistant (Clarence Muse) who arranges for allegedly burnt questions from the audience to flow down a tube to McHugh who then reads them into a small microphone which only William can here. There's a very haunting scene featuring Mayo Methot (at one time the wife of Humphrey Bogart) as a victim of William's phony mind reading who tells him off then takes drastic measures to deal with the fall-out of his incorrect advice. Natalie Moorehead has one great scene as one of the society women William utilizes in his schemes to rise to the top of his racket.Somewhat disturbing due to the lack of scruples of the leading character, this is still fascinating because of the no-holds barred way it reveals his rise, fall and come-uppance. McHugh gets a hysterical line in the final scene which pretty much sums up the irreverent way in which the characters liked to live their heinous lifestyles. Some great art direction and a truly snappy screenplay are aided with the direction of Roy Del Ruth. In spite the implausibility of how Cummings comes to discover her husband's betrayal and her ridiculous naiveté over it all, this is pre-code drama at its finest. William shows that he's more than just dashing window dressing for the great ladies of Warner Brothers' golden age (Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Joan Blondell to mention a few) and that with the right part, he was truly one outstanding actor.

A trio of con artists (Warren William, Allen Jenkins and Clarence Muse) travels from city to city in middle America swindling suckers with a bogus mind reading act featuring William as "Chandra the Great," complete with turban and crystal ball. We the screen audience get to see the trickery behind his apparent clairvoyance, but a pretty, unemployed stenographer (Constance Cummings) is not so fortunate, and besotted with William's talents, joins his itinerant enterprise. Eventually she finds out what is really going on, but by then it's too late because she has fallen in love with her employer, and he with her. To elaborate further would spoil the impact of this unusual pre-Code film, but I will say that its chief problem is that Cummings is just too smart to be as innocently unaware of certain things as the screenplay tries to make her, so we stop taking the story seriously. However, there remains much witty and mature dialogue, striking cinematography, and this interesting group of performers. William gets the opportunity to play the on- and offstage modes of his character and also makes the most of an extended drunk scene. Cummings, largely wasted here, projects a tart intelligence that is probably more than the role deserves. Jenkins, the eternal sidekick, gets a generous share of the verbal zingers and Muse's role goes beyond the subservient nonsense usually assigned to black supporting players at that time. Mayo Methot, the future Mrs. Humphrey Bogart, appears briefly as a grief-deranged victim of Chandra's charlatanry.Like so many feature films of the early 30's, this one moves along briskly so that none of its improbabilities have time to sink in and ruin the fun.

This early film is rarely seen these days. Thanks to TCM, we had the opportunity to watch it. As directed by Roy Del Ruth, the film tackles the problem of the itinerant con men running wild all over the country peddling home remedies and even serving as dentists to a naive public that were easily swindled.At the center of the story, we see a man that discovers how to make a fast buck by giving readings to unsuspecting folks for a dollar. It's the cruelest of the scams because unsuspecting people put faith in the predictions these charlatans have to offer. We get to know the fate of one woman who comes back to tell Chandra how his reading turned to be a tragedy for her.Warren William plays the great Chandra with charm. He is totally convincing as the person who has the solution for every problem, for a price. Constance Cummings is Sylvia, the young girl whose life is changed by Chandra. Allen Jenkins plays Chandra's assistant in one of his best roles. We get to see briefly Mayo Methot in the pivotal role of Jenny.

Warren William turns in a superb performance. Allen Jenkins, always fun if a bit tedious in later comic gangster tales, does fine. The fine black actor Clarence Muse is given a meaty role and does beautifully by it. And Constance Cummings, whom I saw several decades after this in a magnificent performance on Broadway, is excellent.This is a dark, twisting tale. William is a grifter who's tried a few rackets before he hits on mind reading. He and Jenkins pull some shady business in Cummings's hometown (emphasis on town) but she falls for him. She thinks he's the real thing, for a while, and he tries hard to go straight for her.There is no wrong move. It's taut and disturbing. Roy del Ruth was a sensationally good director at this time, though this is darker than what he generally worked with.No happy Hollywood ending is slapped on. William is seen about to pay for his evil ways but it sure doesn't look as if he is going to get a last-minute reprieve, nor does he seem particularly changed in his soul.Keep an eye out for this one!