The Amazing Mr. X (1948)

John Alton's cinematography is stunning, 27 March 2008

Alexis (Turhan Bey) is a con man preying on people's desires to communicate with their dearly departed. His new target, Christine Faber (Lynn Bari), is a wealthy woman who has lost her husband. But with Christine, the would-be spiritualist may have bitten off more than he can chew when to Alexis' utter astonishment Christine's dead husband makes a return appearance from the grave. Alexis must go from huckster to hero if he's to save Christine and her sister Janet (Cathy O'Donnel), whom he's developed a real fondness for, from this murderous man come back from the dead.

What a ridiculous title for an masterfully filmed and very entertaining movie. In comparison with a lot of the other B-quickies of the 40s, The Amazing Mr. X features a very well crafted script that's an interesting blend of horror and film noir. The movie is well paced with several nice plot twists along the way. Just when you start to think you're watching a Gothic horror piece, the movie shifts gears and turns from a supernatural thriller to a crime thriller. And the character Alexis changes from a medium in communication with the dead to a phony con-man to the film's hero. It's all these twists that keep The Amazing Mr. X interesting throughout. All of the actors involved to an excellent job. I was particular impressed with Turhan Bey as Alexis and Cathy O'Donnell as the sister, Janet. Finally, as almost every comment on IMDb has noted, John Alton's cinematography is stunning. Films with ten times the budget don't look this good. It's an interesting mix of light, shadows, and creative camera angles. Alton certainly deserves all the praise he's received.

7/10