| The Amazing Mr. X (The Spiritualist) |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Bernard Vorhaus |
| Produced by | Benjamin Stoloff |
| Written by | Crane Wilbur Muriel Roy Bolton Ian McLellan Hunter |
| Starring | Turhan Bey Lynn Bari Cathy O'Donnell |
| Music by | Alexander Laszlo |
| Cinematography | John Alton |
| Editing by | Norman Colbert |
| Distributed by | Eagle-Lion Films |
| Release date(s) | July 29, 1948 |
| Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Amazing Mr. X (1948), also known as The Spiritualist, is a film noir directed by Bernard Vorhaus with cinematography by John Alton. Like Nightmare Alley (1947), this film tells the story of a phony spiritualist racket. The film is prominently featured in Alton's book on cinematography Painting with Light (1949).
The film stars Turhan Bey, Lynn Bari, Cathy O'Donnell, and Richard Carlson. Eagle-Lion Films signed a contract with Carole Landis for the part played by Bari, but Landis committed suicide a few days before shooting began.
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Two years after her husband's death, Christine Faber (Lynn Bari) thinks she hears her late husband (Donald Curtis) calling out of the surf on the beach one night.
She meets a tall dark man named Alexis (Turhan Bey) who seems to know all about her.
After more ghostly manifestations, Christine and her younger sister (Cathy O'Donnell) become enmeshed in the strange life of Alexis; but he in turn finds himself manipulated into deeper cruelness than he had in mind.
At preview screenings, audiences found some parts of the film to be funny, and therefore drew unintended laughs.[1]