Judith Munat

This remake of a 1947 film starring Tyrone power and Joan Blondell is Actually the story of a guy Who is seeking a living after an unfortunate and Ambiguous past. He leaves a burning house and an unidentified corpse And sets off to seek his fortune with a traveling carnival in New York. After befriending and iearninhg the tricks of the trade from The various members of the carnival and seducing the women with his empathetic personality, he sets off with Molly to form a two person act in which she is the assistant and He plays the medium who reads The mind and the past life of his victims. As he becomes more adept at his trade and gains in wealth, he oversteps his limits involving a female psychiarist and a tycoon who freely gives him cash in the desire to communicate with his deceased wife. The plot becomes more complicated and we don’t know whether he is actually reliving his own former life or creating his own living hell as he delves into that of others. The excellent performance of the actors and the unsolved mysteries of the case keep the viewer guessing as we are drawn in to The motives and The psyches of the various characters . we never really know the difference between past and present or whether it is simply a trip into the unconscious. An intriguing tour de force in what I would call a psychological thriller rather than a horror movie.