Événement

NOIR CITY 20: LARCENY / THE SPIRITUALIST a/k/a The Amazing Mr. X

Larceny (1:00)
Originally released September 3, 1948
Universal. 89 minutes
Screenplay by Williams Bowers, Herb Margolis, and Lou Morheim, based on the novel The Velvet Fleece by Lois Eby and John C. Fleming
Produced by Leonard Goldstein
Directed by George Sherman
John Payne and Dan Duryea play dandy grifters bent on bilking a wealthy war widow (Joan Caulfield) into funding a non-existent war memorial. Both these sharpies get tangled up with saucy Shelley Winters, who is more dangerous than a loaded .38! The cast has a field day firing Bowers' one-liners faster than speeding bullets. We once had to screen this riotously entertaining, little-known gem in 16mm (at NOIR CITY 4), but we are thrilled to now show it in a glorious 35mm print courtesy of Universal Pictures. Also featuring Dorothy Hart, Dan O'Herlihy, and Percy Helton.

The Spiritualist a/k/a The Amazing Mr. X (3:00)
Originally released July 29, 1948
Eagle-Lion Films. 78 minutes
Screenplay by Muriel Roy Bolton and Ian McLellan Hunter, from a story by Crane Wilbur
Produced by Benjamin Stoloff
Directed by Bernard Vorhaus
John Alton's stunning cinematography elevates to exhilarating heights this clever story of a psychic (Turhan Bey) insinuating himself into the moody cliffside mansion of a wealthy widow (Lynn Bari) by convincing her, and her less impressionable daughter (Cathy O'Donnell), that he can communicate with the dead. Filled with clever visual gags and tricky sleight of hand, and featuring a smooth-as-silk turn by Bey as the sophisticated charlatan. One of the most satisfying B films of the era.

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