Rainey Dawn The Evil Mind AKA The Clairvoyant (1935) Maximus (Rains) started out as a phony clairvoyant - scamming people for money with his fake stage act. He was ridiculed harshly in front of an audience one night and the trauma was so bad he ended up with the real gift of foresight and proved it in front of all that very night. After that night he began predicting real events unfolding. But when he predicted a major disaster and decided he had to warn those involved he is accused of distracting the workers and causing the accident - now he must stand trial. Can he prove he is innocent? Can it be proved he is a real clairvoyant? Wonderful roles for Claude Rains and Fay Wray. A very good mystery-thriller of the 1930s.7.5/10

binapiraeus This is a VERY unusual movie - because, in contrast to the many other movies with supernatural subjects, that clearly uncover them at some point as charlatanry, with fake séances and other known tricks of the trade, "The Clairvoyant" actually suggests to us that there ARE such supernatural powers! (The only other classic movie of that kind that I can remember is "Night Has a Thousand Eyes".) The funny thing is that, in the beginning, we're being pretty clearly informed that 'the Great Maximus' IS a charlatan, and how he does his tricks at a modest little vaudeville show. BUT as soon as a certain woman turns up in the audience one evening, he clearly changes and suddenly is able to REALLY foresee future events - and his mother from behind the scenes realizes, shivering: "I know what that is; my father had it: it's the gift to SEE..." And actually, he foresees a horrible train accident while they're on their way home - and this strange woman passes him by again... They get off the train; and soon afterward, there's the crash he foretold...Now things change radically in Maximus' life - and in his character, too: he becomes pretty much conceited, and bargains for a big engagement at a famous theater, although his wife and assistant Rene begs him to give the whole thing up... Well, but his gift seems to have disappeared together with the strange woman; and so he gets fired soon. But then the woman comes to visit him, and turns out to be Christine Shawn, the daughter of a very influential businessman - and immediately, his 'gift' returns: spontaneously, he predicts the (VERY unlikely) derby winner; and is once again right, and celebrated by the public.He's introduced to the 'high society' by Christine's father - which makes Rene jealous, and she decides on the spur of the moment to leave him while he's speaking at a banquet. But at the same moment Christine turns up - and now Maximus starts foreseeing REALLY tragic events; with horrible consequences for himself...This movie, whether you find its insisting on supernatural powers crazy or not, is in ANY case worth watching for every fan of classic cinema: first of all, it gives Claude Rains the possibility to show as 'the Great Maximus' ALL nuances of his huge acting talent, from the cocksure swindler to the genuinely frightened man - frightened by himself and his 'powers'. Then there's of course lovely Fay Wray as his wife Rene, who, besides her usual sweetness, is also allowed to show a display of jealousy here - which gradually changes to some strange kind of sympathy with Christine, who 'gives' her husband his inspirations. There are moments of genuine drama, of supreme suspense, of emotions of all kinds, and even of humor to lighten up the atmosphere; anyway, there's not a MOMENT of boredom throughout the whole movie!

robert-temple-1 This is a superb early film starring Claude Rains, where he gives a performance which is a true tour de force. In it, he plays a stage performer who does a music hall act as a clairvoyant, jointly with his wife, played by Fay Wray. The techniques used for faking the clairvoyant insights on stage are largely those used by Erik Jan Hanussen (1889-1933), Frederick Marion (real name Josef Kraus, born 1892 in Prague, who was known personally by a close friend of mine who assured me of his genuine abilities), and other famous clairvoyants for their stage shows, where the associate asks the blindfolded clairvoyant in a complex code whatever she is holding in her hand, which belongs to a member of the audience. However, Rains has occasional outbursts of genuine clairvoyance (as both Hanussen and Marion also did), something which his grandfather had also had, and which led to his ruin, says her other ominously. This film is based on a novel, of which I have long had a copy, by the Austrian writer Ernst Lothar (1890-1974) set in Germany and entitled DER HELLSEHER (THE CLAIRVOYANT), published in Berlin in 1929. The English translation by Beatrice Ryan came out in 1932, and the film was released two years later. The story in the film however is transposed from Germany to England, and greatly changed. There can be little doubt that Hanussen was the direct inspiration for this tale. Istvan Szabo made his film HANUSSEN in 1988 about the same man, who became Hitler's favourite clairvoyant but was murdered in 1933 by the Gestapo. Perhaps because he had written this revealing novel, Lothar became a banned author in Nazi Germany. Like Hanussen, Rains in the film starts as an obscure performer but through massive publicity becomes wealthy and influential. His fame commences when he correctly predicts a terrible train crash at Manchester, Then he predicts a Derby winner (in the novel it was the 'German Derby', though I know nothing about German racing and cannot say where such a race may have been held before the War, though I have never heard of a 'German Derby' in contemporary times), the odds on whom are 100 to 1. The horse wins, and the whole country becomes hysterical with awe and adulation for Rains. However, as with all clairvoyants, Rains cannot control his 'gift' and despite constant pleas to use it, he is powerless to turn it on and off, as it just comes unpredictably. That is why Madame Blavatsky had to fake things, because you cannot be a medium or a clairvoyant in fits and starts, you have to be continuous in order to satisfy the impatient and demanding public, and no clairvoyants have the ability to do that. The only solution is to intersperse the real thing with faked incidents, but then they are inevitably exposed and discredited. The character Christine, played by Jane Baxter, has a psychic resonance with Rains and when she is present, she triggers his genuine clairvoyant insights. When she is absent, he is rendered powerless in that respect. His wife naturally becomes very jealous, because Christine is highly attractive. Fay Wray, by birth a Canadian, manages a perfect English understatement in the film when, to express her obsessive love for her husband, she says to him while turned away from him: 'I'm rather in love with you.' How English can you get? It is amazing that she managed to get her upper lip unstiffened so that she could go on to appear in KING KONG. Perhaps she was saving her real emotions for a gorilla. Some girls are like that, and we normal guys will never understand what they see in such brutal, coarse and hairy types. (Nor will I ever understand why women like men with rough three-day stubble on their faces, considering how scratched they get when kissing such a creature. It must be some form of masochism which needs to be studied by psychologists. And speaking of ultra-submission, has anyone ever studied the writhing motions of Fay Wray and Jessica Lange when in the presence of King Kong? What does it mean?) But to return to the demure but insanely jealous Fay Wray of this film: one can't but notice how dark her hair is. Surely that is not the Fay Wray we thought we knew. Rains's mother in the film is played by Mary Clare, that great specialist in faces of doom. Here she moderates those talents but does manage some doom and gloom observations and some highly ominous looks, all very effective in building the tension. The film was directed by the talented Maurice Elvey, director of 196 films commencing in 1913, many of which are lost. Elvey often rose to great heights, as for instance in his HINDLE WAKES (aka FANNY HAWTHORNE, 1927) and his film of Stefan Zweig's novel BEWARE OF PITY (1946) where Lilli Palmer plays the girl in the wheelchair with perfect pathos. Here, Felix Aylmer plays the terrifying prosecutor when Rains is prosecuted for causing a mining disaster at Humber Tunnel for ostensibly causing panic by predicting the collapse of the tunnel. But then Jane Baxter enters the courtroom, triggers Rains's genuine clairvoyance again in front of the judge and jury, with dramatic results. The comic actor Graham Moffatt makes his second uncredited screen appearance in this film as a page boy. It was Rains's fifth film and certainly one the best performances of his career. This film is a gem.

wes-connors Charlatan clairvoyant Claude Rains (as Maximus) and impetuous wife Fay Wray (as Rene) become wealthy and successful when their con act benefits from his acquisition of real powers. The newfound ability to foretell the future comes in handy when Mr. Rains visits the racetrack. Rains' predictive powers seem to stem from mysterious Jane Baxter (as Christine Shawn), which makes Ms. Wray jealous. Call it her "woman's intuition." There are more problems for Rains when he predicts a horrific disaster, inviting some "kill the messenger" reaction from the public. Both Rains and the film's credulity are put on trial - one wins, one loses.***** The Clairvoyant (1934) Maurice Elvey ~ Claude Rains, Fay Wray, Jane Baxter Mary Clare