Great Film overall

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Producer Joseph Judson Cohn (who rarely took a credit for his work) was once asked how long he had been working for M.G.M. He replied, "I came over with Columbus!" And that was virtually the case. He joined M.G.M. as soon as the studio was set up and remained with M.G.M. until his mentor, Louis B. Mayer, retired. Alas, despite this movie's classy credits, and its comparatively short running time (71 minutes), it's something of a chore to sit through. Director Tod Browning seems to have lost his touch. On this occasion, he fails to grip his audience. Or maybe the unbelievable script was to blame. Promising ideas are often negated by faulty writing. And the acting is not what you would call "charismatic" either. Or maybe the players had already lost faith in the script before shooting had even commenced. Anyway, despite its innovative subject matter, the story is a feeble one at best, and what's worse, it doesn't make a good deal of sense.

Clever variation on the amateur sleuth movies so popular at the time. Morgan (Young) is an expert magician who devises tricks for other illusionists, and also arbitrates between greedy tricksters and genuine psychics. In fact, the script goes to some lengths to allow for real psychic experiences, probably so as not to offend believers. Anyway a dislikable trickster is murdered under mysterious circumstances, while fetching ingénue, Judy Barclay's (Rice) life is threatened. But why, and by whom. Now Morgan has to play amateur detective and unravel the various strange happenings.MGM produced, so no production corners are cut. This shows up in several fairly elaborate sets. The magician theme cries out for noirish touches that are occasionally present, but not enough to create real atmosphere. Nonetheless, there are enough spooky twists to keep up a good level of moody suspense. The plot's pretty involved, as might be expected with all the tricks going on. So you may need the proverbial scorecard. Still, a couple scenes are really jarring, especially the splayed bodies inside diabolical designs.In the lead, Young is super-smooth and likable, while spook girl Holden (Madame Rapport) gets to look other-worldly. There's some humor, but thankfully it's not clownish as was common for these amateur sleuth films. Anyway, the 70-minutes amounts to an imaginative little B-entry for a studio that did not specialize in them.

This film rarity was the last film directed by Tod Browning, who directed Dracula (1931) and FREAKS (1932) as well as several Lon Chaney films. Sadly it turns out to be a surprisingly conventional murder mystery. The main character, played by Robert Young, is an inventor of illusions for stage magician and in his spare time he is a debunker of fake spiritualist mediums. Browning, who used real circus freaks for FREAKS, did not bother to use real stage illusions from the magicians. Instead he uses obvious camera tricks or card tricks in which he plants convenient cards in the performers hands. Fans of Universal horror films of the 30s and 40s will enjoy seeing many familiar faces including Henry Hull of THE WEREWOLF OF London, Gloria Holden of Dracula'S DAUGHTER, and Frank Craven of SON OF Dracula. Also playing is William Demarest and Eddie Acuff. In the end the film really does not work because someone who uses a disguise is just not very well disguised. Rating: 0 on the -4 to +4 scale or 4/10

As I've watched more and more of MGM's B pictures, courtesy of TCM, I've noticed that quite often they were mostly talk and no action. This is a case in point. Oh, it's not a bad film, but somehow it reminds of some of the series like the Charlie Chan pics and the like -- not a lot of substance.This was director Tod Browning's last film, and although he was quite respected for this genre, what does it say when a director retires 23 years before his death and never makes another film? The cast here is headed by Robert Young, who plays a former magician who is out to expose fakery in the occult; he does rather nicely. Florence Rice plays a woman who is involved in some way with the occult...and this is where the writers kind of jumble around trying to tell a good story. It's nice to see Frank Craven as Young's father...a fine character actor. As is Henry Hull as another magician. Lee Bowman once again portrays a character actor part that simply isn't very interesting. There are other character actors you'll recognize who do fine here, but the one you'll most notice is William Demarest.I'm not sure TCM is doing us a service by playing this pretty much only during Halloween season, because it's really more of a whodunit and how, than horror. Not very substantial, but pleasant enough a diversion...if you have a fair amount of time to divert!