Film-Noir/Horror/Thriller
1 hour and 18 minutes
Rated: Approved
Written by: Muriel Roy Bolton & Ian McLellan Hunter
Directed by: Bernard Vorhaus
Produced by: Benjamin Stoloff
Cast:
Turhan Bey
Lynn Bari
Cathy O'Donnell
In his eyes, the threat of terror! In his hands, the power to destroy!
The era of World War II saw a rather steady churning out of rather stale films when it came to the world of genre cinema, and the years immediately following the war were no exception to this matter. One could largely say this was due to the minds of Americans being preoccupied on much more pressing matters, but this isn't to say cinema didn't play an important part in helping Americans cope throughout the war. Genre cinema in particular offered a fantastical realm of escapism that allowed for audiences to forget about their everyday concerns of Japanese bombs and rising waves of fascism for an hour or so. It is because of this perhaps that the market for B genre pictures continued to grow at a rapid rate, as more and more market places for them such as the drive-in theatre increased in popularity. But therein is the issue, more product means less quality control.
The Amazing Mr. X falls largely into this problem. Whether the picture started off with the intention of being a straightforward ghost story and then became a film rooted in reality or vice versa is perhaps irrelevant. The resulting product, a film that tries to haphazardly sew the two plot lines together ends up being a rather unimpressive mess of a film.
To begin with its stronger elements, any cinema lover is sure to fall in love with some of the choices regarding the film's cinematography. John Alton, the film's cinematographer, frames many of the film's more bizarre moments in rather unique ways. Framing Lynn Bari's character between two branches of a dead tree as the sea crashes against the shore behind her, an up angled shot from within the drain of a sink staring up at Bari and Cathy O'Donnell, and the film's climax, a moment that requires near darkness to be pulled off, are all moments that showcase a visionary eye of a man who is perhaps much more talented than the content of this film would suggest. Then of course, there is the seance sequence, the film's absolute crowning achievement. Alton captures some rather unimpressive special effects in unique and interesting ways that make their otherwise dated funhouse qualities easily forgivable.
While the story is absolutely disjointed, The Amazing Mr. X does really pick up some steam by the end of its second act, when it is revealed that the story is much more grounded in reality than the first two thirds had implied. Once it is revealed the entire thing is meant to be a hoax and we as an audience can unravel the pieces of thread regarding the film's plot, it does become a much more fast paced, and engaging thriller. Unfortunately, the film spends way too much time lingering upon its ghost story setup that the damage is already done. The first two thirds of the film are incredibly boring and do nothing to set the film apart from any other B horror ghost story that had been produced during this era. This ultimately leads to the film's running time feeling much longer than it actually is.
The performances in The Amazing Mr. X aren't by any means incredible, but the sheer fact that they aren't wooden or amateur in nature is a commendable thing, especially considering this was a B movie made on an almost-nothing budget. Director Bernard Vorhaus manages to get believable enough performances out of all of his actors in an otherwise underwhelming story, and that perhaps is an absolutely commendable feat. Perhaps the characters are underdeveloped, but the performers all do the best with the material they are given, and it is unlikely anyone will find the acting to be the film's biggest problems.
Like most of the genre films that followed the era of World War II, The Amazing Mr. X is a problematic film that seemed to have a rather engaging thriller storyline that unfortunately was too washed and faded by a dull ghost story set up. Its cinematography is its saving grace, and anyone who finds themselves enjoying film for the more technical elements may in fact find the film to be a pleasant surprise. Otherwise, there's perhaps a reason why this genre picture has faded into obscurity since its release in 1948.
4/10
No comments:
Post a Comment