The cast is promising (Claude Rains and Fay Wray), and so is the script idea of a fake clairvoyant who gains the ability to really see the future in the presence of one particular woman. But the director, Maurice Elvey, doesn't provide much atmosphere (except for a few close-ups of Rains' face when he goes into his predictive trance); most of the time this plays like a marital drama rather than a supernatural thriller. The best sequence - a mine shaft accident - is actually lifted from a French movie! (thank you IMDb). Also, the alternate title "The Evil Mind" is a misnomer. ** out of 4.

1935's "The Clairvoyant" was a Gaumont-British production retitled "The Evil Mind" for US release, starring native son Claude Rains and actress Fay Wray, imported from Hollywood like Boris Karloff in 1933's "The Ghoul." Following on from "The Invisible Man," "The Man Who Reclaimed His Head," and "Mystery of Edwin Drood," Rains plays the title role of The Great Maximus, who has been developing a phony mind reading act with devoted wife Rene (Wray), but whenever in the presence of young Christine Shaw (Jane Baxter) is mysteriously able to foretell actual future events in a trance-like state. Simple predictions such as who will win the Darby earn Maximus top dollar doing his phony routine, but his enjoyment of his newfound fame is soon compromised by the public's demand for prophecies. His loving marriage is strained by his close involvement with Christine, who admits to Rene that she loves him, but the climax comes when the predicted mining disaster is blamed on Maximus himself, his attempt to warn the workers ahead of time labeled a publicity stunt. Among the unbilled faces are Donald Calthrop (soon to appear with Karloff in "The Man Who Changed His Mind"), who convinces Maximus to be true to his wife, and especially Felix Aylmer, memorable presence in such later Hammers as "The Mummy" and "Never Take Sweets from a Stranger," who truly excels as the scene stealing prosecutor tormenting Maximus on the stand. While Rains is excellent, it's really Fay Wray who stands out, turning what could have been a rather thankless role as the neglected wife into a living breathing human being, and a happy ending was had by all.

They let you know this is a Claude Rains movie; yeah, but they'll better mention it's a Fay Wray movie—which is way more exciting.And no disrespect implied, but K. Kong didn't grab Rains.Kidding aside, 'The Evil Mind', though execrably played, and tributary to those obsolete tendencies towards the occult and the murky paranormal, is lively and exciting.A varieties hoaxer discovers he's genuinely able to predict things; his newly discovered ability might be somehow linked to a mysterious broad who keeps crossing his way (Jane Baxter). His newfound gift makes him behave like an imbecile, inebriated by success he gives sonorous, empty speeches about caring for humanity, and is lured by a woman. His wife, a balanced person, suffers. Rains was unlikable. But perhaps that's why they gave him the role.Fay was very likable—here, in a homely, unglamorous, Stefania Sandrelli way; Jane Baxter was the classier broad.The script adapts a novel by Ernest Lothar (which sounds a bit like a dignified nickname).The main thing is that this supernatural drama is very enjoyable, genuinely exciting and lively —though disappointingly played by its ever—sour lead, and you'll see his eyeballs glowing as if he were the hound of Baskerville; the two broads, on the contrary, give reasonably good acting.

The Clairvoyant (1935)This is a British movie with the flavor, and look, of Hitchcock's British films, and it's as good in many ways.And Claude Rains as the title character is sharp, funny, sophisticated, warm, all in that way Rains has of being a little removed, gently above it all without being above his peers. He is way younger (of course) than his famous persona from, say, "Casablanca" or "Notorious" but it's still the same Rains, and in a way if you appreciate him in his American films, you should see this to see where he came from.The filming and editing feels so much like Hitchcock at times I wondered just what kind of connections there might be between him and the director here, Maurice Elvey, and couldn't find anything obvious (like a shared cinematographer). But Elvey was the most established and famous and therefore the most influential of British filmmakers, making a hundred films before Hitchcock made his first. So the influence is probably one way at first, with Hitch picking up on Elvey's methods.But by 1932, when Elvey made a talkie remake, "The Phantom Fiend," of an earlier Hitchcock masterpiece, the 1927 "The Lodger," the influence is obviously going the other way. The whole train scene in the first half of this movie is a masterpiece of filming and editing. In all, the plot is so interesting, with some honest twists to accompany what seems at first to be a slightly mystical theme, it deserves an honest remake of its own.I think it's further worth noting some serious content. The movie deals (at least obliquely) with labor relations in the mines, with the acceptance by the establishment that mediums and clairvoyants are charlatans (or entertainers, as the charlatan says), with greed (in the depression), and with marital fidelity.The copy you can stream on Netflix is only fair--not especially sharp, and with muddled sound, probably thrown together for television broadcast decades ago. It's good enough to watch anyway, but let's all hope for a remastered version soon.