A crew of phony spiritualist scammers hooks a big bucks sucker, but things get complicated when an undercover reporter joins the crew.
It's hard to do a spiritualist scam movie without getting hokey, especially with the lesser technology of the 30's. Nope, no digital wonders here, just costumed characters, back- projection screens, and fateful voices. Do the suckers fall for the phony theatre. Of course, they do, and for big money, too. I guess the pigeon here is smart enough to be a big-time investor, but dumb enough to be taken in by dime-store theatrics.
Anyway, if you can get past the stumbling narrative and the awkward staging, there are a few compensations. Actress Busch conveys a sassy sense of reality that may not fit with the rest, but lends needed spark to the flat direction (two directors, which probably didn't help). Looks like she should be trading barbs with other street-smart types like Joan Blondell. Auer's got the face of a supernatural type, but rather surprisingly, doesn't play it up, thus weakening a pervasive sense of evil. And, I may be alone, but actor McCarthy could pass for an earlier edition of Paul Newman, at least in some shots. Too bad he died so young. And those two hulking black door guards amount to a note of visual inspiration, even if their dialog amounts to Amos and Andy.
Overall, the movie's not bad enough for camp. In fact, it might even suffice for old movie junkies, like myself.
It's hard to do a spiritualist scam movie without getting hokey, especially with the lesser technology of the 30's. Nope, no digital wonders here, just costumed characters, back- projection screens, and fateful voices. Do the suckers fall for the phony theatre. Of course, they do, and for big money, too. I guess the pigeon here is smart enough to be a big-time investor, but dumb enough to be taken in by dime-store theatrics.
Anyway, if you can get past the stumbling narrative and the awkward staging, there are a few compensations. Actress Busch conveys a sassy sense of reality that may not fit with the rest, but lends needed spark to the flat direction (two directors, which probably didn't help). Looks like she should be trading barbs with other street-smart types like Joan Blondell. Auer's got the face of a supernatural type, but rather surprisingly, doesn't play it up, thus weakening a pervasive sense of evil. And, I may be alone, but actor McCarthy could pass for an earlier edition of Paul Newman, at least in some shots. Too bad he died so young. And those two hulking black door guards amount to a note of visual inspiration, even if their dialog amounts to Amos and Andy.
Overall, the movie's not bad enough for camp. In fact, it might even suffice for old movie junkies, like myself.