Con-man Chandler and his partner Frank decide to start a clairvoyant act. Chandler falls for Sylvia, one of their marks, but their relationship is challenged when his deception impacts other... Read allCon-man Chandler and his partner Frank decide to start a clairvoyant act. Chandler falls for Sylvia, one of their marks, but their relationship is challenged when his deception impacts others' lives and Sylvia urges him to reform.Con-man Chandler and his partner Frank decide to start a clairvoyant act. Chandler falls for Sylvia, one of their marks, but their relationship is challenged when his deception impacts others' lives and Sylvia urges him to reform.
Loretta Andrews
- Blonde girl
- (uncredited)
Irving Bacon
- Reporter
- (uncredited)
Robert Barrat
- Detective
- (uncredited)
Harry Beresford
- Chief Wilson
- (uncredited)
Clara Blandick
- Auntie
- (uncredited)
Symona Boniface
- Gossip in Phone Montage
- (uncredited)
George Chandler
- Reporter
- (uncredited)
Sidney D'Albrook
- Brakeman
- (uncredited)
Don Dillaway
- Jack
- (uncredited)
Robert Greig
- Swami
- (uncredited)
Grace Hayle
- Shill
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaStephen Sondheim picked this movie as the initial film on his special night as the Turner Classic Movies programmer, March 22, 2005. The cable network TCM was honoring him on his 75th birthday. The reason for his choice was that the screenplay was by Wilson Mizner. Sondheim had been wanting to write a musical about Wilson and his brother Addison since reading Alva Johnston's 1953 biography of them, "The Legendary Mizners", but he didn't pursue the project fully till 1996. After several revisions under different titles, including WISE GUYS in 1999 and BOUNCE in 2003, the show finally opened off-Broadway in 2008 at the Public Theater in New York, entitled ROAD SHOW.
- GoofsWhile the secondary headline and first 2½ paragraphs of The Evening News article "Mrs. Munro Collapses; Murder Trial Is Delayed" relate to the case, the following five lines in each of two half-columns is gibberish.
- ConnectionsFeatured in TCM Guest Programmer: Stephen Sondheim (2005)
- SoundtracksThe Stars and Stripes Forever
(1896) (uncredited)
Music by John Philip Sousa
Played by the band during the painless dentist segment at the beginning
Featured review
Warren William trades on "I want to believe" sixty years before the X-Files
Warren William's character is traveling around the country doing various cons - painless dentistry, miracle hair tonic, the world's longest flagpole sitter (don't ask). Then he notices that a self described mentalist is cleaning up. He researches the trade some and comes up with an act as a mind reader and christens himself Chandra the Great. He asks the audience to write down their questions about the future or just the unknown parts of the present such as where did they misplace their keys and to sign their names to the paper. He then seems to burn the pieces of paper. In fact he sends them down a chute to his assistant Frank (Allen Jenkins) below, who then tells Chandra through a microphone what questions are asked and who wrote it. Chandra repeats what Frank says and then comes up with a bogus answer. The key to his success is dramatic and believable delivery, and with years of experience as a conman, he has delivery down pat. But then one day he meets a beautiful woman, Sylvia (Constance Cumming) who lost this month's rent money - his partner Frank stole it - and he falls in love. Complications ensue as Chandra must appear legitimate to Sylvia if he is going to win her love.
This is another great Warren William performance where, yes, he is doing hideous callous things trading on Depression era audiences who want to believe that somebody has answers to their problems, but you also empathize with him as a man who really has no skills other than being a conman whose motivation changes from merely wanting the easy life for himself to wanting nice things for his wife in an economic time that is extremely unforgiving. Of course if you tell enough lies to enough people who act on what you told them as though it was gospel, there are going to be some victims and they are not going to be happy about it and may hunt you down.
There is some wry social commentary going on here such as rich people having hundreds of dollars to blow on mind readers during the Depression, where average people had to scrape to come up with a dollar for the same thing. Also note that there is a smidgeon of racial equality here as Chandra has an African American partner (Clarence Muse) as well as Frank, and shakes hands with him when he says goodbye. That doesn't seem like much, but it was a lot even for the precode years.
With Allen Jenkins as Chandra's larcenous friend and assistant, Natalie Moorhead as one of Chandra's rich clients, and Constance Cumming in a rare Warner Brothers appearance.
This is another great Warren William performance where, yes, he is doing hideous callous things trading on Depression era audiences who want to believe that somebody has answers to their problems, but you also empathize with him as a man who really has no skills other than being a conman whose motivation changes from merely wanting the easy life for himself to wanting nice things for his wife in an economic time that is extremely unforgiving. Of course if you tell enough lies to enough people who act on what you told them as though it was gospel, there are going to be some victims and they are not going to be happy about it and may hunt you down.
There is some wry social commentary going on here such as rich people having hundreds of dollars to blow on mind readers during the Depression, where average people had to scrape to come up with a dollar for the same thing. Also note that there is a smidgeon of racial equality here as Chandra has an African American partner (Clarence Muse) as well as Frank, and shakes hands with him when he says goodbye. That doesn't seem like much, but it was a lot even for the precode years.
With Allen Jenkins as Chandra's larcenous friend and assistant, Natalie Moorhead as one of Chandra's rich clients, and Constance Cumming in a rare Warner Brothers appearance.
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- AlsExGal
- Feb 12, 2022
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- El adivino
- Filming locations
- Danville, California, USA(train depot)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $154,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 10 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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