Following their respective successes in THE INVISIBLE MAN and KING KONG, Claude Rains and Fay Wray teamed up for this minor British effort that bears something of an odd alternative title, THE EVIL MIND. The fact that Rains' character isn't evil kind of negates this moniker, which I guess was invented to tie in with his villainous invisible role the year before. Anyhow, THE CLAIRVOYANT is a decent kind of film, well-shot and spooky throughout, the kind they don't make anymore. Director Maurice Elvey had been working for decades and he handles his light material with aplomb.
Rains gives an excellent performance as the titular character who discovers he really can foresee the future when he's in the presence of a newspaper owner's daughter. He foretells disaster, firstly on a train he's travelling in, and later in a big-set piece where miners are drilling below a river when a massive cave-in literally brings the roof down. Who says that the FINAL DESTINATION films are original? This film, especially the bit on the train, proves otherwise and the producers of that modern franchise ought to acknowledge the ideas they borrowed from this flick in their credits.
The short running time means we've got a nicely-paced movie that even has an interesting love-triangle sub-plot. Although it doesn't go anywhere, this sub-plot certainly isn't boring. I didn't really care for Jane Baxter in this film, but Fay Wray truly is lovely and puts in a nice turn as Rains' put-upon wife. For a thriller, there's a fair amount of suspense built up along the way, along with some good effects in the frightening cave-in sequence. Things climax with one of those courtroom scenes so beloved of early film-makers, and I was utterly gripped as I waited to see how things would turn out for our hero. I wasn't disappointed; THE CLAIRVOYANT isn't a horror film, but it's a decent little thriller all the same.
Rains gives an excellent performance as the titular character who discovers he really can foresee the future when he's in the presence of a newspaper owner's daughter. He foretells disaster, firstly on a train he's travelling in, and later in a big-set piece where miners are drilling below a river when a massive cave-in literally brings the roof down. Who says that the FINAL DESTINATION films are original? This film, especially the bit on the train, proves otherwise and the producers of that modern franchise ought to acknowledge the ideas they borrowed from this flick in their credits.
The short running time means we've got a nicely-paced movie that even has an interesting love-triangle sub-plot. Although it doesn't go anywhere, this sub-plot certainly isn't boring. I didn't really care for Jane Baxter in this film, but Fay Wray truly is lovely and puts in a nice turn as Rains' put-upon wife. For a thriller, there's a fair amount of suspense built up along the way, along with some good effects in the frightening cave-in sequence. Things climax with one of those courtroom scenes so beloved of early film-makers, and I was utterly gripped as I waited to see how things would turn out for our hero. I wasn't disappointed; THE CLAIRVOYANT isn't a horror film, but it's a decent little thriller all the same.