THE MYSTIC (1927)

In Hungary, we see a carnival act composed of Poppa Zazareck, his daughter Zara, and her lover Anton who are famous for a clairvoyance act with Zara as a mystic performing magical feats. A mysterious stranger who is following the trio turns out to be American Michael Nash who wants to take the group to New York City to pull their act on gullible rich folks. Nash arranges it so that Zara's arrival in Manhattan is front-page news and soon she and her confederates are working the salons of the upper class with seances featuring floating guitars and ectoplasmic apparitions and such. Three suspicious men show up at the seances hoping to expose their tricks but are thwarted. Nash soon falls in love with Zara, triggering jealousy in Anton, and as they're about to pull off their biggest swindle, getting money out of young socialite Doris Merrick, Nash suspects her guardian, Bradshaw, of embezzling money from her estate so they try to convince Bradshaw that the ghost of Doris' father has returned and knows what’s going on. Their plan is to get Bradshaw to give money back to Doris and then to get it out of Doris, but Nash has an attack of conscience and wants to reform, a decision which does not sit well with the carnival trio.

This is a Tod Browning silent film which has been difficult to find until recently when it was issued as part of a Criterion set which includes his most notorious film, Freaks. The two have in common glimpses of carnival life and elaborate plans to hoodwink folks. This is a fairly traditional melodrama which hinges on a con man who sees the light but maybe too late. That’s not meant as a criticism, but if you're coming to this expecting anything spooky (like Browning's Dracula) or truly mystical (as in the title of the film) or subversive (as in Freaks), you'll be disappointed. Aileen Pringle as Zara is fine but her relatively low-key performance is overshadowed by the others who are allowed a bit more expressiveness: Conway Tearle as Nash, Mitchell Lewis as Poppa, and Robert Ober as Anton. The costumes for Pringle (see picture above) are by famed art deco artist Erté, though he is uncredited and was apparently fired mid-shoot. The seance scenes do generate some solid creepiness, and the behind-the-scenes sequences are fun. The ending is surprisingly upbeat for most of the characters. There are sound effects, but it's strange to hear knocks on doors and paper being folded but not to hear voices. The new score on the Criterion disc by Dean Hurley is excellent, bucking the recent trend of weak modern musical tracks. [Blu-ray]