The ever affable Warren William stars as the title character, a traveling carny who engages in crooked confidence scams with his colleagues Frank and Sam (Allen Jenkins and Clarence Muse). He falls for one of his victims, a charming young thing played by the beautiful Constance Cummings, who gets her man back on the straight and narrow--only to find him falling off the wagon when a new job hawking brushes door-to-door doesn't quite pan out. Thanks to Stephen Sondheim, this classic 'B' feature returned to television recently, and it's quite a revelation. Filled with pre-Code flavor, including references to the Mann Act, drug abuse, and oodles of adultery, The Mind Reader is far from being a one-trick pony: it also features a well developed screenplay by Robert Lord and Wilson Mizner, impressive expressionistic photography by the reliable Sol Polito, and some stunning art deco set design by Robert Haas. It all comes together beautifully thanks to director Roy Del Ruth, but the real revelation for me was the acting of Ms. Cummings--still with us as I write this! Besides looking radiant, she delivers a tour-de-force performance as the put upon Sylvia, whose innocence soon turns to anger and resignation when she realizes the true nature of her husband's work. As would be expected, William and Jenkins are both excellent, and Muse gets a sizable and generally dignified role as well. For any number of reasons, this is a wonderful relic of 1930s cinema that needs to get a DVD release. Happily, TCM's print has been well preserved and looks as good or better than any big budget classic from the period.
24 Reviews
The great charlatan
jotix10023 March 2005
This early film is rarely seen these days. Thanks to TCM, we had the opportunity to watch it. As directed by Roy Del Ruth, the film tackles the problem of the itinerant con men running wild all over the country peddling home remedies and even serving as dentists to a naive public that were easily swindled.
At the center of the story, we see a man that discovers how to make a fast buck by giving readings to unsuspecting folks for a dollar. It's the cruelest of the scams because unsuspecting people put faith in the predictions these charlatans have to offer. We get to know the fate of one woman who comes back to tell Chandra how his reading turned to be a tragedy for her.
Warren William plays the great Chandra with charm. He is totally convincing as the person who has the solution for every problem, for a price. Constance Cummings is Sylvia, the young girl whose life is changed by Chandra. Allen Jenkins plays Chandra's assistant in one of his best roles. We get to see briefly Mayo Methot in the pivotal role of Jenny.
At the center of the story, we see a man that discovers how to make a fast buck by giving readings to unsuspecting folks for a dollar. It's the cruelest of the scams because unsuspecting people put faith in the predictions these charlatans have to offer. We get to know the fate of one woman who comes back to tell Chandra how his reading turned to be a tragedy for her.
Warren William plays the great Chandra with charm. He is totally convincing as the person who has the solution for every problem, for a price. Constance Cummings is Sylvia, the young girl whose life is changed by Chandra. Allen Jenkins plays Chandra's assistant in one of his best roles. We get to see briefly Mayo Methot in the pivotal role of Jenny.
standard plot, superior trimmings
mukava99119 March 2010
A trio of con artists (Warren William, Allen Jenkins and Clarence Muse) travels from city to city in middle America swindling suckers with a bogus mind reading act featuring William as "Chandra the Great," complete with turban and crystal ball. We the screen audience get to see the trickery behind his apparent clairvoyance, but a pretty, unemployed stenographer (Constance Cummings) is not so fortunate, and besotted with William's talents, joins his itinerant enterprise. Eventually she finds out what is really going on, but by then it's too late because she has fallen in love with her employer, and he with her.
To elaborate further would spoil the impact of this unusual pre-Code film, but I will say that its chief problem is that Cummings is just too smart to be as innocently unaware of certain things as the screenplay tries to make her, so we stop taking the story seriously. However, there remains much witty and mature dialogue, striking cinematography, and this interesting group of performers.
William gets the opportunity to play the on- and offstage modes of his character and also makes the most of an extended drunk scene. Cummings, largely wasted here, projects a tart intelligence that is probably more than the role deserves. Jenkins, the eternal sidekick, gets a generous share of the verbal zingers and Muse's role goes beyond the subservient nonsense usually assigned to black supporting players at that time. Mayo Methot, the future Mrs. Humphrey Bogart, appears briefly as a grief-deranged victim of Chandra's charlatanry.
Like so many feature films of the early 30's, this one moves along briskly so that none of its improbabilities have time to sink in and ruin the fun.
To elaborate further would spoil the impact of this unusual pre-Code film, but I will say that its chief problem is that Cummings is just too smart to be as innocently unaware of certain things as the screenplay tries to make her, so we stop taking the story seriously. However, there remains much witty and mature dialogue, striking cinematography, and this interesting group of performers.
William gets the opportunity to play the on- and offstage modes of his character and also makes the most of an extended drunk scene. Cummings, largely wasted here, projects a tart intelligence that is probably more than the role deserves. Jenkins, the eternal sidekick, gets a generous share of the verbal zingers and Muse's role goes beyond the subservient nonsense usually assigned to black supporting players at that time. Mayo Methot, the future Mrs. Humphrey Bogart, appears briefly as a grief-deranged victim of Chandra's charlatanry.
Like so many feature films of the early 30's, this one moves along briskly so that none of its improbabilities have time to sink in and ruin the fun.
Warren William Showcase
dougdoepke25 September 2014
A con-man works his way up the fortune-telling ladder only to find his life is not made better.
The con-man role is tailor made for the commanding Warren William. His Chandra The Fortune Teller is such a masterful stage presence who in the audience would dare challenge his psychic gift. Never mind that his shifty confederate Frank (Jenkins) is feeding him answers telephonically. It makes for a heckuva show, and the rubes keep coming, sometimes ruefully so. Oddly, I found myself being anxious when there's problems with the messaging relay from Frank. That is, do I really want Chandra to succeed in his criminal con job. Yet I couldn't help being torn. Anyway, notice in passing, how the map shows Chandra first touring smaller border state towns, nothing big yet. That will come later, once he hones his act. Cummings (Sylvia) makes an attractive love interest, even if the script presents her flip-flops in a pretty implausible light. Also, the familiar Allen Jenkins plays his part pretty straight, unlike many of his comedic side-kick parts.
Now, you might think, courtesy the screenplay, that every upper-class husband in New York has a silken mistress, leaving a broken-hearted wife behind. Then too, I suspect that dark suspicion played well with Depression era audiences. But once Chandra goes big-time, there are no more rubes, only the sleek and well upholstered. Frankly, I didn't like the big turnaround that comes last. After all, this is pre-Code, so abject mea-culpa endings aren't required as they soon would be. Up to that point, the story really deserves a climax more ironic than the implausibly conventional. (Check out the similar Nightmare Alley {1947} for a more apt ending.)
Anyway, William has to be one of the neglected delights of that long ago period. Passing away in 1948 means he had no post-war credits to speak of. Thus he's largely unknown even to many old movie fans. It's that pre-Code period, before his serial programmers (Perry Mason, the Lone Wolf), where he really shines, usually as an ethically challenged big-wig (Employee's Entrance {1933}; Skyscraper Souls {1932}). And there's no one better. Plus, he's good enough here to make even the flawed, albeit interesting, script well worth watching.
The con-man role is tailor made for the commanding Warren William. His Chandra The Fortune Teller is such a masterful stage presence who in the audience would dare challenge his psychic gift. Never mind that his shifty confederate Frank (Jenkins) is feeding him answers telephonically. It makes for a heckuva show, and the rubes keep coming, sometimes ruefully so. Oddly, I found myself being anxious when there's problems with the messaging relay from Frank. That is, do I really want Chandra to succeed in his criminal con job. Yet I couldn't help being torn. Anyway, notice in passing, how the map shows Chandra first touring smaller border state towns, nothing big yet. That will come later, once he hones his act. Cummings (Sylvia) makes an attractive love interest, even if the script presents her flip-flops in a pretty implausible light. Also, the familiar Allen Jenkins plays his part pretty straight, unlike many of his comedic side-kick parts.
Now, you might think, courtesy the screenplay, that every upper-class husband in New York has a silken mistress, leaving a broken-hearted wife behind. Then too, I suspect that dark suspicion played well with Depression era audiences. But once Chandra goes big-time, there are no more rubes, only the sleek and well upholstered. Frankly, I didn't like the big turnaround that comes last. After all, this is pre-Code, so abject mea-culpa endings aren't required as they soon would be. Up to that point, the story really deserves a climax more ironic than the implausibly conventional. (Check out the similar Nightmare Alley {1947} for a more apt ending.)
Anyway, William has to be one of the neglected delights of that long ago period. Passing away in 1948 means he had no post-war credits to speak of. Thus he's largely unknown even to many old movie fans. It's that pre-Code period, before his serial programmers (Perry Mason, the Lone Wolf), where he really shines, usually as an ethically challenged big-wig (Employee's Entrance {1933}; Skyscraper Souls {1932}). And there's no one better. Plus, he's good enough here to make even the flawed, albeit interesting, script well worth watching.
Chandra the Magnificent
blanche-219 September 2014
Warren William is "The Mind Reader" in this pre-code film also starring Constance Cummings and Allen Jenkins.
William is a snake oil salesman (a con artist) during the Depression, using his skills of persuasion to sell products. One day, his associate, Frank (Jenkins) is reading about mind readers and thinks it might be a great profession, so William becomes Chandra. He is very successful. When he meets the beautiful Sylvia (Cummings), he falls in love. After an unfortunate incident, he promises her that if she'll stay with him, he'll quit. But the con and the money are seductive.
This is an early talkie and very well directed by Roy del Ruth. Unlike some early talkies, it's not stagy and the actors don't have trouble with the dialogue rhythm. Often in these early films, there are big pauses in between lines, but not here.
Warren William is one of my favorites. He played these dark characters in silents and the early years of sound, and then we were able to hear his wonderful laugh and see his humor in films like the Perry Mason series (though he and the scripts weren't Erle Stanley Gardner's idea of Perry Mason), Satan Met a Lady, The Lone Wolf series, and others.
Constance Cummings was both beautiful and amazing, and she does a lovely job here. She deserved to be a bigger star, but she left Hollywood early on and moved with her husband to England, where she made some films and appeared in her husband's (Benn Levy) plays. When she was around 70, she appeared on Broadway in a play about a stroke victim, Wings, for which she won a Tony Award. This was a great opportunity to see her on film.
Interesting film, kind of a forerunner to "Nightmare Alley" in a way - those movie fortunetellers are always fakes.
William is a snake oil salesman (a con artist) during the Depression, using his skills of persuasion to sell products. One day, his associate, Frank (Jenkins) is reading about mind readers and thinks it might be a great profession, so William becomes Chandra. He is very successful. When he meets the beautiful Sylvia (Cummings), he falls in love. After an unfortunate incident, he promises her that if she'll stay with him, he'll quit. But the con and the money are seductive.
This is an early talkie and very well directed by Roy del Ruth. Unlike some early talkies, it's not stagy and the actors don't have trouble with the dialogue rhythm. Often in these early films, there are big pauses in between lines, but not here.
Warren William is one of my favorites. He played these dark characters in silents and the early years of sound, and then we were able to hear his wonderful laugh and see his humor in films like the Perry Mason series (though he and the scripts weren't Erle Stanley Gardner's idea of Perry Mason), Satan Met a Lady, The Lone Wolf series, and others.
Constance Cummings was both beautiful and amazing, and she does a lovely job here. She deserved to be a bigger star, but she left Hollywood early on and moved with her husband to England, where she made some films and appeared in her husband's (Benn Levy) plays. When she was around 70, she appeared on Broadway in a play about a stroke victim, Wings, for which she won a Tony Award. This was a great opportunity to see her on film.
Interesting film, kind of a forerunner to "Nightmare Alley" in a way - those movie fortunetellers are always fakes.
POSSIBLE SPOILER...An unknown film of some interest...
Doylenf22 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
WARREN WILLIAMS stars as a man who is a charlatan mind reader, eventually redeemed by the good woman who becomes his wife--and who remains loyal to him even after she learns that he has returned to his old ways while making her believe he has a respectable job. Constance Cummings does a nice job as his love interest.
It's a sort of time capsule for the way things were back in 1933. Allan Jenkins does a standout job as the charlatan's foil, closing the film with a line delivered in tough Jenkins style: "Too bad you're going to the slammer just when drinkin' is okay again." A fast moving little programmer, easy to watch and just as easy to forget.
Trivia: Watch for Humphrey Bogart's first wife, Mayo Methot, as an overwrought young woman who lashes out at the charlatan before jumping into an open elevator shaft.
Another point of interest for me: The romantic theme played beneath much of the tender dialog between Constance Cummings and Warren Williams is the dance theme used years later in TO EACH HIS OWN ('46). I always thought Victor Young was the creator of that dance theme, but apparently not. The score here is listed by IMDb as an original one.
It's a sort of time capsule for the way things were back in 1933. Allan Jenkins does a standout job as the charlatan's foil, closing the film with a line delivered in tough Jenkins style: "Too bad you're going to the slammer just when drinkin' is okay again." A fast moving little programmer, easy to watch and just as easy to forget.
Trivia: Watch for Humphrey Bogart's first wife, Mayo Methot, as an overwrought young woman who lashes out at the charlatan before jumping into an open elevator shaft.
Another point of interest for me: The romantic theme played beneath much of the tender dialog between Constance Cummings and Warren Williams is the dance theme used years later in TO EACH HIS OWN ('46). I always thought Victor Young was the creator of that dance theme, but apparently not. The score here is listed by IMDb as an original one.
I'd like to have seen more of Clarence Muse's character
jordondave-2808527 May 2023
(1933) Mind Reader
DRAMA
Con artist and fake fortune teller, Chandra (Warren William) along with his sidekick, Frank (Allen Jenkins) comes to an emotional as well as ethical stumbling block as soon as he begins to fall in love and takes Sylvia (Constance Cummings) in as his personal secretary. Despite it's year, the interesting moments are the showcase of scams they pull which requires more than one person. And I also like the fact that the African American character, Sam (Clarence Muse) wasn't dumb nor degraded down as a second class citizen, it would've been nice if the film showed more of him.
Con artist and fake fortune teller, Chandra (Warren William) along with his sidekick, Frank (Allen Jenkins) comes to an emotional as well as ethical stumbling block as soon as he begins to fall in love and takes Sylvia (Constance Cummings) in as his personal secretary. Despite it's year, the interesting moments are the showcase of scams they pull which requires more than one person. And I also like the fact that the African American character, Sam (Clarence Muse) wasn't dumb nor degraded down as a second class citizen, it would've been nice if the film showed more of him.
Serviceable, not great
clemd27 March 2003
William Warren plays a fraud who must choose between his girl and his fraudulent - but lucrative - profession. Interesting use of crooked camera angles to depict crooked dealings. Warren displays a wider acting range than in other movies.
Early Talkies At Their Best
Handlinghandel22 March 2005
Warren William turns in a superb performance. Allen Jenkins, always fun if a bit tedious in later comic gangster tales, does fine. The fine black actor Clarence Muse is given a meaty role and does beautifully by it. And Constance Cummings, whom I saw several decades after this in a magnificent performance on Broadway, is excellent.
This is a dark, twisting tale. William is a grifter who's tried a few rackets before he hits on mind reading. He and Jenkins pull some shady business in Cummings's hometown (emphasis on town) but she falls for him. She thinks he's the real thing, for a while, and he tries hard to go straight for her.
There is no wrong move. It's taut and disturbing. Roy del Ruth was a sensationally good director at this time, though this is darker than what he generally worked with.
No happy Hollywood ending is slapped on. William is seen about to pay for his evil ways but it sure doesn't look as if he is going to get a last-minute reprieve, nor does he seem particularly changed in his soul.
Keep an eye out for this one!
This is a dark, twisting tale. William is a grifter who's tried a few rackets before he hits on mind reading. He and Jenkins pull some shady business in Cummings's hometown (emphasis on town) but she falls for him. She thinks he's the real thing, for a while, and he tries hard to go straight for her.
There is no wrong move. It's taut and disturbing. Roy del Ruth was a sensationally good director at this time, though this is darker than what he generally worked with.
No happy Hollywood ending is slapped on. William is seen about to pay for his evil ways but it sure doesn't look as if he is going to get a last-minute reprieve, nor does he seem particularly changed in his soul.
Keep an eye out for this one!
Is mind-reading a gift from God or a curse from Lucifer?
mark.waltz27 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Of course, most (if not all) mind readers are phony, and that is definitely the case with Warren William here, playing one of his most notorious scoundrels. He's a second-rate carny medicine man salesman who sees a mind reader at work and decides to get in on the scam. At first doing a tacky mind reading act, he's soon the toast of women's society, finding out the scoop on various men cheating on their wives and this leads to a confrontation by one of the husbands and a struggle for a gun that leads to the man's death. Constance Cummings, cast as his naive wife, happens to be a friend of one of the socialites with a cheating spouse, and arrives at William's office, unaware that the notorious society psychic is in fact her own husband. She's held for his murder as William disappears, but when his conscience takes over and she lies ailing in a prison hospital, he must make a life-changing decision that could bring on either atonement or damnation.
One of the premiere scoundrels of the pre-code era of Hollywood cinema, Warren William was the George Sanders of his day. He played either likable, dashing schnooks or borderline criminals, all on the take, all after women (married or not) and all morally reprehensible. His right-hand man (Frank McHugh) stands by him through thick and thin, and he even has a black assistant (Clarence Muse) who arranges for allegedly burnt questions from the audience to flow down a tube to McHugh who then reads them into a small microphone which only William can here. There's a very haunting scene featuring Mayo Methot (at one time the wife of Humphrey Bogart) as a victim of William's phony mind reading who tells him off then takes drastic measures to deal with the fall-out of his incorrect advice. Natalie Moorehead has one great scene as one of the society women William utilizes in his schemes to rise to the top of his racket.
Somewhat disturbing due to the lack of scruples of the leading character, this is still fascinating because of the no-holds barred way it reveals his rise, fall and come-uppance. McHugh gets a hysterical line in the final scene which pretty much sums up the irreverent way in which the characters liked to live their heinous lifestyles. Some great art direction and a truly snappy screenplay are aided with the direction of Roy Del Ruth. In spite the implausibility of how Cummings comes to discover her husband's betrayal and her ridiculous naiveté over it all, this is pre-code drama at its finest. William shows that he's more than just dashing window dressing for the great ladies of Warner Brothers' golden age (Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Joan Blondell to mention a few) and that with the right part, he was truly one outstanding actor.
One of the premiere scoundrels of the pre-code era of Hollywood cinema, Warren William was the George Sanders of his day. He played either likable, dashing schnooks or borderline criminals, all on the take, all after women (married or not) and all morally reprehensible. His right-hand man (Frank McHugh) stands by him through thick and thin, and he even has a black assistant (Clarence Muse) who arranges for allegedly burnt questions from the audience to flow down a tube to McHugh who then reads them into a small microphone which only William can here. There's a very haunting scene featuring Mayo Methot (at one time the wife of Humphrey Bogart) as a victim of William's phony mind reading who tells him off then takes drastic measures to deal with the fall-out of his incorrect advice. Natalie Moorehead has one great scene as one of the society women William utilizes in his schemes to rise to the top of his racket.
Somewhat disturbing due to the lack of scruples of the leading character, this is still fascinating because of the no-holds barred way it reveals his rise, fall and come-uppance. McHugh gets a hysterical line in the final scene which pretty much sums up the irreverent way in which the characters liked to live their heinous lifestyles. Some great art direction and a truly snappy screenplay are aided with the direction of Roy Del Ruth. In spite the implausibility of how Cummings comes to discover her husband's betrayal and her ridiculous naiveté over it all, this is pre-code drama at its finest. William shows that he's more than just dashing window dressing for the great ladies of Warner Brothers' golden age (Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Joan Blondell to mention a few) and that with the right part, he was truly one outstanding actor.
Long before Dick Dastardly was in the Wacky Races, he was Warren William!
1930s_Time_Machine20 February 2023
What makes this especially entertaining is how it pretends to take itself ever so seriously, but subtly and deliberately, not quite convincingly enough. Humour is often funnier when it's not that obvious and you have to discover it hidden in a serious drama like this.
In this fairly short picture, Warren William has tremendous fun hamming up his moustache twiddling loveable rogue character to a hundred and ten percent. You can't be certain whether it's because you can really sense his own personal enjoyment at playing this role or whether you're being fooled by some good acting but whatever it is, that ninety year old enjoyment is infectious. Although you'll probably forget you've seen this in a few weeks (to be honest, it's not that memorable), you can't help but enjoy watching it.
Since this is a First National B-feature, without the constraints of conforming to the Warner's 'A-picture' conventions, Roy Del Ruth, possibly WB's top director at the time also enjoys this lack of restriction by experimenting with clever shots, wacky camera angles and atmospheric lighting. This makes the result both fun and interesting to watch but it's not just the direction and Warren William which make this picture worth seeing ninety years after it was made. It's actually a good little story with a great snappy script so and if you like 1930s, blue-collar, American speak, you'll find this just swell! Its script benefits from one of the writers being Wilson Mizner. Who? - he was one of America's most celebrated writers having had what might be described as a very eventful life (and yes, movies have been made about him) or as one of his contemporaries said: America's most fascinating outlaw. His street-level wit, nurtured by his own plentiful life experiences add a certain spice to this story which although fairly engaging anyway is made much tastier by the magic of his wordweaving.
Overall, although this is nothing that special with no deep message or even very shallow message, it is reasonably entertaining .
In this fairly short picture, Warren William has tremendous fun hamming up his moustache twiddling loveable rogue character to a hundred and ten percent. You can't be certain whether it's because you can really sense his own personal enjoyment at playing this role or whether you're being fooled by some good acting but whatever it is, that ninety year old enjoyment is infectious. Although you'll probably forget you've seen this in a few weeks (to be honest, it's not that memorable), you can't help but enjoy watching it.
Since this is a First National B-feature, without the constraints of conforming to the Warner's 'A-picture' conventions, Roy Del Ruth, possibly WB's top director at the time also enjoys this lack of restriction by experimenting with clever shots, wacky camera angles and atmospheric lighting. This makes the result both fun and interesting to watch but it's not just the direction and Warren William which make this picture worth seeing ninety years after it was made. It's actually a good little story with a great snappy script so and if you like 1930s, blue-collar, American speak, you'll find this just swell! Its script benefits from one of the writers being Wilson Mizner. Who? - he was one of America's most celebrated writers having had what might be described as a very eventful life (and yes, movies have been made about him) or as one of his contemporaries said: America's most fascinating outlaw. His street-level wit, nurtured by his own plentiful life experiences add a certain spice to this story which although fairly engaging anyway is made much tastier by the magic of his wordweaving.
Overall, although this is nothing that special with no deep message or even very shallow message, it is reasonably entertaining .
Warren William trades on "I want to believe" sixty years before the X-Files
AlsExGal12 February 2022
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.
By Appointment Only
sol121817 March 2010
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** Story of a depression era con artist who tries to make a living off other peoples problems. Many in fact which he himself creates.
Calling himself "Chandra the Magnifient" Warren Williams' mind reading act has become the talk of the town in any town that he stays in. That's until his act is exposed and he's run out, on a rail, of it. One of those whom William empresses with his "mind reading" powers is the very naive Sylvia Roberts who's friends pocketbook he had swiped by Frank Franklin who, together with "Sam the Music Man", is part of William's "mind reading" act. With William finding the pocketbook, with his "mind reading" powers, a very impressionable Sylvia falls heads over heels for him. It's only later that Sylvia gets second thoughts about "Chandra" when one of his clients Jenny confronts him at his office in how he destroyed hers as well as her boyfriends lives with his totally inaccurate predictions in them not being suited for each other!
This lead Jenny to marry someone else who treated her like dirt and had her boyfriend deeply depressed in Jenny leaving him for another man kill himself! With nothing left to live for and feeling like a fool in listening to this double-talking charlatan Jenny then did the only thing left for her to do: Walk out of William's office and jump down an empty elevator shaft killing herself! With Sylvia now threatening to leave him William decides to go straight as a Garrow Brush door to door salesman only to get back in the mind reading racket at the urging of his friend and partner in the mind rereading business Frank Franklin who's now a limousine driver in NYC.
William now calling himself Dr. Munro opens up a private detective office in downtown Manhattan where he uses his "brain power" to find out if his clients, mostly wealthy women, husbands are cheating on them. Off course William or Dr. Munro gets a little help from his friend Frank Franklin. It's Franklin who gets the inside dope, on his job as a driver for the rich and famous, about William's clients husbands knowing exactly when their not at home and then having William use that to fool their wives in telling them that they were out partying with other women.
This leads one of William's, or Dr. Munro, women clients Ann Holman to believe that her loyal husband Don is cheating on her due to the false information that he gave her about him. It just happened that Ann is a good friend of William's wife Sylvia who has no idea that he's in fact Dr. Munro. Syliva then goes to Dr. Munro's office to have it out with him in what he did in destroying her friends-Ann-marriage.
***SPOILERS*** As things turned out it was Mr. Holman who beat Syliva to Dr. Munro's office and in a violent confrontation with him he ended up getting shot and killed by William who made his escape through the back door without his wife Sylvia ever seeing him! On the lam, in Juarez Mexico, with his wife Sylvia left holding the bag in not telling the police about his whereabouts, which she has no knowledge of, a very distraught and guilt ridden William for the first time in his life gets an attack of guilty consciences and decides to turn himself into the police, back in NYC, and face the music. William ends up receiving a 2 to 10 year sentence on a conviction of involuntarily homicide-or self defense-in Mr. Holman's death. The worst thing in all this is that as William was sent to spend at least the next two years behind bars Prohibition was repealed! Something he's been waiting for almost 15 years to happen.
Calling himself "Chandra the Magnifient" Warren Williams' mind reading act has become the talk of the town in any town that he stays in. That's until his act is exposed and he's run out, on a rail, of it. One of those whom William empresses with his "mind reading" powers is the very naive Sylvia Roberts who's friends pocketbook he had swiped by Frank Franklin who, together with "Sam the Music Man", is part of William's "mind reading" act. With William finding the pocketbook, with his "mind reading" powers, a very impressionable Sylvia falls heads over heels for him. It's only later that Sylvia gets second thoughts about "Chandra" when one of his clients Jenny confronts him at his office in how he destroyed hers as well as her boyfriends lives with his totally inaccurate predictions in them not being suited for each other!
This lead Jenny to marry someone else who treated her like dirt and had her boyfriend deeply depressed in Jenny leaving him for another man kill himself! With nothing left to live for and feeling like a fool in listening to this double-talking charlatan Jenny then did the only thing left for her to do: Walk out of William's office and jump down an empty elevator shaft killing herself! With Sylvia now threatening to leave him William decides to go straight as a Garrow Brush door to door salesman only to get back in the mind reading racket at the urging of his friend and partner in the mind rereading business Frank Franklin who's now a limousine driver in NYC.
William now calling himself Dr. Munro opens up a private detective office in downtown Manhattan where he uses his "brain power" to find out if his clients, mostly wealthy women, husbands are cheating on them. Off course William or Dr. Munro gets a little help from his friend Frank Franklin. It's Franklin who gets the inside dope, on his job as a driver for the rich and famous, about William's clients husbands knowing exactly when their not at home and then having William use that to fool their wives in telling them that they were out partying with other women.
This leads one of William's, or Dr. Munro, women clients Ann Holman to believe that her loyal husband Don is cheating on her due to the false information that he gave her about him. It just happened that Ann is a good friend of William's wife Sylvia who has no idea that he's in fact Dr. Munro. Syliva then goes to Dr. Munro's office to have it out with him in what he did in destroying her friends-Ann-marriage.
***SPOILERS*** As things turned out it was Mr. Holman who beat Syliva to Dr. Munro's office and in a violent confrontation with him he ended up getting shot and killed by William who made his escape through the back door without his wife Sylvia ever seeing him! On the lam, in Juarez Mexico, with his wife Sylvia left holding the bag in not telling the police about his whereabouts, which she has no knowledge of, a very distraught and guilt ridden William for the first time in his life gets an attack of guilty consciences and decides to turn himself into the police, back in NYC, and face the music. William ends up receiving a 2 to 10 year sentence on a conviction of involuntarily homicide-or self defense-in Mr. Holman's death. The worst thing in all this is that as William was sent to spend at least the next two years behind bars Prohibition was repealed! Something he's been waiting for almost 15 years to happen.
An interesting idea that seems to lose its way...BADLY.
planktonrules10 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
The idea of having Warren William play this part was an inspired choice--he was perfect for this part. However, no matter how interesting the idea was and how good William was, the plot just kind of fizzled--and late in the film the picture really lost its way. It's a shame, as the movie could have been very good.
The film starts with William selling a variety of bogus products throughout the country. Eventually, he hits on the idea of becoming a fortune teller. He pretends to read the future but mostly just makes things up or has his assistant (Allan Jenkins) investigate and dig up information on people so he can appear psychic. After a while, he learns that a lot of people have been hurt or even killed because of his 'predictions'--culminating in a terrifically harrowing altercation with Mayo Methot (one-time wife of Humphrey Bogart). In the process, he ends up losing his wife--a woman who had thought William COULD predict the future but has since learned he was a phony.
Now, at this point of the film, I really liked the movie. The scene with Methot was intense and wild. But, somehow, the great script with the sociopathic leading man lost its way...very badly. First, while William continues to hurt people again and again, even after he loses his wife, he eventually and completely out of the blue announces during one of his shows that he's a fake!! Why would such a selfish and despicable man do this?! People had already died because of him and he knew it--yet kept on lying and swindling people. So why later announce you are a fraud?! In addition, although William's wife (Constance Cummings) left him because he was such an evil man, why did she later in the film love him so unconditionally--even after she knew he had shot someone (and she had no idea whether it was premeditated or an accident)? And, why at the end of the film did William turn himself in to save Cummings when the police thought she was the killer?! This made zero sense--and the film just spiraled into an incomprehensible mess in every possible way.
The movie is like a movie that began without a finished script. The first half was good but they just fudged the ending--and it sure looked bad! Pathetic and irritating, as the film had been so good in the first half--darn good.
For a much better film about fake psychics, try watching "The Clairvoyant" (1934) with Claude Rains. While the plot is similar, what they do with the story in the second half is satisfying and worth seeing--"The Mind Reader" isn't!
The film starts with William selling a variety of bogus products throughout the country. Eventually, he hits on the idea of becoming a fortune teller. He pretends to read the future but mostly just makes things up or has his assistant (Allan Jenkins) investigate and dig up information on people so he can appear psychic. After a while, he learns that a lot of people have been hurt or even killed because of his 'predictions'--culminating in a terrifically harrowing altercation with Mayo Methot (one-time wife of Humphrey Bogart). In the process, he ends up losing his wife--a woman who had thought William COULD predict the future but has since learned he was a phony.
Now, at this point of the film, I really liked the movie. The scene with Methot was intense and wild. But, somehow, the great script with the sociopathic leading man lost its way...very badly. First, while William continues to hurt people again and again, even after he loses his wife, he eventually and completely out of the blue announces during one of his shows that he's a fake!! Why would such a selfish and despicable man do this?! People had already died because of him and he knew it--yet kept on lying and swindling people. So why later announce you are a fraud?! In addition, although William's wife (Constance Cummings) left him because he was such an evil man, why did she later in the film love him so unconditionally--even after she knew he had shot someone (and she had no idea whether it was premeditated or an accident)? And, why at the end of the film did William turn himself in to save Cummings when the police thought she was the killer?! This made zero sense--and the film just spiraled into an incomprehensible mess in every possible way.
The movie is like a movie that began without a finished script. The first half was good but they just fudged the ending--and it sure looked bad! Pathetic and irritating, as the film had been so good in the first half--darn good.
For a much better film about fake psychics, try watching "The Clairvoyant" (1934) with Claude Rains. While the plot is similar, what they do with the story in the second half is satisfying and worth seeing--"The Mind Reader" isn't!
Great Performances Highlight Gem
Michael_Elliott17 March 2010
Mind Reader, The (1933)
*** (out of 4)
Excellent performances highlight this Warner drama about a con man (Warren William) and his assistant (Allen Jenkins) who travel town to town with a circus doing various acts to bring in money. They then notice that the mind reader gag will bring in the most and soon the alias "Chandra" starts pulling people in but there's going to be a price to pay. I had heard so many positive things about this movie that it quickly became one that I searched out and thankfully got to see due to a recent TCM showing. Fans of classic cinema should certainly keep their eyes open for this one as it lives up to its reputation and also delivers some incredible performances. The film is pretty much divided into two halves with the first one dealing with various cons being performed by William. I found all of these games to be incredibly entertaining due in large part to William being able to push them over. It's very important that we believe these cons could actually be pushed over on people and William is so good here that it's never a problem. He slides into this role and never looks back and there's no a single frame in the film where we don't believe what he's doing and saying. Constance Cummings plays the woman he eventually falls in love with and the two share some great moments together and really make their love story believable. The underrated Jenkins does a very good job as well as he has several nice comic moments. The biggest surprise comes from future Bogart wife Mayo Methot who nearly steals the film as a young woman who is given bad advice and comes to let William know about it. I won't spoil what happens but it's pretty unforgettable and she really nails the part. I think the film begins to lose some of its power during the final twenty-five minutes with the last scam starts to be too big and of course there's going to be a moral lesson to pay. Up until then the film is extremely fast, fun and most important features some terrific acting. This film certainly deserves to be better known and hopefully TCM will start to show it more often.
*** (out of 4)
Excellent performances highlight this Warner drama about a con man (Warren William) and his assistant (Allen Jenkins) who travel town to town with a circus doing various acts to bring in money. They then notice that the mind reader gag will bring in the most and soon the alias "Chandra" starts pulling people in but there's going to be a price to pay. I had heard so many positive things about this movie that it quickly became one that I searched out and thankfully got to see due to a recent TCM showing. Fans of classic cinema should certainly keep their eyes open for this one as it lives up to its reputation and also delivers some incredible performances. The film is pretty much divided into two halves with the first one dealing with various cons being performed by William. I found all of these games to be incredibly entertaining due in large part to William being able to push them over. It's very important that we believe these cons could actually be pushed over on people and William is so good here that it's never a problem. He slides into this role and never looks back and there's no a single frame in the film where we don't believe what he's doing and saying. Constance Cummings plays the woman he eventually falls in love with and the two share some great moments together and really make their love story believable. The underrated Jenkins does a very good job as well as he has several nice comic moments. The biggest surprise comes from future Bogart wife Mayo Methot who nearly steals the film as a young woman who is given bad advice and comes to let William know about it. I won't spoil what happens but it's pretty unforgettable and she really nails the part. I think the film begins to lose some of its power during the final twenty-five minutes with the last scam starts to be too big and of course there's going to be a moral lesson to pay. Up until then the film is extremely fast, fun and most important features some terrific acting. This film certainly deserves to be better known and hopefully TCM will start to show it more often.
I Knew You Were Going To Say That
boblipton6 May 2024
Warren William sells hair tonic and such at medicine shows, with the aid of Allen Jenkins and Clarence Muse. After seeing a mind reader in a carnival, he decides to get into that racket, and soon has a great crystal-ball scam, with "private readings" on the side. Unfortunately for this racket, he falls in love with Constance Cummings. She insists he give up the phony business, so he does. They get married. He's a bust as a Fuller Brush man, so it's back to the swami racket.
It's hard to believe that anything this cynical came from the man who wrote the lushly romantic ONE WAY PASSAGE, but Wilson Mizner did both. Considering he was hiding out in Hollywood, on the run from people he had sold Florida swamp land to, I figure this is what went on in his mind while he told the pretty stories to the suckers. It has the usual sparkling Warner Brothers cast, and even Robert Greig gets a role that isn't a butler!
It's hard to believe that anything this cynical came from the man who wrote the lushly romantic ONE WAY PASSAGE, but Wilson Mizner did both. Considering he was hiding out in Hollywood, on the run from people he had sold Florida swamp land to, I figure this is what went on in his mind while he told the pretty stories to the suckers. It has the usual sparkling Warner Brothers cast, and even Robert Greig gets a role that isn't a butler!
Dark film about drastic results in a psychic scam
SimonJack28 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
"The Mind Reader" is a dark drama and crime story. Warren William, Allen Jenkins and Clarence Muse play a trio of con men who ride the rails and try different carnival and sideshow scams. These aren't the outright theft of stealing scams, because people always get something for their money. But they are sucker deals and magic scams that are meant to fleece the public. The opening scenes are a quick series of different things these guys try at whistle stops in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, then Nashville, Tennessee, then in Emporia, Kansas. In the first place, William is Dr. LeBlanc, the Painless Dentist. Next he's peddling Dr. Zukor's amazing hair tonic. Then he can't get anyone to bite while Jenkins' Frank sits atop a flag pole as the world's record holder of flagpole sitting. As strange as that seems, there was time when that was a big deal.
At the last place, they finally sit in on a magic show and after that William becomes Chandra the Great. It's a nice mind-reading trickery that takes them from Kokomo, Indiana, to the big city and big bucks giving private sessions to wealthy Wall Street wives. Along the way, though, Chandra hires an innocent girl to be his secretary. Constance Cummings thinks he's legit and has real psychic powers, until she stumbles on how they do the free public demonstrations. But, she figures that's innocent enough and goes along when Chandra convinces her that it's just a draw for the serious sessions in which he really helps people. She's in love with him and he with her, and they wed.
Things fall apart though when a young woman goes to their apartment and tells them that the man she didn't marry on his advice committed suicide, and the one he told her to marry is mean to her and unfaithful. The woman herself is distraught and jumps into an elevator shaft to her death. Chandra and Frank hurriedly skip town, but the police charge Sylvia with murder. While she's on trial, Chandra and Frank are in a dive in Mexico where he's supposed to be using their old technique with Chandra using a crystal ball. But he's been hitting the bottle, and finally blows the whole thing in front of a bar crowd, telling them he's a phony. His guilty conscience sends him back to New York to try to save Sylvia.
The ending is a tale of redemption and justice. It's a story that shows how the smallest fraud can lead to terrible consequences and hurt many people. It's also a good look at the fraudulent realm of so-called psychics who can chump people who are so willing. The performances are all quite good, but this isn't exactly a film that many people will find entertaining or enjoyable..
At the last place, they finally sit in on a magic show and after that William becomes Chandra the Great. It's a nice mind-reading trickery that takes them from Kokomo, Indiana, to the big city and big bucks giving private sessions to wealthy Wall Street wives. Along the way, though, Chandra hires an innocent girl to be his secretary. Constance Cummings thinks he's legit and has real psychic powers, until she stumbles on how they do the free public demonstrations. But, she figures that's innocent enough and goes along when Chandra convinces her that it's just a draw for the serious sessions in which he really helps people. She's in love with him and he with her, and they wed.
Things fall apart though when a young woman goes to their apartment and tells them that the man she didn't marry on his advice committed suicide, and the one he told her to marry is mean to her and unfaithful. The woman herself is distraught and jumps into an elevator shaft to her death. Chandra and Frank hurriedly skip town, but the police charge Sylvia with murder. While she's on trial, Chandra and Frank are in a dive in Mexico where he's supposed to be using their old technique with Chandra using a crystal ball. But he's been hitting the bottle, and finally blows the whole thing in front of a bar crowd, telling them he's a phony. His guilty conscience sends him back to New York to try to save Sylvia.
The ending is a tale of redemption and justice. It's a story that shows how the smallest fraud can lead to terrible consequences and hurt many people. It's also a good look at the fraudulent realm of so-called psychics who can chump people who are so willing. The performances are all quite good, but this isn't exactly a film that many people will find entertaining or enjoyable..
Interesting and Dark
Also...Check Out Nightmare Alley (1942)
LeonLouisRicci2 October 2014
Edgy Pre-Coder with a Number of Memorable Scenes and Some Interesting Camera Shots. Warren William Plays a Sleazy Huckster who Could Con the Feathers off a Pigeon but Could Not Sell a Brush to Keep from Starving.
A Fine Cast and a Carnival Atmosphere with a Second Act Demeaning Rich Folks as Adulterous Asses (typical for Films in the depression) and Deserving of the Exposing that the "Mind Reader" Lays Out for the Suspecting Wives.
In Support, there is the Beautiful Constance Cummings as the Love Interest and Allen Jenkins as a Bombastic and Loud Mouthed Sidekick. It's a Good Entertainment with a Sombre Theme and Enough Angst to Make it a Winner.
Most of the Pre-Code Stuff comes from Implication and Dialog. References to Underage Girls being Preyed Upon and Other Nastiness. The Ending is a Double Edge Contrivance and may Sit Differently Depending on Personal Expectations.
A Powerful Movie but there is One Similar Film that is even Better, Creepy, and Navarious. Nightmare Alley (1942), One of the Best Film-Noir and Starring an Unlikely Tyrone Power.
A Fine Cast and a Carnival Atmosphere with a Second Act Demeaning Rich Folks as Adulterous Asses (typical for Films in the depression) and Deserving of the Exposing that the "Mind Reader" Lays Out for the Suspecting Wives.
In Support, there is the Beautiful Constance Cummings as the Love Interest and Allen Jenkins as a Bombastic and Loud Mouthed Sidekick. It's a Good Entertainment with a Sombre Theme and Enough Angst to Make it a Winner.
Most of the Pre-Code Stuff comes from Implication and Dialog. References to Underage Girls being Preyed Upon and Other Nastiness. The Ending is a Double Edge Contrivance and may Sit Differently Depending on Personal Expectations.
A Powerful Movie but there is One Similar Film that is even Better, Creepy, and Navarious. Nightmare Alley (1942), One of the Best Film-Noir and Starring an Unlikely Tyrone Power.
Another Hollywood PSA
view_and_review12 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
"The Mind Reader" was another one of Hollywood's public service announcements like they tend to do every so often. Sort of like "Party Girls" except without the written warning in the beginning. This one was to warn unsuspecting women of lascivious men posing as Indian fortune tellers. They were liars and cheats and they broke up happy homes.
Warren William played a carnival barker. He tried one gimmick after another to attract customers and make money. All the little ruses he pulled with his partner Frank (Allen Jenkins) were just that: little. When he stumbled upon the fortune telling racket he had an epiphany. He changed his name to Chandra the Great and changed his own fortune. He added Sam (Clarence Muse) to his act which made it a three man team: Chandra the fortune teller, Sam the assistant, and Frank working behind the scenes for intel and other purposes. They traveled the country with the circus using tricks to prey upon open-nosed women while skeptical men sat and watched.
At one stop Chandra was attracted to a woman named Sylvia (Constance Cummings). One thing Warren William is known for is being helplessly attracted to women (see "Gold Diggers of 1933," "Skyscraper Souls," "Beauty and the Boss," "Under Eighteen," and "Goodbye Again"). It was a risky proposition for Chandra to get mixed up with any woman and especially risky to take her on the road with him, but that's what he did, and in short order Sylvia found out about Chandra's fakery.
At one point in the movie a woman came to Chandra and blamed him for all of her problems. She was distraught and unhappy. She had asked Chandra if she should marry the love of her life or this other guy she didn't really care for and Chandra said marry the latter.
Did you get that?
She asked if she should marry A.) THE LOVE OF HER LIFE or B.) SOME GUY SHE DIDN'T CARE FOR.
Why should that even be a question??
"Well I married him, see," she complained to Chandra. "A man I didn't care nothing for 'cuz you told me to. You said I was gonna be happy and have kids. Well my husband ran off. Left me right after we was married. And the man I really loved--do you hear me?! The man you told me not to marry, he killed himself. You hear me!? He killed himself over me!"
How tragic. And somehow that's all Chandra's fault.
It got more tragic when the lady then killed herself. "If only she hadn't listened to a fake fortune teller she'd still be alive," First National Pictures was telling us.
Chandra got out of the racket at the behest of his wife Sylvia. If he didn't he was going to lose her. He became a struggling salesman barely making ends meet until he ran into his old pal Frank (Allen Jenkins) again. Frank had a new way to do the same old racket.
Frank was now a driver for a rich family. He knew all of their dirty secrets and each spouse paid him to keep their secret from the other spouse. Frank said he could pass that info on to Chandra and Chandra could pretend to divine the information. Frank also regularly consorted with other drivers who had beans they were more than willing to spill.
If Chandra did this, he would have to do it secretly so that Sylvia wouldn't find out.
This is a common writing hack. Person does something morally questionable. Person leaves it at the behest of a loved one. Person picks it back up when things are tough.
Chandra jumped back into the racket and the pay off was never better. His first customer was Mrs. Austin (Natalie Moorhead). After he told her when and where her husband was cheating she spread the word of this new swami, Dr. Munro, who could tell women where their husbands spent their days and nights.
Things came to a head again when a man named Don (Earle Fox) confronted Chandra/Dr. Munro.
"I'm Don Holman. So you're the rat that tipped off my wife and broke up my home?" he charged.
What?! Am I hearing this right? This nincompoop is trying to blame Chandra for breaking up his home. Bro! You cheated on your wife, don't blame someone else because you got caught. But that really was the message of the movie which I thought was ridiculous and shameful. "Fortune tellers break up happy homes." Sure, fortune tellers are a rip off, but they aren't to be blamed for breaking up homes and causing suicides. Where's the accountability of these morons? Society is always trying to find scapegoats for their wrongs.
Chandra was ready for a Don Holman type. He grabbed his gun and told the guy to get out. Then the movie got even dumber. Don tried to wrestle the gun out of Chandra's hand and was shot.
I don't get it, I don't get it, I don't get it. This happens so much in movies you'd think it's a regular occurrence. It's especially common with the hero: disarming, or attempting to disarm gunmen. It takes less than a second to pull a trigger and very little effort. Who the hell is going to risk getting shot trying to disarm a gunman, especially in this case!? Chandra didn't want to kill Don, he just wanted him out of his office. But Don was both so angry and so stupid that he tried to snatch a gun from a guy who had it pointed right at him.
"The Mind Reader" had me shaking my head and rolling my eyes at the same time. I'm sure I looked like a possessed bobblehead doll. If this movie was a comedy it would've made sense, but as a drama it was flat, foolish, and preachy. The problem wasn't fortune tellers at all, the problem was weak-minded women and cheating men.
Free on Internet Archive.
Warren William played a carnival barker. He tried one gimmick after another to attract customers and make money. All the little ruses he pulled with his partner Frank (Allen Jenkins) were just that: little. When he stumbled upon the fortune telling racket he had an epiphany. He changed his name to Chandra the Great and changed his own fortune. He added Sam (Clarence Muse) to his act which made it a three man team: Chandra the fortune teller, Sam the assistant, and Frank working behind the scenes for intel and other purposes. They traveled the country with the circus using tricks to prey upon open-nosed women while skeptical men sat and watched.
At one stop Chandra was attracted to a woman named Sylvia (Constance Cummings). One thing Warren William is known for is being helplessly attracted to women (see "Gold Diggers of 1933," "Skyscraper Souls," "Beauty and the Boss," "Under Eighteen," and "Goodbye Again"). It was a risky proposition for Chandra to get mixed up with any woman and especially risky to take her on the road with him, but that's what he did, and in short order Sylvia found out about Chandra's fakery.
At one point in the movie a woman came to Chandra and blamed him for all of her problems. She was distraught and unhappy. She had asked Chandra if she should marry the love of her life or this other guy she didn't really care for and Chandra said marry the latter.
Did you get that?
She asked if she should marry A.) THE LOVE OF HER LIFE or B.) SOME GUY SHE DIDN'T CARE FOR.
Why should that even be a question??
"Well I married him, see," she complained to Chandra. "A man I didn't care nothing for 'cuz you told me to. You said I was gonna be happy and have kids. Well my husband ran off. Left me right after we was married. And the man I really loved--do you hear me?! The man you told me not to marry, he killed himself. You hear me!? He killed himself over me!"
How tragic. And somehow that's all Chandra's fault.
It got more tragic when the lady then killed herself. "If only she hadn't listened to a fake fortune teller she'd still be alive," First National Pictures was telling us.
Chandra got out of the racket at the behest of his wife Sylvia. If he didn't he was going to lose her. He became a struggling salesman barely making ends meet until he ran into his old pal Frank (Allen Jenkins) again. Frank had a new way to do the same old racket.
Frank was now a driver for a rich family. He knew all of their dirty secrets and each spouse paid him to keep their secret from the other spouse. Frank said he could pass that info on to Chandra and Chandra could pretend to divine the information. Frank also regularly consorted with other drivers who had beans they were more than willing to spill.
If Chandra did this, he would have to do it secretly so that Sylvia wouldn't find out.
This is a common writing hack. Person does something morally questionable. Person leaves it at the behest of a loved one. Person picks it back up when things are tough.
Chandra jumped back into the racket and the pay off was never better. His first customer was Mrs. Austin (Natalie Moorhead). After he told her when and where her husband was cheating she spread the word of this new swami, Dr. Munro, who could tell women where their husbands spent their days and nights.
Things came to a head again when a man named Don (Earle Fox) confronted Chandra/Dr. Munro.
"I'm Don Holman. So you're the rat that tipped off my wife and broke up my home?" he charged.
What?! Am I hearing this right? This nincompoop is trying to blame Chandra for breaking up his home. Bro! You cheated on your wife, don't blame someone else because you got caught. But that really was the message of the movie which I thought was ridiculous and shameful. "Fortune tellers break up happy homes." Sure, fortune tellers are a rip off, but they aren't to be blamed for breaking up homes and causing suicides. Where's the accountability of these morons? Society is always trying to find scapegoats for their wrongs.
Chandra was ready for a Don Holman type. He grabbed his gun and told the guy to get out. Then the movie got even dumber. Don tried to wrestle the gun out of Chandra's hand and was shot.
I don't get it, I don't get it, I don't get it. This happens so much in movies you'd think it's a regular occurrence. It's especially common with the hero: disarming, or attempting to disarm gunmen. It takes less than a second to pull a trigger and very little effort. Who the hell is going to risk getting shot trying to disarm a gunman, especially in this case!? Chandra didn't want to kill Don, he just wanted him out of his office. But Don was both so angry and so stupid that he tried to snatch a gun from a guy who had it pointed right at him.
"The Mind Reader" had me shaking my head and rolling my eyes at the same time. I'm sure I looked like a possessed bobblehead doll. If this movie was a comedy it would've made sense, but as a drama it was flat, foolish, and preachy. The problem wasn't fortune tellers at all, the problem was weak-minded women and cheating men.
Free on Internet Archive.
Capable Constance!!
kidboots8 May 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Constance Cummings was one of the most beautiful ingenues of the early thirties and the bonus was she could really act. "The Mind Reader" was typical of the Warner Bros. pre-coders, this one tackling the charlatans and phoney mediums that drifted through the country carnivals eager to con innocent folk out of their hard earned money. Warren Williams plays one of those who, along with his crooked buddies (Allan Jenkins and Clarence Muse) go from town to town - pulling teeth in Pine Bluff, selling hair tonic in Nashville but in Topeka they find a new racket and now, posing as "Chandra the Great - Mind Reader", he is out to "tell the chumps what they want to hear"!!
Pretty Sylvia (Cummings) is one he advises "a great change will be coming into your life" - the next night she is employed as his secretary and it is her job to answer the hundreds of letters he receives from people begging him for advice. Things come crashing down when Jenny (Mayo Methot, in yet another dynamic performance), bursts in to tell him that his advice of rejecting the man she really loved wrecked both their lives!! Sylvia then realises that her husband (yes, she is now married to him) is a despicable fake and feels the only way their love can survive is for him to go straight.
The second half of the movie sees him embracing a new racket, as selling brushes may be honest but financially unrewarding. A chance meeting with Jenkins, who is now a chauffeur to a cheating couple (Natalie Moorehead is the wife) sees Chandra become a very up-market spiritualist whose clients are happy to pay thousands to catch out their cheating spouses.
Constance Cummings gave all her parts intelligence - even if it was there or not. By the mid 1930s she was being hailed as the next big emotional star but she had already secured life long happiness by marriage to Ben Levy and by the end of the thirties was happily living in England. In any other actress's hands Sylvia would have seemed a bit of a twit - blindly marrying him and then not realising he was the famous mind reader that the whole city was talking about (didn't she wonder where all the extra money was coming from)!!! There is a confrontation with an angry client in his office and he blows down to Mexico leaving Sylvia to bear the blame of the shooting. Warren William does what he does so well, playing a ruthless crook who, nevertheless, has sparks of redeeming qualities, enough so the ending isn't a surprise. One of the "conned" woman is Ruthelma Stevens, so good as the perfect secretary in "The Circus Queen Murder".
Pretty Sylvia (Cummings) is one he advises "a great change will be coming into your life" - the next night she is employed as his secretary and it is her job to answer the hundreds of letters he receives from people begging him for advice. Things come crashing down when Jenny (Mayo Methot, in yet another dynamic performance), bursts in to tell him that his advice of rejecting the man she really loved wrecked both their lives!! Sylvia then realises that her husband (yes, she is now married to him) is a despicable fake and feels the only way their love can survive is for him to go straight.
The second half of the movie sees him embracing a new racket, as selling brushes may be honest but financially unrewarding. A chance meeting with Jenkins, who is now a chauffeur to a cheating couple (Natalie Moorehead is the wife) sees Chandra become a very up-market spiritualist whose clients are happy to pay thousands to catch out their cheating spouses.
Constance Cummings gave all her parts intelligence - even if it was there or not. By the mid 1930s she was being hailed as the next big emotional star but she had already secured life long happiness by marriage to Ben Levy and by the end of the thirties was happily living in England. In any other actress's hands Sylvia would have seemed a bit of a twit - blindly marrying him and then not realising he was the famous mind reader that the whole city was talking about (didn't she wonder where all the extra money was coming from)!!! There is a confrontation with an angry client in his office and he blows down to Mexico leaving Sylvia to bear the blame of the shooting. Warren William does what he does so well, playing a ruthless crook who, nevertheless, has sparks of redeeming qualities, enough so the ending isn't a surprise. One of the "conned" woman is Ruthelma Stevens, so good as the perfect secretary in "The Circus Queen Murder".
The Most Disturbing Picture, Ever
samwa-2731129 January 2022
I know it's pre code, but this is the most disturbing picture, ever.
First off, the manner in which he commits sorcery, to the people, is accurate, but to show this, to viewers, makes some people, want this.
Further, as a side note, this is exactly how TV evangelists, and so, called "prophets", did this, in the 80s, to about ten years ago. The resemblence, is absolutely uncanny.
Next, is the brazen use, of narcotic cigarettes.
Then, to show a woman, willing to take such an evil man back, is to encourage this, even today.
First off, the manner in which he commits sorcery, to the people, is accurate, but to show this, to viewers, makes some people, want this.
Further, as a side note, this is exactly how TV evangelists, and so, called "prophets", did this, in the 80s, to about ten years ago. The resemblence, is absolutely uncanny.
Next, is the brazen use, of narcotic cigarettes.
Then, to show a woman, willing to take such an evil man back, is to encourage this, even today.
Warren William is perfectly cast as smooth psychic swindler
tchelitchew28 February 2023
I'm a real sucker for movies about fake psychics and occult scammers, and "The Mind Reader" makes for a very fine entry in that sparsely populated genre. Warren William really gets to muck it up as a skeevy huckster who makes his money as a traveling fortune teller. Always one one step ahead of the simple-minded authorities, he never stays long enough in one whistlestop town for his parlor tricks to get exposed. When he falls for Constance Cummings, he begins to seriously question some of his life choices.
Although the tone is rather jaunty compared to something like "The Spiritualist" or "Nightmare Alley", there are a few dramatic moments showing the moral peril and self-centeredness inherent to psychic swindling. William has one great dramatic moment where he breaks down on stage in Mexico, drunkenly abusing the crowd while showing a truly hideous side of his personality. It's one of his finer bits of acting. The film also looks great, with plenty of imaginative angles and vivid lighting that emphasize Chandra's crooked nature.
Although the tone is rather jaunty compared to something like "The Spiritualist" or "Nightmare Alley", there are a few dramatic moments showing the moral peril and self-centeredness inherent to psychic swindling. William has one great dramatic moment where he breaks down on stage in Mexico, drunkenly abusing the crowd while showing a truly hideous side of his personality. It's one of his finer bits of acting. The film also looks great, with plenty of imaginative angles and vivid lighting that emphasize Chandra's crooked nature.
CHANDRA, THE MASTER OF TRICKERY.
tcchelsey3 May 2024
Powerful story, probably based on real life incidents, particularly during the Great Depression. Superbly written by Wilson Mizner, who died not too long after this film. Mizner wrote such classics as 20,000 YEARS IN SING SING and ONE WAY PASSAGE, an inspiration to writers to this day.
Warren William, the master of suave, is perfect in the role of a debonaire con called Chandra the Great, master of trickery and deception. Chandra is hailed as an incredibly gifted mind reader, but nothing more than a fake who only knows how to steal money and subsequently ruin many lives of those who believe in his power.
Enter beautiful Sylvia (exceptionally played by Constance Cummings), an unemployed secretary who could use a job and goes to work for him. She discovers his racket, but also falls in love with him -- which complicates matters and may dramatically change his own future.
Excellent direction by Roy Del Ruth, who was behind many classic crime dramas at the time. Good support from Allen Jenkins (as Frank) and Clarence Muse (as Sam), playing Chandra's partners in crime. Mayo Methot, best known for being the wife of Humphrey Bogart, has a small but effective part as one of Chandra's victims. Also dramatic actress Natalie Moorehead co-stars.
This was one of the last Hollywood productions Constance Cummings would star in before moving to England, where she became even more popular for decades to come. Warren William would next star in GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 and then onto playing detectives Philo Vance and Perry Mason.
A treat from start to finish, and one of William's best roles. Always on Warner Brothers remastered dvd. Thanks to TCM for running this classic.
Warren William, the master of suave, is perfect in the role of a debonaire con called Chandra the Great, master of trickery and deception. Chandra is hailed as an incredibly gifted mind reader, but nothing more than a fake who only knows how to steal money and subsequently ruin many lives of those who believe in his power.
Enter beautiful Sylvia (exceptionally played by Constance Cummings), an unemployed secretary who could use a job and goes to work for him. She discovers his racket, but also falls in love with him -- which complicates matters and may dramatically change his own future.
Excellent direction by Roy Del Ruth, who was behind many classic crime dramas at the time. Good support from Allen Jenkins (as Frank) and Clarence Muse (as Sam), playing Chandra's partners in crime. Mayo Methot, best known for being the wife of Humphrey Bogart, has a small but effective part as one of Chandra's victims. Also dramatic actress Natalie Moorehead co-stars.
This was one of the last Hollywood productions Constance Cummings would star in before moving to England, where she became even more popular for decades to come. Warren William would next star in GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 and then onto playing detectives Philo Vance and Perry Mason.
A treat from start to finish, and one of William's best roles. Always on Warner Brothers remastered dvd. Thanks to TCM for running this classic.
Just-fair development of a tantalizing premise
gridoon20248 September 2017
Warning: Spoilers
The premise of Warren William as a "supernatural" con man, with the gorgeous Constance Cummings by his side, looks tantalizing on paper, but the script of "The Mind Reader" is not particularly well-thought-out. The continuity is abrupt, and the story raises all sorts of little questions, like why is Cummings asking for forgiveness (!) when she discovers William's trickery or how can the skeptic sheriff turn into a believer so easily or why do they arrest Cummings for murder with absolutely no evidence against her, and so on. Director Roy Del Ruth does his best with this script; the tilted camera angles are interesting to see. ** out of 4.
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