Directed by Edmund Goulding
111 minutes
In English with English subtitles

This is one of those dark wacky movies they made in the 1940s, with strange off-kilter stories set in a circus or carnival. Of course the circus shtick is based on a twisted sense of irony—even though the shows are supposed to be happy with painted smiles on the clowns, there's something creepy and otherworldly going on and everyone knows it. Therefore that milieu is also a reflection of our society and its hypocrisies. This particular flick isn't about clowns, but is about charlatans who fake telepathy in sideshow performances.

Our central figure is a conman, a fake illusionist who is ruthlessly pursuing his own gain and he doesn't care who he destroys to get there. The sleazy people he is hanging out with and working with are pretty much the same, sometimes worse. In a way the flick seems to be a bitter attack at the Hollywood industry it came from - the whole showbiz racket, selling cheap illusions for a fast buck. It can also be seen as a reflection about, by extension, capitalism in general. Especially when a female psychologist pops up and starts to get in on the game. That's when we see that this con artist trickery is actually in all areas of American society.

This movie is first and foremost an existential film noir, but it's also got that gothic 'weird americana' vibe, like the Andrew Wyeth painting of the desperate woman in the wheat field. The lead actor is Tyrone Power, and he was huge when this movie was made. He was getting a lot of money and publicity from Hollywood, but he started to grow dissatisfied with the superficial and meaningless roles given to him. So he wanted to take a risk and do something with more depth, and that's how we came to this project. In the end the flick was so unexpectedly dark, it put a dent on his blooming career and the studio quickly buried the film. Besides Tyrone Power, it stars Joan Blondell. 

Criminally remade by Guillermo del Toro several years ago with a huge budget and big stars. What's gonna stop this madness of remaking masterpieces? If you want to do a remake then pick a film that was terrible, but maybe had a good idea hidden in it somewhere. Remake that one, not the films that are already perfect.