#1194c: BROWNING, Tod: The Mystic (1925)

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BROWNING, Tod (United States)
The Mystic [1925]
Spine #1194c
Blu-ray


A fantastically atmospheric but rarely seen missing link in the development of Tod Browning’s artistry, set amid his favored milieu of shadowy sideshows and clever criminals, The Mystic provides a striking showcase for silent-era diva Aileen Pringle, who sports a series of memorably outré looks (courtesy of art-deco designer Erté) as Zara, a phony psychic in a Hungarian carnival who, under the guidance of a Svengali-like con man (Conway Tearle), crashes—and proceeds to swindle—American high society. Browning’s fascination with the weird is on full display in the eerie séance sequences, while his subversive moral ambiguity extends surprising sympathy to even the most seemingly irredeemable of antiheroes.

73 minutes
Monaural
Black and White
1:33:1
Criterion Release 2023


Director/Writer

Tod Browning was 45 when he directed The Mystic.

Other Browning films in the Collection:

#1194a: Freaks (1932)
#1194b: The Unknown (1927)

The Film

a

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Commentary

Video tribute

Documentary 1

Documentary 2

Documentary 3

Controversial altered ending

Theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

By Spine #

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