The Clairvoyant – 1935 | 80 mins | Drama | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Arriving in England is Maximus, ‘King of the Mind Readers’ (Claude Rains) who, along with his wife and family, is going to commence touring the country’s music halls with his act. His apparent clairvoyance is in fact a scheme by which his wife asks him questions in the audience according to a pre-arranged code. One night his trick is discovered, yet miraculously as the audience heckle him, he does indeed become clairvoyant. At first he has considerable fun, predicting the winner of the Epsom Derby, but when he predicts a mining disaster so convincingly, the authorities begin to wonder if he is actually connected to it in some way. Hysteria brings about a court trial with Maximus having to defend the authenticity of his premonitions whilst outside the courtroom a baying mob demand justice. Standing in the dock, Maximus once again has a premonition – this time an optimistic one.