Catalogue · No. 33 · Under the Big Top
The Mystic
Tod Browning · 1926 · United States · 73 min
Synopsis
A traveling fortune teller becomes involved in an elaborate scheme of deception organized by professional swindlers who exploit grief, superstition, and spiritual belief. As fraudulent séances and emotional manipulation intensify, personal loyalties begin to conflict with ambition and criminal opportunism within an atmosphere of illusion and moral instability.
Critique
Tod Browning develops themes that would define much of his later work, particularly the unstable boundary between performance, deception, and emotional vulnerability. The film combines melodrama and occult spectacle with a fascination for outsiders and marginal worlds. Though less celebrated than Browning’s later productions, it reveals a distinctive sensitivity toward illusion as both theatrical device and psychological refuge.
Technical sheet
- Director
- Tod Browning
- Year
- 1926
- Country
- United States
- Running time
- 73 min
- Genre
- Drama
- Written by
- Tod Browning, Waldemar Young
- Cinematography
- Ira H. Morgan
- Cast
- Aileen Pringle, Conway Tearle, Mitchell Lewis, Robert Ober, Stanton Heck, David Torrence
- Production
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Music
- Newly composed original score
Licensing
Screening availability
- Theatrical screenings
- Non-theatrical screenings
- Festivals and cinematheques
- Educational screenings
- Television broadcasting
- Digital platforms and streaming
- Promotional and editorial use
- Licensing of graphic and visual materials
Available formats
- DCP
- DCP with subtitles
- Apple ProRes
- MP4 Screening File
- MP4 Rehearsal Copy for Musicians (silent films)
- Blu-ray
- High-resolution archival masters
Promotional materials
- Posters
- Press stills
- Promotional assets
- Screening support materials
Available subtitles
- English
- Spanish
- French
- Portuguese
- Italian
- German
