Night Has A Thousand Eyes (1948)

A nightclub psychic (Edward G. Robinson) uses tricks to con his audience into thinking he can read minds. But suddenly he begins experiencing genuine psychic visions and they aren't pleasant. This sudden gift is tortuous and something he doesn't want and he runs away into anonymity. But 20 years later, he must use his gift once more. Based on the novel by Cornell Woolrich (REAR WINDOW) and directed by John Farrow. This is a good thriller with a sympathetic performance by Robinson. As long as the film focuses on Robinson and Gail Russell as the young woman he's trying to help, it's a fascinating puzzle. But unfortunately once the dull police (in the form of William Demarest) are brought in, it really puts a damper on the movie. So much so that I'd say it stops the movie from being what it could have been. Namely a first rate intense mystery. The dim unimaginative boyfriend (John Lund) isn't much help either. Luckily, it's not enough to ruin the movie but a little more ingenuity wouldn't have hurt. John F. Seitz noir-ish cinematography gives the film an appropriate sense of cataclysm. With Virginia Bruce, Jerome Cowan, John Alexander and Richard Webb.