A silent film where hypnosis becomes the perfect murder weapon—did he kill or was he programmed?
When a hypnotist named Norman Osgood mesmerizes a man named Harrison Kirke without his consent, Kirke threatens to kill him. Afraid for his life, Osgood hypnotizes another man named George Clayton and tells him he must murder Mr. Kirke one hour before the arrival of the dawn. Kirke is found murdered the next day, and Clayton starts to believe he was the murderer.
Acting
H.B. Warner's trance-like physicality sells the possession
Direction
Henry King builds dread without a single spoken word
Director
Henry King
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
1920 audiences were obsessed with hypnosis scandals; this rode the wave of real 'mind control' panics in popular press.
Henry King would become one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, but this early experiment in subjective camera work during trance scenes nearly got him fired.
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