Tyrone Power - cast against type at his own insistence - gives the performance of his life as handsome scumbag and conman Stanton Carlisle. He seduces fellow sideshow artiste Mademoiselle Zeena (Joan Blondell) to learn the secret of the once-lucrative mind-reading act she performed with her alcoholic husband (Ian Keith), Carlisle, a 'born mentalist', secures the secret method and sets off with his new carnie wife, Molly (Coleen Grey) to milk the big time as a spiritualist in Chicago.

As Carlisle's success grows, it's only a matter of time before his greed - and twisted involvement with femme fatale psychoanalyst Lilith Ritter (Helen Walker) - brings his world crashing down around him.