The Medium

Directed by Gian Carlo Menotti and based on his own opera, this is the story of Madame Flora (Marie Powers), a charlatan psychic who uses her adopted deaf-mute son, Toby (Leo Coleman), in her performances for dramatic effect. During a séance, she feels hands around her neck and throws Toby out, assuming he was the culprit. When Toby returns to visit Flora's daughter, Monica (Anna Maria Alberghetti), whom he likes, Flora mistakes him for a burglar, leading to a fateful confrontation.