Der wahnsinnige Zauberkünstler (1954)
8KDer wahnsinnige Zauberkünstler: Directed by John Brahm. With Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, Eva Gabor, John Emery. Don Gallico is a master at devising magicians’ illusions and tries to establish his own stage show as Gallico the Great. His performance is interrupted mid-show by his employer Ross Ormond who has obtained a court injunction to stop him. Gallico had long ago signed an exclusive contract with Ormond to provide him with any illusions he might create. Gallico sets out to get his revenge against those who have wronged him, including Ormond, his ex-wife Claire, who happens to be Ormnond’s wife and magician The Great Rinaldi who is Ormond’s business partner and the main beneficiary or Gallico’s new magic tricks. A clever young detective, Lt. Alan Bruce, uses a new identification technique, fingerprints, to identify the killer.
“u0026quot;The Mad Magicianu0026quot; is a thoroughly enjoyable follow-up to the earlier Vincent Price classic, u0026quot;House of Waxu0026quot;. Rather reminiscent of that favourite, it stars Price as Don Gallico, a magician u0026amp; master of illusion furious with his conniving employer, Ross Ormond (Donald Randolph). Ormond intends to pass on Gallicosu0026#39; u0026quot;buzz sawu0026quot; bit to Gallicosu0026#39; egocentric rival, Rinaldi (John Emery). So Gallico uses his talents to commit murder, and commit more murders in order to keep his secret. Alan Bruce (Patrick Ou0026#39;Neal), a young police detective, utilizes cutting edge new techniques such as fingerprinting to work the clues.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis movie is not going to be as memorable as u0026quot;House of Waxu0026quot;, which was largely responsible for launching Price as a new star of the horror genre. Itu0026#39;s rather formulaic, and predictable, but itu0026#39;s richly photographed in black u0026amp; white by Bert Glennon, and director John Brahm, an expert in period genre productions such as u0026quot;Hangover Squareu0026quot; and u0026quot;The Lodgeru0026quot;, keeps the pace consistent. What viewers may marvel at is the makeup (by George Bau and Gustaf Norin), which is pretty impressive for any era in filmmaking.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;The Mad Magicianu0026quot; also provides great evidence of what a talent Price was. Itu0026#39;s a fun vehicle, and the more unhinged Gallico gets, the more enjoyable Price is to watch. The supporting actors are good – leggy Mary Murphy as the assistant Karen Lee, Eva Gabor as Claire, the greedy, grasping woman whou0026#39;d married both Gallico and Ormond, Jay Novello as landlord Frank Prentiss, and especially Lenita Lane as Prentissu0026#39; wife Alice, who has a second career as an author of murder mysteries. Corey Allen, Conrad Brooks, Roy Engel, and Lyle Talbot have uncredited parts.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis amusing plot, contrived by Crane Wilbur, leads to an exciting and incendiary finale.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSeven out of 10.”
