The Mad Magician

Review #2296: The Mad Magician.

Cast: 

Vincent Price (Don Gallico / Gallico the Great), Mary Murphy (Karen Lee), Eva Gabor (Claire Ormond), John Emery (The Great Rinaldi), Donald Randolph (Ross Ormond), Lenita Lane (Alice Prentiss), Patrick O'Neal (Police Detective Lt. Alan Bruce), and Jay Novello (Frank Prentiss) Directed by John Brahm.

Review:

Sure, you might have heard of a 1950s horror film with "3D Thrills" starring Vincent Price...with House of Wax (1953). Columbia Pictures wanted to join in on the fun of 3D and employed the sane producer (Bryan Foy) and the same writer from that film in Crane Wilbur, who had gone from acting in the silent era to writing in his own right, which started with the 1922 play The Monster (which itself was turned into a film in 1925); he wrote (and directed) for a variety of genres from noir to horror, which included The Amazing Mr. X (1948). This was the second of three films with Wilbur and Price, with the next one being The Bat (1959). Up until that point, Price was getting lagged in noirs and adventure films, albeit not so much as the leading man (let's just put aside that first contribution to horror with The Invisible Man Returns at the very early part of his career in 1940). But Magician was the second of the eventual run that would come from Price in horror by the time the decade was over. This was directed by John Brahm as he was winding down his directing career. The German-born actor-turned-director had left his native country with the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s, eventually seeing him settle in America. He was a steady director for three decades (he directed the second remake of The Lodger) before adding television to his repetoire in the 1950s (he directed 12 episodes of The Twilight Zone, perhaps most famously starting with "Time Enough at Last"); he directed four features after Magician, with Hot Rods to Hell (1967) being his last prior to his death in 1982 at the age of 89.

Loosely set around the 1890s, what we have is a decent movie that isn't quite at the level of future Price films in devilish interest for what kind of madcap stuff could happen next, but he at least manages to make things work in a cut-rate 73-minute feature. Anyway, here's the gambit: a wannabee magician finds that the only way to get out of people trying to stop him from performing finds that murder is a handy tool. You do get to see a bit of stage magic when it comes to winding up how one would accomplish the act of severed heads or incineration for a curious audience. The plot is a bit out there, made clearest with the landlord character played by Lane, who just happens to be a writer for murder mysteries that surely won't come to play. The disguise parts (yes, in addition to would-be magic making, he also does disguises) is also pretty amusing. The body-count is more about what is implied in gruesomeness than actually seen (just your average stuff like having a head sawn off, death by strangling, and incineration), but it moves at a leisurely pace that leaves the viewer willing to accept at least some of its maneuvering. Price makes for a maniacally useful showman that we can follow with up to a point when it comes to genre-savvy viewers that like to see him play opposite a few weirdos and do-gooders in the mix. Murphy and O'Neal may be ordinary (fingerprint curiosity from the latter notwithstanding), but an average film with quiet faces besides the one we inquire to see is serviceable, while Gabor-Emery-Randolph make for quality fall-guys in such short time (take note of the fact that Price likes to impersonate the latter a few times when it comes to doing stuff). The climax is about on part with Wax the most, but it ultimately is serviceable enough to provide some average charm that might prove worth it for those who've been to the well of films of its ilk, genre, star, or otherwise. 

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Gigi (1958).

Review #1397: Gigi.

Cast: 
Leslie Caron (Gilberte "Gigi"), Maurice Chevalier (Honoré Lachaille), Louis Jourdan (Gaston Lachaille), Hermione Gingold (Madame Alvarez), Eva Gabor (Liane d'Exelmans), Jacques Bergerac (Sandomir), Isabel Jeans (Aunt Alicia), and John Abbott (Manuel) Directed by Vincente Minnelli (#405 - The Reluctant Debutante, #510 - Father of the Bride, #620 - Lust for Life, #878 - The Long, Long Trailer, #986 - An American in Paris, and #1031 - Meet Me in St. Louis)

Review:
"I feel that a picture that stays with you is made up of a hundred or more hidden things. They’re things that the audience is not conscious of, but that accumulate."

Style can come in many forms, particularly when it comes to film. Vincente Minnelli was a director noted for his style when it came to film, even if his first directorial effort there was when he was already 40 years old. Minnelli's first job after graduating high school was as a window dresser in a department store, but he later jumped to photography an assistant, which helped him spark interest in the theater due to the work being to photograph actors of the theater district of Chicago. In the theater, he started as a designer for costumes and sets before gradually rising to director and moving locations to New York City, and it was his work there that led to a brief and uneventful time with Paramount Pictures in 1937 and a fruitful chance in 1940 with Metro Goldwyn Mayer that lasted for the next two decades. The person credited with discovering and luring him to MGM was lyricist and producer Arthur Freed, who let his directors have mostly free rein while making musicals for the studio for over two decades, with this being the fourth-to-last film from his iconic Freed Unit. It had a considerable amount of hits and attention, with Freed winning two Academy Awards for Best Picture for this and An American in Paris, while Minnelli won an Academy Award for his direction in this film. In a career that spanned from Cabin in the Sky (1943) to A Matter of Time (1976), he had a style to him that served him well in numerous musicals alongside a few comedies and melodramas over the years, which served him significantly well with this film, so who better to accompany a stylish production like this than French ballerina-turned-MGM musical star Leslie Caron, who had starred in Minnelli's An American in Paris earlier to accompany fellow French actors in Jourdan and cabaret singer/entertainer Maurice Chevalier in a production with a good deal of shooting in Paris.

This was an adaptation of the 1944 novella of the same name by Colette, which had already been turned into a film in 1949 in France along with a stage adaptation two years later (which had a young Audrey Hepburn in the role). Alan Jay Lerner wrote the screenplay for the film along with the lyrics while the music was done by Frederick Loewe and arrangement/conduction by Andre Previn. Lerner and Loewe were known already for their collaboration together on theater productions such as Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, and My Fair Lady. These three, alongside Minnelli and Freed, would contribute to the film winning nine Academy Awards (which also included wins for art direction, costume design, cinematography, and editing), while Chevalier received an honorary award. For a film that was found to be appreciated by audiences, it was one that had tinkering before it went into general release, since Lerner and Loewe felt that the pre-screening was a bit too slow with creamy ill-defined music despite audiences rating it favorably. Their appeals to producers for $300,000 to improve the film (with a bluff offer to buy the print for $3 million) led to reshoots (including a re-orchestration), most notably with the "I Remember It Well" number, which was directed by Charles Walters. One also can't forget that the filmmakers had to make sure to approach the subject of courtesans (a word I confess to having to search up) with subtlety. It certainly goes to show the amount of craftsmanship and care it can take to make a grand musical worth viewing, with this being a capable dazzler with something to show for everyone that works itself out effectively enough. Caron excels with charm and innocence, a presence that invites one further without seeming graceless, which also goes to the singing for the character (done by Betty Wand, much to Caron's disappointment) in making these songs come together with warmth. When he is present on screen, Chevalier makes quite an impression on you, a confident and seasoned performance through and through. Jourdan does well in an aimless (or at least bored with a twinkle) but pleasurable balance to Caron, filled with debonair attitude that makes for interesting chemistry. Gingold and Jeans lend a dignified hand in their manner that makes for a few humorous moments (such as during "I Remember It Well", for example). There is a warm quality to the atmosphere of this film, where one almost seems to feel like they are really in Paris with these quirky characters for 115 minutes, from its wonderful costumes to its camerawork. It has endured for over six decades without seeming to require an updated version, timeless in its own right as a key hurrah for musicals in its era and for MGM as a whole for its irresistible charm.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: The Rescuers.

Review #598: The Rescuers.

Cast
Bob Newhart (Bernard), Eva Gabor (Miss Bianca), Geraldine Page (Madame Medusa), Michelle Stacy (Penny), Joe Flynn (Mr. Snoops), Jim Jordan (Orville), John McIntire (Rufus), Jeanette Nolan (Ellie Mae), Pat Buttram (Luke), James MacDonald (Evinrude), Candy Candido (Brutus and Nero), and Bernard Fox (Mr. Chairman) Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman & John Lounsbery (#250 - The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), and Art Stevens.

Review
I've done a few Disney films (#073 - The Lion King, #156 - Aladdin, #178 - Peter Pan, #230 - The Great Mouse Detective, #250, #373 - Cinderella, #387 - Lilo & Stitch, #390 - Pocahontas, #511 - The Three Caballeros, #579 - Frozen) on this show, and they usually are entertaining enough (except Pocahontas, but that's another story), and The Rescuers is no different. The animation is good (especially when they show the diamond), but the cast is better. Newhart and Gabor share a good rapport with each other, they are certainly a good duo (you can insert your Newhart joke here), and the rest of the cast is certainly entertaining, even Page and Flynn are a good pair of villains, I like how Medusa has not only a cool swamp-mobile, but two big alligators. Let's not forget she lives on a riverboat, which adds some more style points. The movie is short, but it is entertaining, and while it may have one too many songs, it at least is a cool adventure for everyone. So yeah, what's going to be the 600th Review, you might ask? The next review will give you a hint.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.