There was a long time since I sat down and watched a movie starring Vincent Price, but when I found The Mad Magician at Stockholm's no. 1 movie boutique Monkey Beach I knew directly what movie I would spend time with during the weekend. I've been a fan of Price since I was a kid and I've seen most of his work in genre cinema, but for some reason very little of his historical dramas, noir and pure comedies. But I will change that someday. There's a lot to watch and hopefully I will be alive to watch them for a couple of more years. When I started out collection and researching personalities like Vincent Price I never read good words about it. Many compared it with the (overrated) House of Wax, which shares a similar concept (wax artist vs magician), gimmick (3D) and lead actor (Vinnie Price of course). The biggest difference would be that The Mad Magician is in black & white, which in retrospect feels like a weird and non-commercial decision.
We start during the rehearsals of Don Gallico's (Price) first big magic show, as Gallico the Great. Just before he's gonna perform his new controversial illusion "The Lady and The Buzzsaw" his boss, the greedy Ross Ormond (Donald Randolph) steps into it all with his lawyer and shuts down the show. Gallico is a nice and friendly inventor of stage illusions and this was going to be his big break on the stage - it's just a pity that the contract he has with Ormond makes Ormond the sole owner of every illusion Gallico comes up with! Bitter and angry he withdraws to the workshop again.... but it all ends with him killing Ormond and taking over his identity! Soon, getting closer to unadulterated madness, the chain-reaction of Ormond's disapperance makes him kill again. And again. And take over more identities...
The magic of The Mad Magician comes from that you, as the audience, accepts without questions that Gallico have the power to impersonate faces and voices to the degree that even those close to him won't notice the difference. We notices the difference and sometimes this gimmick takes away the illusion of a really tight script. Still, directed by super-professional John Brahm (The Lodger and Hangover Square, both starring the chubby version of Vincent Price - the brilliant Laird Cregar), The Mad Magician is a lot better than its reputation. What makes it work is of coure first of all the presence of Vincent Price, a brilliant actor who had complete control over his self-confessed hamminess and always gave everything in his part. He's a tall dude and it's even more visible in this film, where he towers over most of his co-actors. I also love how the first murder sets off both a physical and psychological chaos in Gallico's life, and it's hard NOT to root for him. When the other characters only behaved like harmless wimps or greedy bastards, Gallico actually feels human in behaviour - even if he goes way over the line.
As a former magician myself it's extra fun to see some of the real illusions used in the movie. Bob Haskell was the man constructing and overseeing the magic in The Mad Magician, not to be forgotten.
Fun movie, not a masterpiece, but very entertaining and sharp in almost every detail. I dare to say it's a way better flick than 1953's House of Wax, even if it lacks the same powerful colour or stamp of approval from the experts out there. The Mad Magician is darker with better pace and a wittier script. That's a fact from my point of view.
"There was a long time since I sat down and watched a movie starring Vincent Price,"
When reading this review I started thinking that myself......always liked Price.
"I've been a fan of Price since I was a kid and I've seen most of his work in genre cinema, but for some reason very little of his historical dramas, noir and pure comedies."
I haven´t seen that much of him at all......I have to start building up on my Price knowledge.
"Many compared it with the (overrated) House of Wax,"
No, I like House of Wax (1953), more then the remake.
"What makes it work is of coure first of all the presence of Vincent Price, a brilliant actor who had complete control over his self-confessed hamminess and always gave everything in his part. He's a tall dude and it's even more visible in this film, where he towers over most of his co-actors. I also love how the first murder sets off both a physical and psychological chaos in Gallico's life, and it's hard NOT to root for him. When the other characters only behaved like harmless wimps or greedy bastards, Gallico actually feels human in behaviour - even if he goes way over the line."
So Price´s character is a complex guy with some depths...?
"Fun movie, not a masterpiece, but very entertaining and sharp in almost every detail. I dare to say it's a way better flick than 1953's House of Wax, even if it lacks the same powerful colour or stamp of approval from the experts out there."
It does sound interesting though, good review and thanks, I never heard about this film before.
"The Mad Magician is darker with better pace and a wittier script. That's a fact from my point of view."
Yep, stick to your guns.
Posted by: Megatron | July 13, 2013 at 14:06