ShangLuda Admirable film.

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

johnaquino Black Magic surprises on many levels. For a non-Hollywood film, it's suprisingly well produced. You have Welles, who, except for the louder moments of Citizen Kane, usually underplays, being big and bold and involved. He struggled with his weight, and here he is thin, wears tights, and engages in an extended Errol Flynn-like final swordfight. Some have noted here that those who want to extend Welles' body of directorial works include this film, even though Gregory Ratoff is credited as director. I recall that Welles said that he could have taken an associate producer credit on this film. But the final duel and fall does evoke memories of Welles' The Stranger and another film that Welles starred in and is said to have co-directed, Journey Into Fear.

Jon Corelis Black Magic is an unjustly neglected 1949 Orson Welles film, based on Alexandre Dumas's novel Joseph Balsamo, a fictionalized version of the life of the occultist better known as Cagliostro, set mostly against the background of the days just before the French Revolution. The film is entertaining and well done, though it's a pity that it's in black and white, since the meticulously recreated ancien regime sets and costumes would have looked much more impressive in color. Welles reportedly said that he had more fun making this film than any other, and it's easy to see why, since the melodramatic script gives ample room for over-the-top histrionics, which only an actor of Welles's talent could put over convincingly. It's interesting that Welles here again plays an eccentric genius whose early success was soon undermined by his own flaws -- in other words, a character whose career is intriguingly parallel to his own. I think most people will find the film entertaining, and real Welles fans should consider it a must-see.The Hen's Tooth Video DVD seems to be the only Region 1 DVD currently available, and it's of adequate sound and image quality, though from a rather poor original print. The film is certainly important enough to deserve a redigitized version with booklet and special features, if possible from a better print, but lacking that, the Hen's Tooth Video version is watchable.

brad-jan Would like to see this film on TCL channel. As a Wells admirer, it will always be a classic. My husband was a stage hypnotist, in the 1950's, having studied psychology at The Detroit Institute of Technology in Detroit Michigan. (several stories in local papers) He appeared on stage along with the showing of Black Magic,(Vanity Theatre) in Windsor Ontario Canada while a student to demonstrate hypnosis. As a result, he traveled to several cities giving demonstrations. At one time he had his own by- line in a Michigan paper in which he discussed hypnosis, Father Stan Murphy (Asumption College Windsor, Ontario Canada) had him on The Christian Culture Series, and demonstrations for the Canadian Police. His picture and stories were carried along with the movies credits in the media. (Have clippings for anyone interested)

Hans C. Frederick Not having readt the story by Dumas,I really don't feel qualified to comment as to this film's fidelity to the original work.However,it has very little,if anything,to do with the actual history.till,it's a superb example of a cross between swashbuckling and film noir. Has anybody ever commented on the fact that,when Orson Welles did historical or Shakespearean figures,he was really telling so much about himself.Noble,talented,gifted people,whose grandiose designs were brought low by their own tragic flaws.And how good looking he was.If he hadn't doubled his girth in later years,he could have played leading men similar to those of Walter Pidgeon. HISTORICAL NOTE:The real Cagliostro was exiled from France in 1789,following the business about the diamond necklace.He then moved to Rome,where he established a Masonic Lodge.Now,in Europe,the Masons are NOT viewed as a men's fraternal organization,as in the U.S.A.,but,rather,as a hot bed of treason,treachery,and heresy.Consequently,he was arrested,and sentenced to be executed.The Pope commuted the sentence to life imprisonment,and he spent the rest of his life in prison. MORAL:We really don't need anyone else to foul up our lives,now,do we?We happen to do a great job on our own.