Black Magic (1949 film)
Encyclopedia
Black Magic is a 1949 film adaptation
of Alexandre Dumas, père
's novel. It was directed by the Russian-born Gregory Ratoff
and stars Orson Welles
in the lead role as Joseph Balsamo (aka 18th century hypnotist, magician and scam artist Count Cagliostro) and Nancy Guild
as Lorenza/Marie Antoinette
. Akim Tamiroff
has a featured role.
) tells his son Alexander Dumas, Jr. (Raymond Burr
) the story of Joseph Balsamo (Orson Welles
). Through flashbacks
we learn that Balsamo was a French gypsy boy who endured much hardship. He was tortured under the command of Viscount de Montagne (Stephen Bekassy) and his parents were ordered to hang. Some years later, he learns the secrets of hypnosis
from Dr. Mesmer (Charles Goldner
). Ignoring the doctor's advice that he use his powers for healing, he exploits his new talent to the full; gaining wealth
, fame
and prestige. After changing his name to Count Cagliostro, he becomes famous all over Europe. Things begin to go downhill when he enters a plot to substitute a young girl called Lorenza (Nancy Guild
) for the French queen Marie Antoinette
along with gypsies Gilbert (Akim Tamiroff
) and Zoraida (Valentina Cortese).
went through a number of directors and stars in trying to get this film off the ground. In late 1943 Charles Boyer
was to star with Akim Tamiroff, and Irving Pichel
directing, then in early 1944 J. Carroll Naish was reported to play Alexandre Dumas, Sr. Later that year, George Sanders
was announced as the star with Douglas Sirk
directing. In 1947, Small was to make the film in Mexico, but dropped those plans when it turned out to be more expensive to shoot there than he expected – so the location of shooting was changed to Italy. Small borrowed Gregory Ratoff
and Nancy Guild from Twentieth Century-Fox and took over the Scalera studios in Rome from early October 1947 to late January 1948.
Orson Welles
directed several scenes in the film, which was released on 18 August 1949.
The film was mentioned in Oliver Parker
's 2006 feature Fade to Black
starring Danny Huston
as Orson Welles.
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
's novel. It was directed by the Russian-born Gregory Ratoff
Gregory Ratoff
Gregory Ratoff was a Russian-born American film director, actor and producer. His most famous role as an actor was as producer Max Fabian who feuds with star Margo Channing in All About Eve ....
and stars Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
in the lead role as Joseph Balsamo (aka 18th century hypnotist, magician and scam artist Count Cagliostro) and Nancy Guild
Nancy Guild
Nancy Guild was an American film actress of the 1940s and 1950s. The actress appeared in Somewhere in the Night ; The Brasher Doubloon and the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man...
as Lorenza/Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
. Akim Tamiroff
Akim Tamiroff
Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff was an Armenian actor. He won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.Tamiroff was born in Tiflis, Russian Empire , of Armenian ethnicity. He trained at the Moscow Art Theatre drama school. He arrived in the U.S. in 1923 on a tour with a troupe of actors...
has a featured role.
Plot
Alexander Dumas, Sr. (Berry KroegerBerry Kroeger
Berry Kroeger was an American film, television, and stage actor.Born in San Antonio, Texas, Kroeger got his acting start on radio as an announcer and actor, playing for a time The Falcon and The Shadow...
) tells his son Alexander Dumas, Jr. (Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
) the story of Joseph Balsamo (Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
). Through flashbacks
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
we learn that Balsamo was a French gypsy boy who endured much hardship. He was tortured under the command of Viscount de Montagne (Stephen Bekassy) and his parents were ordered to hang. Some years later, he learns the secrets of hypnosis
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
from Dr. Mesmer (Charles Goldner
Charles Goldner
Charles Goldner was an Austrian-born actor who appeared in a number of British films during the 1940s and 1950s. Born in Vienna, Austria on 7 December 1900, he made his screen debut in the 1940 film Room for Two and went on to appear in Brighton Rock, No Orchids for Miss Blandish, Bond Street and...
). Ignoring the doctor's advice that he use his powers for healing, he exploits his new talent to the full; gaining wealth
Wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word wealth is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
, fame
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
and prestige. After changing his name to Count Cagliostro, he becomes famous all over Europe. Things begin to go downhill when he enters a plot to substitute a young girl called Lorenza (Nancy Guild
Nancy Guild
Nancy Guild was an American film actress of the 1940s and 1950s. The actress appeared in Somewhere in the Night ; The Brasher Doubloon and the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man...
) for the French queen Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
along with gypsies Gilbert (Akim Tamiroff
Akim Tamiroff
Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff was an Armenian actor. He won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.Tamiroff was born in Tiflis, Russian Empire , of Armenian ethnicity. He trained at the Moscow Art Theatre drama school. He arrived in the U.S. in 1923 on a tour with a troupe of actors...
) and Zoraida (Valentina Cortese).
Cast
- Orson WellesOrson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
as Joseph Balsamo aka Count Cagliostro - Nancy GuildNancy GuildNancy Guild was an American film actress of the 1940s and 1950s. The actress appeared in Somewhere in the Night ; The Brasher Doubloon and the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man...
as Marie Antoinette / Lorenza - Akim TamiroffAkim TamiroffAkim Mikhailovich Tamiroff was an Armenian actor. He won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.Tamiroff was born in Tiflis, Russian Empire , of Armenian ethnicity. He trained at the Moscow Art Theatre drama school. He arrived in the U.S. in 1923 on a tour with a troupe of actors...
as Gitano - Frank LatimoreFrank LatimoreFranklin Latimore was an American actor best known for his character ‘Dr. Ed Coleridge’ on the television soap opera Ryan's Hope....
as Gilbert de Rezel - Valentina Cortese as Zoraida
- Margot GrahameMargot GrahameMargot Grahame was an English actress most noted for starring in The Informer and The Crimson Pirate. She started acting in 1930 and made her last screen appearance in 1958.-Movie actress:...
as Mme. du Barry - Stephen Bekassy as Viscount de Montagne
- Berry KroegerBerry KroegerBerry Kroeger was an American film, television, and stage actor.Born in San Antonio, Texas, Kroeger got his acting start on radio as an announcer and actor, playing for a time The Falcon and The Shadow...
as Alexandre Dumas, Sr. - Gregory GayeGregory GayeGregory Gaye was a Russian-American actor. The son of an actor, he was born Gregory De Gay in Petrograd, now known as St. Petersburg....
as Chambord / Monk - Raymond BurrRaymond BurrRaymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
as Alexandre Dumas, Jr. - Charles Goldner as Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer
- Lee Kresel as King Louis XVI / Innkeeper
- Robert AtkinsRobert Atkins (actor)Sir Robert Atkins, CBE was an English actor, producer and director.Born in Dulwich, London, England, Atkins was most famous for his participation in the theatre. An early graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he also appeared many times on film and in television, though not with the...
as King Louis XV - Nicholas Bruce as De Remy
- Franco Corsaro as Chico
- Annielo Mele as Joseph Balsamo, as a child
- Ronald AdamRonald Adam (actor)Ronald Adam OBE , born Ronald George Hinings Adams, was a British RAF officer, an actor on stage and screen and a successful theatre manager.-Early life:...
as Court President - Bruce BelfrageBruce BelfrageBruce Belfrage was an English actor and BBC newsreader.Like his brother, the author and journalist Cedric Belfrage, Bruce Belfrage was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk....
as Crown Prosecutor - Alexander Danaroff as Dr. Duval / Baron von Minden
- Leonardo Scavino as Gaston / Beniamino Balsamo
- Tamara ShayneTamara ShayneTamara Shayne was a Russian-born actress long resident in the United States....
as Maria Balsamo - Joop van Hulzen as Minister of Justice
- Peter Trent as Dr. Mesmer's Friend
- Giuseppe Varni as Boehmer
- Tatyana Pavlova as The mother
Production
Producer Edward SmallEdward Small
Edward Small was a film producer from the late 1920s through 1970....
went through a number of directors and stars in trying to get this film off the ground. In late 1943 Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...
was to star with Akim Tamiroff, and Irving Pichel
Irving Pichel
Irving Pichel was an American actor and film director. He married Violette Wilson, daughter of Jackson Stitt Wilson, a Methodist minister and Socialist mayor of Berkeley, California. Her sister was actress Viola Barry...
directing, then in early 1944 J. Carroll Naish was reported to play Alexandre Dumas, Sr. Later that year, George Sanders
George Sanders
George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
was announced as the star with Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk was a Danish-German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas in the 1950s.-Life and work:...
directing. In 1947, Small was to make the film in Mexico, but dropped those plans when it turned out to be more expensive to shoot there than he expected – so the location of shooting was changed to Italy. Small borrowed Gregory Ratoff
Gregory Ratoff
Gregory Ratoff was a Russian-born American film director, actor and producer. His most famous role as an actor was as producer Max Fabian who feuds with star Margo Channing in All About Eve ....
and Nancy Guild from Twentieth Century-Fox and took over the Scalera studios in Rome from early October 1947 to late January 1948.
Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
directed several scenes in the film, which was released on 18 August 1949.
The film was mentioned in Oliver Parker
Oliver Parker
Oliver Parker is an English film director.-Biography:Parker was born in London, the son of Jillian, Lady Parker, a writer and GP , and Sir Peter Parker, formerly Chief executive of British Rail...
's 2006 feature Fade to Black
Fade to Black (2006 film)
Fade to Black is a 2006 thriller film directed by Oliver Parker and starring Danny Huston as Orson Welles.-Synopsis:The year is 1948. His Hollywood career deadlocked, Orson Welles is in need to get over his failed marriage to Rita Hayworth...
starring Danny Huston
Danny Huston
-Early life:Huston was born in Rome, Italy. He hails from the illustrious Huston acting and filmmaking dynasty. He is the son of legendary director John Huston, half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston and screenwriter Tony Huston, uncle of actor Jack Huston, stepbrother of Allegra Huston, and...
as Orson Welles.