Magic Fire
Encyclopedia
Magic Fire is a biographical film about the life of composer Richard Wagner
, released in the United States on March 29, 1956 by Republic Pictures
. It had been released in the United Kingdom on July 15, 1955. Additional European releases were in Denmark on November 21, 1956, and in Finland on October 18, 1957.
, the film made extensive use of Wagner's actual music, which was arranged by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
. Dieterle worked with Korngold on several Warner Bros.
films, including A Midsummer Night's Dream
and Juarez. It was one of the final films Republic made in the two-strip color process known as Trucolor
.
Although many details about Wagner's life were accurately portrayed, the film often distorted some facts, apparently for dramatic purposes. One high point was the accurate depiction of the riot at the Paris Opera House for the premiere of the revised version of Tannhäuser
. The film depicted King Ludwig II
's patronage of Wagner, without going into much detail about the king's controversial personality.
The film used a very large cast, opulent sets, and lavish costumes. Since Republic was known primarily for westerns and adventure serials, Magic Fire was one of the rare "prestige" films to be produced by studio chief Herbert Yates
. Nevertheless, critical response was mixed and box office receipts in the U.S. were disappointing.
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
, released in the United States on March 29, 1956 by Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
. It had been released in the United Kingdom on July 15, 1955. Additional European releases were in Denmark on November 21, 1956, and in Finland on October 18, 1957.
Overview
Directed by William DieterleWilliam Dieterle
William Dieterle was a German actor and film director, who worked in Hollywood for much of his career. His best known films include The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Story of Louis Pasteur and The Hunchback of Notre Dame...
, the film made extensive use of Wagner's actual music, which was arranged by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
. Dieterle worked with Korngold on several Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
films, including A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
and Juarez. It was one of the final films Republic made in the two-strip color process known as Trucolor
Trucolor
Trucolor was a process used and owned by Consolidated Film Industries division of Republic Pictures. Trucolor was originally a two-strip process based on the earlier work of William Van Doren Kelley's Prizma color process. It later became a three-color process.Republic used Trucolor mostly for its...
.
Although many details about Wagner's life were accurately portrayed, the film often distorted some facts, apparently for dramatic purposes. One high point was the accurate depiction of the riot at the Paris Opera House for the premiere of the revised version of Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
. The film depicted King Ludwig II
Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II was King of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death. He is sometimes called the Swan King and der Märchenkönig, the Fairy tale King...
's patronage of Wagner, without going into much detail about the king's controversial personality.
The film used a very large cast, opulent sets, and lavish costumes. Since Republic was known primarily for westerns and adventure serials, Magic Fire was one of the rare "prestige" films to be produced by studio chief Herbert Yates
Herbert Yates
Herbert John Yates was the founder and president of Republic Pictures, famous for being the home of John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers...
. Nevertheless, critical response was mixed and box office receipts in the U.S. were disappointing.
Cast and crew
- Directed by William DieterleWilliam DieterleWilliam Dieterle was a German actor and film director, who worked in Hollywood for much of his career. His best known films include The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Story of Louis Pasteur and The Hunchback of Notre Dame...
- Writing credits: David T. Chantler, screenplay (as David Chantler); Ewald André DupontEwald André DupontEwald André Dupont was a German film director, one of the founders of the German film industry. He was frequently credited as E. A. Dupont....
, screenplay (as E. A. Dupont); - Bertita Harding, novel "The Original Music of Richard Wagner" and screenplay
- Alan BadelAlan BadelAlan Fernand Badel was a distinguished English stage actor who also appeared frequently in the cinema, radio and television and was noted for his richly textured voice which was once described as "the sound of tears".-Early life:...
... Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas... - Yvonne De CarloYvonne De CarloYvonne De Carlo was a Canadian-born American actress of film and television. During her six-decade career, her most frequent appearances in film came in the 1940s and 1950s and included her best-known film roles, such as of Anna Marie in Salome Where She Danced ; Anna in Criss Cross ; Sephora the...
... Minna PlanerMinna PlanerChristine Wilhelmine "Minna" Planer was a German actress and the first wife of composer Richard Wagner to whom she was married for 30 years, although for the last 10 years they often lived apart. Seduced at an early age by an Army officer, she had an illegitimate daughter, who was brought up as... - Carlos ThompsonCarlos ThompsonJuan Carlos Mundin-Schaffter, known as Carlos Thompson, was an Argentinian actor.- Career :Of German Swiss parentage, he played leading roles on stage and in films in Argentina. He went to Hollywood in the 1950s and was typically cast as a European womanizer...
... Franz LisztFranz LisztFranz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age... - Rita GamRita GamRita Gam is an American film and television actress and documentary film maker. She was nominated for a Golden Globe and won the Silver Bear for Best Actress.-Career:...
... Cosima LisztCosima WagnerCosima Francesca Gaetana Wagner, née de Flavigny, from 1844 known as Cosima Liszt; was the daughter of Hungarian composer Franz Liszt... - Valentina Cortese ... Mathilde WesendonckMathilde WesendonckMathilde Wesendonck was a German poet and author. She is best known as the friend and possibly mistress of Richard Wagner, who set five songs to her words, called the Wesendonck Lieder.-Biography:...
- Peter CushingPeter CushingPeter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
... Otto Wesendonck - Frederick ValkFrederick ValkFrederick Valk was a German-born Jewish stage and screen actor of Czech descent who fled to the United Kingdom in the late 1930s to escape Nazi persecution, and subsequently became a naturalised British citizen...
... Minister von Moll - Gerhard Riedmann ... King Ludwig IILudwig II of BavariaLudwig II was King of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death. He is sometimes called the Swan King and der Märchenkönig, the Fairy tale King...
- Erik Schumann ... Hans von BülowHans von BülowHans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. He was one of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, and his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, including Richard...
- Robert Freitag ... August Roeckel
- Heinz Klingenberg ... King of Saxonia
- Charles RégnierCharles RégnierCharles Régnier was a German film actor. He appeared in over 135 films between 1949 and 2000.He was born in Freiburg, Germany and died in Bad Wiessee, Germany.-Selected filmography:* The Last Illusion...
... Giacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near... - Kurt GroßkurthKurt GroßkurthKurt Grosskurth Kurt Grosskurth Kurt Grosskurth (11 May 1909 in Langenselbold at Hanau - 29 May 1975 in (Bad Aibling) was a German actor and singer.- Biography :In the 1920s he studied hotel management in Essen, London and Heidelberg. In the early 1930s, he discovered his love for the stage and...
... Magdeburg Theatre Manager (as Kurt Grosskurth) - Fritz RaspFritz RaspFritz Heinrich Rasp was a German film actor who appeared in 104 films between 1916 and 1976.His most notable film roles were "J. J. Peachum" in The Threepenny Opera , as Meinert in Diary of a Lost Girl , and as "Der Schmale" in Fritz Lang's Metropolis...
... Pfistermeister - Hans Quest ... Robert Hubner
- Jan HendriksJan HendriksJan Hendriks was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films on screen and TV between 1950 and 1985.In 1952 he won the German Film Award as Best Male Newcomer...
... Mikhail BakuninMikhail BakuninMikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin was a well-known Russian revolutionary and theorist of collectivist anarchism. He has also often been called the father of anarchist theory in general. Bakunin grew up near Moscow, where he moved to study philosophy and began to read the French Encyclopedists,... - Hans Elwenspoek ... (uncredited)
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold ... Hans RichterHans Richter (conductor)Hans Richter was an Austrian orchestral and operatic conductor.-Biography:Richter was born in Raab , Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother was opera-singer Jozsefa Csazenszky. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory...
(uncredited) - Rolf Kralovitz ... (uncredited)
- Werner Lieven ... (uncredited)
- Werner Westerholt ... (uncredited)
- Produced by William Dieterle
- Original Music by Erich Wolfgang KorngoldErich Wolfgang KorngoldErich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
- Cinematography by Ernest Haller (director of photography)
- Art Direction by Robert Herlth
- Costume Design by Ursula Maes
- Virgil Hart .... assistant director
- Frank T. Dyke .... sound
- Walter Rühland .... sound (as Walter Ruehland)
- Léo L. Fuchs .... still photographer (uncredited)
- Stanley E. Johnson .... supervising editor (as Stanley Johnson)
- Tatjana Gsovsky .... choreographer
- Rudolf Hartmann .... opera stager (as Professor Rudolf Hartmann)
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold .... music supervisor