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Released by: Twilight Time Releasing
Released on: January 17th, 2017.
Director: John Brahm
Cast: Mary Murphy, Eva Gabor, John Emery, Lenita Lane, Vincent Price
Year: 1954
Purchase From Screen Archives
The Movie:
Directed for Columbia Pictures by John Brahm (the man behind The Lodger and The Undying Monster) in 1954, The Mad Magician was clearly meant to cash-in on the box office success of Warner Brothers' 3-D smash hit House Of Wax. It's no coincidence that the two films shared a producer in the form of Bryan Foy, but not only did Columbia bring Price over to star, they snagged House's writer as well, Crane Wilbur.
The story revolves around a man named Don Gallico (Vincent Price). While he's worked for some time for Mr. Ormand (Donald Randolph), a man who sells his creations to local magicians, Gallico has bigger plans - he's created a contraption that allows him to create the illusion that he's able to saw off a woman's head with a giant buzz saw and he intends to debut it on stage tonight during his own inaugural performance. Unfortunately, he didn't read the small print - even items that he creates in his spare time are owned by his employer and that employer has the cops shut things down. Gallico is understandably upset about this, as is his pretty assistant, Karen Lee (Mary Murphy).
Given that there's more to Gallico's beef with Ormand than just ownership of the buzzsaw - Gallico's wife, Claire (Eva Gabor) left him for the other man - things have clearly gotten personal. When confronted, Gallico proves just how dangerous the buzz saw machine really is and does away with Ormand. But he doesn't stop there, see Gallico is also skilled in the art of impersonation and is able to create a lifelike mask that allows him rent out an apartment as Gallico. When one of the local magicians, The Great Rinaldi (John Emery) also turns up dead, the man who rented 'Ormand' the apartment and his murder mystery writing wife - Frank and Alice Prentiss (Jay Novello and Lenita Lane respectively) try to help the cops, led by Alan Bruce (Patrick O'Neail) and his new-fangled finger printing techniques, crack the case.
At just over seventy minutes in length The Mad Magician is a briskly paced and efficient mystery film with a few intense moments that should appeal to horror fans and some quirky elements of comedy thrown into the mix for good measure. John Brahm keeps things moving along at a good clip while cinematographer Bert Glennon ensures that the movie looks quite slick and that it takes advantage of the 3-D format often enough to engage audiences looking specifically for that element of the production. Throw in a solid score composed and some nice editing and for a film made on a modest budget, well, The Mad Magician turns out to be quite polished in its presentation.
If the story itself is a little predictable and a fair bit preposterous, no one seems to have told the cast as everyone in front of the camera sells it. Jay Novello and Lenita Lane provide almost all of the comic relief in the picture and they do it well. He's a bit dopey and she's whip smart, clearly the one who wears the pants in the family so to speak. Supporting work from O'Neail as the top cop and pretty Mary Murphy as his love interest/Gallico's assistant is also fine. Donald Randolph and John Emery are a kick as the film's 'bad guys' - you never once feel sorry for these guys, and Eva Gabor as Gallico's snooty former flame is also pretty fun here, if a bit underused.
The real star of the show, however, is (not surprisingly) Vincent Price. Like most good classic horror actors, Price manages to make the audience somewhat sympathetic to his cause. He manages to go just far enough over the top at the right moments in the picture to really make the part his own, and it's easy to see based on his work here and in House Of Wax why he would soon go on to become one of horror film history's most beloved icons.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Mad Magician arrives on Blu-ray from Twilight Time in both 2-D and 3-D versions, but you'll need a 3-D compatible HDTV and player to take advantage of that version, so we'll comment on the 2-D transfer instead. How does it shape up? Wonderfully. Framed at 1.78.1 widescreen and presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition on a 50Gb disc, this is a sharp and crisp looking image that shows very good detail and nice black levels but no obvious signs of digital manipulation such as noise reduction or edge enhancement. Contrast and texture are both very strong from start to finish and outside of a few specks here and there, the image is free of any major print damage, though a natural amount of film grain is present (as it should be) throughout the movie.
And now over to Chris Workman for some thoughts on the 3-D aspect of the disc:
"The Blu-ray's 3D presentation is something to behold. When the frame is full of objects and activity, the image has a layered depth that is astounding to observe. Though Brahm occasionally throws objects at the screen, more often than not he sits back and allows the frame to speak for itself. There isn't two or three layers of depth; there are many, and the deeper the frame goes, the more astounding the image is. The image clarity is also high, with wallpaper looking detailed and clothing textured. And while the grain appears fine and natural in the 2D version, it is slightly better resolved in the 3D version.
The image in the shorts is not nearly as sharp and detailed as in the main feature (which obviously comes from a much newer transfer). Nor is the 3D as deep, though it still packs an occasional punch. The Stooges and their nemeses love throwing items at the screen, whether it's the traditional cream pies or automotive tools; either way, the effects work. Best of all are the shots of water or oil being sprayed at the screen; we guarantee you can't watch either short without flinching somewhere."
As to the audio, the only audio option for the feature is an English language DTS-HD Mono track which comes with optional closed captioning provided in English only. Though the source material is limited in range, clarity is good here. Dialogue is perfectly easy to understand, the score has nice balance and presence and there are no issues of note with hiss or distortion.
The supplements for this release start off with an audio commentary track by film historians David Del Valle and Steven Peros. They start off by discussing the film's similarities to House Of Wax, how Columbia wanted to cash in on that picture's success and how The Mad Magician was rushed into production. Of course, there's plenty of talk about Price's performance in the picture and what makes it as interesting as it is, as well as how the movie caters to the 3-D process in order to cash in on the gimmick. There's some good talk here about Price's career up to this point and how this movie and House Of Wax are basically the movies that turned him into a horror star whereas prior he had appeared in movies from all genres. The two commentators discuss some of John Brahm's other films, his work in television, the contributions of the supporting players such as Eva Gabor (and how Price is depicted as 'beefcake' in one of their scenes together), some of the 'winks and nods' in the script, the picture's score and loads more.
Twilight Time has also included a nineteen minute featurette entitled Master of Fright!: Conjuring The Mad Magician. Made up of interviews with film historians C. Courtney Joyner, Ted Newsom and Michael Schlesinger this starts off as a history of the film's producer, Bryan Foy, his vaudeville ties and his work at the Warner Brother B unit before then going on to talk about Crane Wilbur's involvement, the genesis of House Of Wax 3-D and then of course, The Mad Magician for Columbia who had experienced some success with the 3-D release of Man In The Dark and some Three Stooges shorts. They then talk about Price's involvement in the picture, trying to show a 'different side' of show business with this picture, the specific look of the film, the importance of the supporting players and quite a bit more.
On top of that we get those two Three Stooges shorts mentioned in the featurette - Pardon My Back Fire and Spooks - both presented in 2-D and 3-D viewing options. Aside from that we get a trailer for the feature, an isolated score in DTS-HD format, menus and chapter selection. It's also worth noting that the disc comes packaged with an insert booklet containing an essay on the film from Julie Kirgo that rightly praises Price's work in front of the camera and offers up some history on the film and what sets it apart from other 3-D pictures of the era.
The Final Word:
Twilight Time's Blu-ray release of The Mad Magician is top notch in every way, presenting the film in 2-D and 3-D in absolutely beautiful shape with strong audio and a nice selection of extra features. The movie itself is also a lot of fun, more of a mystery than a straight up horror picture but a film that gives Price plenty of screen time. Throw in some memorable set pieces and a pretty great supporting cast and this one turns out to be really solid entertainment.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
