The Mad Magician Movie Review
After having his show shut down and his newest creation, The Buzz-Saw, seized by his employer, magician, makeup specialist, and prop inventor Don Gallico, aka Gallico The Great (the also great Vincent Price) kills the evil business man--this all leads to Gallico taking on several identities and going on a bit of a killing spree.
Think he SAW this coming?
So the story starts off nicely--Gallico, a humble man, essentially has his life ruined by his boss, Ross Ormond (Donald Randolph)--not only does Ormond, via a shady contract, own everything Gallico creates, he owns everything he will EVER create; if that wasn't bad enough, Ormond even stole Gallico's wife--of course we feel less sorry for Gallico when we meet said wife, played by Eva Gabor, whose voice will, for the rest of my life, remind me of Miss Bianca from The Rescuers.
In case you're wondering
Seeing Price go from disguise to disguise is pretty cool, but come on; how could anybody not identify him by that voice? The film moves along nicely, with surprises here and there, making it a fun one to watch. The movie came along during the first wave of 3D in Hollywood (1954), so there are the obligatory "3D shots"--stuff flying toward the camera for no reason. The real strength of the film may be the acting, which is actually pretty good across the board. Unfortunately, the movie kind of falls apart toward the end, and the climax--and follow-up scene--are rather disappointing. The Mad Magician is far from a masterpiece, but I enjoyed watching it for what it was.
On A Scale Of One To Ten: 6
The Mad Magician Movie Trailer
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