Black Magic (1949) ( Cagliostro ) ( Gli spadaccini della serenissima )

Black Magic (1949) (Blu-Ray) (*)

~~$24.99~~ $18.97

Original Title: Cagliostro
Alternate Title: Gli spadaccini della serenissima
Language Selections:
English ( Mono )
French ( Mono )
French ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
France ( Blu-Ray/Region A/B/C )

Running Time:
105 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
2-DVD Set
Documentary
Featurette
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Remastered
Blu-Ray & DVD Combo

Movie filmed in 1949 and produced in:
Italy ( Italy, Greece )
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Gregory Ratoff

Written By:
Alexandre Dumas père
Charles Bennett

Actors:
Orson Welles ..... Joseph Balsamo aka Count Cagliostro
Nancy Guild ..... Marie Antoinette
Akim Tamiroff ..... Gitano
Frank Latimore ..... Gilbert de Rezel
Valentina Cortese ..... Zoraida
Margot Grahame ..... Mme. du Barry
Stephen Bekassy ..... Viscount de Montagne
Berry Kroeger ..... Alexandre Dumas, Sr.
Gregory Gaye ..... Chambord / Monk (as Gregory Gay)
Raymond Burr ..... Alexandre Dumas, Jr.
Charles Goldner ..... Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer
Lee Kresel ..... King Louis XVI
Robert Atkins ..... King Louis XV
Nicholas Bruce ..... De Remy
Franco Corsaro ..... Chico

Synopsis:

Novelist Alexander Dumas tells his writer-son of Joseph Balsamo, a gypsy boy in southern France who was embittered because his parents were wrongfully hanged and he himself was tortured by the order of Viscount de Montagne. Years later, the man, a carnival charlatan, attracts the attention of Dr. Mesmer, a pioneer in the study of hypnotism. Balsamo rejects Mesmer's plea that he use his power for healing and, instead, decides to use it to seek wealth and fame. He changes his name to Count Cagliostro, and achieves fame throughout Europe by mixing hypnotism with mysticism and showmanship. He is called to cure a girl, Lorenza, held by De Montagne, because she resembles Marie Antoinette, wife of the heir to the throne of France. Cagliostro decides to join De Montagne and Madame du Barry in a plot to seize the power by discrediting the future Queen. Cagliostro achieves his revenge on De Montagne by persuading him to hang himself. He make Lorenza marry him but can never make her love him. Her love if for Gilbert de Rezel, the captain of Marie Antoinette's guard. In a dramatic court scene, Cagliostro's power of hypnotism is turned against him by Dr. Mesmer and he is seen as a madman. His faithful gypsy friends, Gitano and Zoraida, try to help him escape but he is killed by de Rezel in a roof-top duel.

Gregory Ratoff is listed as sole director of the 1949 Orson Welles starrer Black Magic, but it is now common knowledge that Welles directed most of this lavish costumer himself. Told in flashback, the film recounts the life and times of notorious 18th-century hypnotist/magician/scam artist Cagliostro (played, but of course, by Welles). Learning the secrets of hypnosis from Dr. Mesmer (Charles Goldner), Cagliostro exploits this skill to gain wealth, prestige and, on occasion, romance. His downward slide begins when Cagliostro enters into an Anastasia-like scheme to substitute a young lass named Lorenza (Nancy Guild) for French queen Marie Antoinette. The charlatan's partners in crime are gypsies Gilbert (Akim Tamiroff, who manages to out-ham Welles in some scenes) and Zoraida (Valentina Cortese). Longer on style than substance, Black Magic is a wickedly delightful cinematic exercise, with Welles at his overbaked best.

This product was added to our catalog on Sunday 13 October, 2019.

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