BLACK MAGIC (1949- U.S./Italy)
D: Gregory Ratoff. Orson
Welles is Count Cagliostro, the infamous magician and freemason in this lush,
stylized historical tale of intrigue.
Welles is great and suitably over-the-top as the historical Cagliostro,
supposedly the real life Giuseppe Basalmo (though nobody knows for sure) - a
charlatan, con man, alchemist, mentalist and hypnotist. Although highly fictionalized, the story
moves at a swift pace and the black and white imagery is often times stellar enough
to be mistaken for Wellsian cinema. The
usual rumors persist that Welles did, in fact, direct most of the film.
The film opens with novelist Alexandre Dumas sitting down with
paper and pen about to spin the tale of Cagliostro in the presence of his
inquisitive son, Alexandre Jr. (Raymond Burr).
Dumas penned the thousand-plus-page Cagliostro epic Joseph Basalmo (1846-8) and the character appeared in several of
his novels.
Dumas picks up when Cagliostro’s gypsy mom is executed as a
witch by an evil viscount (Stephen Bekassy).
Young Alessandro inherits his mom’s svengali-like gift and proceeds to
profit off it and seek revenge. Years later, the suave Count Cagliostro gets
sucked into the infamous Affair of the Diamond Necklace involving Marie
Antoinette and a look-a-like (both played by Nancy Guild of ABBOT &
COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN) by the very man he has been hunting, the slimy
viscount who executed his mother!
Unlike the film’s heroic, swashbuckling ending, the real
Cagliostro (1743-1795) was sentenced to death (later amended to life) for the
charge of freemasonry and languished and died in a Vatican
jail.
The film’s fictionalized plot fuses elements from Dumas' THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK and du Maurier's TRILBY as well as dishing up court room drama, doomed romance, revenge, royal
intrigue and premature burial; all served up in grand style and visualized with stunning expressionistic photography, hundreds of extras and
elaborate costumes and sets.
Shot in studios and locations around Rome with a mostly Italian tech crew, the
film glosses over Cagliostro’s controversial link to Freemasonry and his
creation of the Egyptian Rites (the subject of a recent book) but Welles does
sport the cryptic square and compass symbol in one or two scenes.
A stand-out supporting player is Welles’ favorite Akim
Tamiroff as Cagliostro’s trollish henchman.
Of course, Tamiroff was wildly memorable in Welles’ TOUCH OF EVIL, THE
TRIAL (1962 and DON QUIXOTE (1958).
Tamiroff also worked with Welles collaborator Jess Franco in JUSTINE
(aka DEADLY SANCTUARY/1969).
Actor/Director Ratoff directed around 30 films including THE
CORSICAN BROTHERS (1941). Supposedly, veteran
cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli (worked with Fellini, Leone & others!) was
an uncredited camera operator.
Boris Karloff was originally announced to play the Count in
a never realized Universal Picture in the 30’s that supposedly morphed into
1932’s THE MUMMY. Other actors to play the role include Jean Marais, Howard
Vernon, Henry Daniell, Nicol Williamson and Christopher Walken, to name a few!
A fascinating, truly multi-faceted man of mystery,
Cagliostro has always been and remains the subject of non-fictional/fictional
books, plays, music, movies, comic books, etc.
Cagliostro would have been a fitting character for inclusion in Welles’
mind-bending F IS FOR FAKE (1975), a twisted tribute to cons and con men, . Welles was a serious magician in real life and as in 'F,' he gets to show off some of his sleight of hand skills here including the classic "Miser's Dream."
A difficult film to track down, BLACK MAGIC was originally available
on Beta and VHS tape on the Nostalgia Merchant and Midnight Video labels. It can sometimes be
snagged during one of its rare airings on Turner Classic Movies. Without question, BLACK MAGIC deserves a
legit
U.S.
DVD/BD release. It is available on DVD as CAGLIOSTRO in
Spain and
Italy.
The real life Count Cagliostro!
(Reviewed from a nice bittorrent download, as evidenced from the frame grabs, from an unknown video source.)
