"The Mad Magician" is a thoroughly enjoyable follow-up to the earlier Vincent Price classic, "House of Wax". Rather reminiscent of that favourite, it stars Price as Don Gallico, a magician & master of illusion furious with his conniving employer, Ross Ormond (Donald Randolph). Ormond intends to pass on Gallicos' "buzz saw" bit to Gallicos' egocentric rival, Rinaldi (John Emery). So Gallico uses his talents to commit murder, and commit more murders in order to keep his secret. Alan Bruce (Patrick O'Neal), a young police detective, utilizes cutting edge new techniques such as fingerprinting to work the clues.
This movie is not going to be as memorable as "House of Wax", which was largely responsible for launching Price as a new star of the horror genre. It's rather formulaic, and predictable, but it's richly photographed in black & white by Bert Glennon, and director John Brahm, an expert in period genre productions such as "Hangover Square" and "The Lodger", keeps the pace consistent. What viewers may marvel at is the makeup (by George Bau and Gustaf Norin), which is pretty impressive for any era in filmmaking.
"The Mad Magician" also provides great evidence of what a talent Price was. It's a fun vehicle, and the more unhinged Gallico gets, the more enjoyable Price is to watch. The supporting actors are good - leggy Mary Murphy as the assistant Karen Lee, Eva Gabor as Claire, the greedy, grasping woman who'd married both Gallico and Ormond, Jay Novello as landlord Frank Prentiss, and especially Lenita Lane as Prentiss' wife Alice, who has a second career as an author of murder mysteries. Corey Allen, Conrad Brooks, Roy Engel, and Lyle Talbot have uncredited parts.
This amusing plot, contrived by Crane Wilbur, leads to an exciting and incendiary finale.
Seven out of 10.
This movie is not going to be as memorable as "House of Wax", which was largely responsible for launching Price as a new star of the horror genre. It's rather formulaic, and predictable, but it's richly photographed in black & white by Bert Glennon, and director John Brahm, an expert in period genre productions such as "Hangover Square" and "The Lodger", keeps the pace consistent. What viewers may marvel at is the makeup (by George Bau and Gustaf Norin), which is pretty impressive for any era in filmmaking.
"The Mad Magician" also provides great evidence of what a talent Price was. It's a fun vehicle, and the more unhinged Gallico gets, the more enjoyable Price is to watch. The supporting actors are good - leggy Mary Murphy as the assistant Karen Lee, Eva Gabor as Claire, the greedy, grasping woman who'd married both Gallico and Ormond, Jay Novello as landlord Frank Prentiss, and especially Lenita Lane as Prentiss' wife Alice, who has a second career as an author of murder mysteries. Corey Allen, Conrad Brooks, Roy Engel, and Lyle Talbot have uncredited parts.
This amusing plot, contrived by Crane Wilbur, leads to an exciting and incendiary finale.
Seven out of 10.