Hey Guys,

I am preparing a lectures about magic and magicians in the movies, and I was wondering if you can bring up some topics and ideas that I can talk about based on movies such as: The Prestige, The Illusionist, Magicians, The Great Buck Howard, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.

Do you know movies that contains actual magic performance such as: Boogie nights, Magicians, Preaty Woman and such?

Thanks!

'Now You See Me' of course....

"Terror Train" had David Copperfield in it

There's a great bill/billet switch in 'The Grifters' and John Scarne plays Paul Newman's hands in 'The Sting'

There's also 'Is Anybody There' starring Michael Caine, 'Death Defying Acts' with Guy Pierce as Houdini and of course 'Magic' with Anthony Hopkins. All have varying amounts of magic in them.

Great idea for a lecture Roy, I wish you luck with it.

Tony

Some topic ideas to explore via cinematic narratives of magic and magicians:

- The Value of Secrets
- The Costs of Magic
- The Magician as Social Cripple/Emotional Misfit
- Magicians as Artists - or Otherwise
- The Hard Economics of Life as a Magician
- Social Status/Mobility of the Magician

Oz the Great and Powerful.

James Franco is a magician.

Stunned no one has mentioned the finest, most dramatic magic performance on screen. The card trick from "Magic"

I think this scene from the tv serie "The IT Crowd" is a pretty good and funny illustration of a cinematic narrative of the stereotype of magicians. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPXvAM9blow

Somebody did.

Nightmare Alley staring Tyrone Powers
Black Magic staring Orson Well as Count Cagliostro
Houdini made a few silent movies
Invincible staring Tim Roth as Hanussen
Hanussen (German film) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095276/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Cool you gave me awesome resources and much more to think about. Thanks.

I know that Orson Wells, Steve Martin, Jason Alexander and Harry Anderson are/were actors as well as magicians.
Do you know more?

Shade had the names of a lot of magicians in it, plus a very cool gambling demonstration in the beginning, also the professor is in it.

John Calvert was in movies, even playing "The Falcon":
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0130813/

A Mandrake the Magician serial was made in 1939, starring Warren Hull (who also portrayed The Spider and The Green Hornet in serials).

Smokin' Aces. Jeremy Piven play an magichan who have to hide for a large amount of hitmans. Very good movie.

Though mostly about long and short cons, "House of Games" (1987) had a pretty cool switch using an envelope and featured Ricky Jay in the cast.

Roy,
Tony Giorgio was in "The Godfather" and was a magician. Also, Neil Patrick Harris, of Doogie Howser and How I Met Your Mother fame, is current President of the Magic Castle.
John

Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (Caesar Romero 1939); Charlie Chan Meeting at Midnight; The Mind Reader (Warren William 1933); Chester Morris was a magician as we saw in many of his Boston Blackey films; Orson Wells (already mentioned) "F For Fake"; He also did a nice broom Suspension in one of the I Love Lucy episodes; Basil Rathbone, as Sherlock Holmes, fakes a bit of slight of hand when he switches out the Star of Rhodesia in "Terror By Night"; The Amazing Mr. X (Turhan Bey 1948)
Good luck on your project

Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) Edward G. Robinson



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040643/

This is an excellent film. It "exposes" a very clever two person code in which Triton's piano accompanist passes information via the music he plays as background to the Q&A act. It's also a good mystery as the meaning of Triton's visions only becomes clear in the final scene.

Good thoughts,

Bob

Wow. Awesome!