- The Magic Box (film)
Infobox Film
name = The Magic Box
caption =
director =John Boulting
producer =Ronald Neame
writer =Ray Allister andEric Ambler
starring =Robert Donat Margaret Johnston Maria Schell Robert Beatty
music =William Alwyn
cinematography =Jack Cardiff
editing =Richard Best
distributor =British Lion Films
released = 1951
runtime = 118 min.
country = UK
language = English
budget =
imdb_id = 0043769"The Magic Box" is a British film released in 1951.
Description
"The Magic Box" was a project of the
Festival of Britain in 1951. It gave a biographic account ofWilliam Friese-Greene , who first designed and patented a working cinematic camera. The accuracy of this claim is subject to some controversy, but evidence now tends to support the claim. The film was notable for its cast: many well-known British film actors appeared in it as 'bit-part' cameos (see below). The film was completed and shown just before the end of the Festival, but the general release was not until 1952.Main cast
*
Robert Donat as William Friese-Greene
* Margaret Johnston as Edith Harrison
*Maria Schell as Helena Friese-Greene
* David Oake as Claude Friese-Greene
* Janet Scott as Ethel Friese-Greene
*John Howard Davies as Maurice Friese-Greene
*Robert Beatty asLord Beaverbrook
*Richard Attenborough as Jack Carter
*Basil Sydney asWilliam Fox Talbot
*Bernard Miles as Cousin Alfred
*Eric Portman as Arthur Collings
*Mary Ellis as Mrs Collings
*Muir Mathieson as SirArthur Sullivan
*Joyce Grenfell as Mrs Claire
*Dennis Price as Harold
*Margaret Rutherford as Lady Pond
*Mervyn Johns as Goitz
*Glynis Johns as May JonesCameo parts
* Barry Jones as a doctor
*Bessie Love in wedding group
*Cecil Parker at the Connaught Rooms
*David Tomlinson as a Lab Assistant
*Emlyn Williams as a Bank Manager
*Ernest Thesiger as "man"
*Kay Walsh as a receptioness
*Laurence Olivier andJack Hulbert asPolice officers
*Leo Genn as a doctor
*Marius Goring as an estate agent
*Michael Denison as a reporter
*Michael Hordern as the Official Receiver
*Miles Malleson as an orchestra conductor
*Peter Ustinov as an "industry man"
*Sheila Sim as a nursemaid
*Sid James as a police sergeant in storeroom
*Stanley Holloway as a broker's man
*Thora Hird as a housekeeper
*William Hartnell as aRecruiting sergeant
*Ronald Shiner as a fairground barker
*Googie Withers ,A. E. Matthews ,John McCallum , Patric Holt,Robertson Hare ,Richard Murdoch andSybil Thorndike as sitters"The Magic Box" was nominated for two
BAFTA Awards in 1952—Best Film and Best British Film.References
"TimeOut Film Guide" - published by Penguin Books - ISBN 0-14-029395-7
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