Magic (film)

Infobox Film | name =Magic


caption =poster
director = Richard Attenborough
producer = Joseph E. Levine
Richard P. Levine
writer = William Goldman (novel)
William Goldman (screenplay)
starring =Anthony Hopkins
Ann-Margret
Burgess Meredith
Ed Lauter
David Ogden Stiers
music = Jerry Goldsmith
cinematography = Victor J. Kemper
editing = John Bloom
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = November 8, 1978 (USA)
runtime = 107 min
language = English
budget = Unknown
gross = Unknown
imdb_id = 0077889

"Magic" is a 1978 film starring Anthony Hopkins and Ann-Margret. It was written by William Goldman, who also wrote the novel on which it was based. Hopkins and Goldman would work together again in 2002's "Hearts in Atlantis".

Plot

"Magic" tells the story of Charles "Corky" Withers (Hopkins), a man that has just failed his first attempt at professional magic. His mentor says that he needs to have a better show business personality. A year later Corky comes back as a ventriloquist with a foul-mouthed dummy named Fats. His agent Ben Greene (Burgess Meredith) is on the verge of signing Corky on for his own television show, but Corky bails out for the Catskills, claiming to be afraid of success. In truth he doesn't want to take the required psychological testing because doctors might find out that he suffers from multiple personality disorder, and that he hears Fats talking to him.

In the Catskills he meets with his high-school crush, Peggy Ann Snow (Margret), who is stuck in a passionless marriage. Corky and Peg ultimately make love, which sparks the jealousy of both Fats and Peggy's husband, Duke (Ed Lauter).

Meanwhile, Greene has tracked Corky down. After a tense confrontation where Greene discovers the truth about Corky's mental state, he demands that Corky get help. Fats convinces Corky to kill Greene. Corky does this by using Fats' hard, wooden head, taking away all of Greene's personal belongings and dragging the corpse into the lake. The next morning Fats becomes even more possessive and jealous when Corky says that he plans to leave Fats behind so that he and Peggy can go away together.

Duke returns from his trip earlier than expected and is angry with Peggy, thinking that she might have cheated on him with Corky. After a heated argument, Peggy storms off and Duke decides to have a personal talk with Corky on the lake. Duke expresses worry that he and Peggy may be growing apart. The awkward conversation lasts until Duke discovers Greene's dead body on the edge of the lake.

They row toward the body, and Duke, believing Greene could still be alive, sends Corky to get help. Duke only finds that Greene is indeed dead and, feeling something suspicious is going on, decides to search Corky's cabin.

Indeed, Duke finds a trove of Greene's identification, only to have Fats kill him with "help" from Corky (Fats stabs Duke while Corky is covered by a curtain behind him). Corky convinces Peg to run away with him, but just when everything seems perfect, Fats "comes alive" and reveals that Corky's card trick is only a ruse to seduce women, and that she is only the latest of his conquests. Repulsed, Peg rejects Corky and locks herself in her bedroom. Fats then says that, from this point on, "he" will make the decisions in Corky's life, and asserts his new authority by ordering Corky to kill Peg.

Corky, using Fats' voice, apologizes to Peggy from in front of her door. When Corky returns with a bloodstained knife, Fats seems pleased — until it is revealed that the blood on the knife is Corky's, having committed suicide so that he won't kill anyone else. As a result Fats also feels "faint", and as the two die, they wonder who will die first.

Moments later, Peggy returns to their cabin, saying she has changed her mind and decided to come back to him.

Differences from the novel

There are some major differences from the novel. Although the story and chain of events are not significantly changed from the book, the narrative here is obviously more straight-forward, whereas the book cuts from the aftermath, to Corky's youth and early career, to the present. Perhaps even more significant is the fact that Fats is a dummy is not revealed until midway in to the novel. The film keeps the scene, but it is introduced much earlier, in the second scene. Other changes include:

*Corky's real name is "Charles" in the novel
*Corky's youth is only hinted at in the film, in which he is seen with his brother at their father's funeral during a flash-back.
*Corky's attempted suicide, leading to his discovery of "Fats" is detailed in the novel
*Both Corky and "Fats" smoke in the book
*The fact that Lake Melody is full of snapping turtles is touched on more in the novel
*Ben Greene arrives at Lake Melody earlier in the book
*Corky/Fats kills Duke (and later himself) with his own knives, in more detail

Reactions

The film received mixed reviews when released.

Vincent Canby for the "New York Times" wrote that "Magic" is neither eerie nor effective. It is, however, very heavy of hand." [http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=&title2=Magic%20%28Movie%29&reviewer=VINCENT%20CANBY&v_id=30775&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes]

Gene Siskel, film critic from the television show "Siskel & Ebert", gave the film a very positive review, and ranked it at #9 on his list of the 10 best films of 1978.

"The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review" 1990 writeup of the film remarks that Hopkins appears stiff in the lead role, but praised the supporting cast: "Ann-Margaret... invests her role with a considerable sparkle. Particularly good is the great and underrated Burgess Meredith whose sharp and alert Hollywood agent is a real plum of a performance. Jerry Goldsmith also adds a fine nervy carnivalesque score." [http://www.moria.co.nz/horror/magic.htm]

Goldman received a 1979 Edgar Award, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Motion Picture Screenplay.

The trailer for this film was pulled from TV due to calls from parents who claimed that it gave their children nightmares.fact|date=March 2008 The trailer in question is less than 30 seconds in length. It features Fats reciting the tagline, after which his eyeballs roll into the back of his head. This is followed by a cast reading, then Fats opens his eyes and gazes to his left.

Legal issues with the film

As 20th Century Fox never owned complete rights to this film (they did and still do own the theatrical distribution and music rights), other companies have released home video versions of "Magic" over succeeding years under different licenses. In the meantime, the film continued to play on broadcast television in edited versions. However, subsequent legal complications kept the film from being formally reissued on VHS and DVD in the last decade due in part to Embassy Pictures' corporate holdings divided amongst different entities. Recently, the rights to this film were acquired by American Movie Classics and its parent company, Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC (while television rights now reside with CBS Paramount Television), and now the uncut version is once again available on widescreen DVD.

Ann-Margret appeared partially nude in the film, which involved a love scene between her and Hopkins. This was only the second time she ever consented to appear nude. She required the scene to be shot on a closed set with the minimum number of persons present during filming. Additionally, no stills were shot of the scene. Subsequently, "High Society" magazine published a picture taken from the nude scene, which led to a lawsuit. The court held that Ann-Margret had no right of publicity in the film's release. There was no evidence regarding the extent of her release in relation with "Magic"; and the court considered her nudity to be "newsworthy"; that Ann-Margret's nonownership in the copyright was an important element; and that High Society was only a "tacky" publication.

Tagline

:Abracadabra, I sit on his knee.:Presto, change-o, and now he is me!:Hocus Pocus, we take her to bed,:Magic is fun...we're dead.

Footnotes

External links

*imdb title | id=0077889| title=Magic