THE MAGICIAN-1926-Interesting and macabre silent film that seems to be a trendsetter for future films in the same genre. It’s based on a Somerset Maugham novel of the same name.
When a famous surgeon Dr. Burton (Ivan Petrovitch) saves the life of Margret (Alice Terry) with a spine operation, they end up falling in love. Enter Dr. Haddo (THE GOLEM’s Paul Wegener), a medical student (?; he seems kind of old!) who's searching for a way to create life in his laboratory. He finds an ancient book of magic that says he needs “the blood of a maiden” to succeed. Guess who he sets his sights on? He uses hypnotism to control Margret and shows her an incredible scene of hell (tinted red with a pan pipe playing Satan). Wegener is down right frightening as Haddo (said to be based on English occultist Alastair Crowley).
The film was adapted and directed by Rex Ingram who had had a very successful career in Hollywood with his versions of THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE, SCARAMOUCHE, BEN-HUR, THE PRISONER OF ZENDA and others. 12 of them co-starring his wife Alice Terry. He would make only 4 more and retire. He died in 1950. His wife would also retire at the advent of sound. Wegener returned to German and acted another 22 years and died in 1948. Director Ingram should not be confused with actor Rex Ingram from CABIN IN THE SKY and THE THIEF OF BAGDAD.
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