Mild Mandrake

 

 (themoviedb.org)

MANDRAKE-1979-In 1948, a plane crashes in the Himalayas. All the passengers are killed except for a small boy. He's taken in by some monks but he remembers nothing, not even his name. Fast forward to Las Vegas, where he's now Mandrake the Magician (Anthony Herrera; later a regular on the soap opera “As The World Turns”) performing a magic show that includes making women levitate and turning them into lions. He's assisted by Stacy (Simone Griffeth) and Lothar (Ji-Tu Cumbuka). The government wants his help investigating a huge conglomerate run by Arcadian (Robert Reed) and a missing file. His friend Jennifer (Gretchen Corbett) claims that her father, who was killed in car crash, is still alive. Mandrake wears “the amulet of wizards” and can read minds. It’s actually all a huge extortion plot by ex-agent Romero (Peter Haskell) and his use of Stacy’s father's mind process machine. Also with James Hong and real-life magician Harry Blackstone Jr. 

The character of Mandrake was created by comic strip writer/artist Lee Falk in 1934 (Falk later on also created "The Phantom"). There was a 12 part serial produced in 1939. In the 1960's, Frederico Fellini had planned on making a version but it went un-produced. Director Harry Falk (no relation to the Mandrake creator) did tons of TV work.

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More Price Magic

 

 (imdb)

THE LONG NIGHT-1947-A mysterious stranger is shot at a rooming house. The police investigate and when they go to the room of Joe Adams (Henry Fonda) he shoots at them through the door. When he won't cooperate, they shoot at him from a building across the street but that doesn't work. A flashback relates what has happened Joe, a factory worker who meets Jo Ann (Barbara Bel Geddes), who works in a flower shop. They fall in love and he wants to marry her. She seems hesitant (of course she's hiding a secret). Joe follows her to a smoky nightclub where magician Maximillan the Great (the one and only Vincent Price) performs. Jo meets with Max for some unknown reason. Max's assistant Charlene (Ann Dvorak) gives Joe the lowdown on her boss. He and Charlene begin a friendship. Max says he's Jo's father despite her being an orphan. He thinks Jo is no good for Joe. Then Jo has a flashback where we find out Max is not her father but a guy who tried to put the moves on her. He wants to break the couple up and says “Do I have to apologize for superior imagination?”. When Max goes to see Joe, he won't shut up and Joe shoots him. Back in the present Jo talks Joe out of the apartment amid a teargas attack. 

A bevy of characters appear: Elisha Cook Jr., Queenie Smith, Charles McGraw, Bobby Barber, Ellen Corby, Byron Foulger, Mary Gordon, Richard Reeves, Ray Teal, Dick Wessel and Will Wright. This kind of crime drama/love story/film noir was directed by Anatole Litvak (THE SNAKE PIT) after spending most of the WW2 years making a short film documentary series “Why We Fight” with Frank Capra. 

The movie succeeds if you are not looking for a huge payoff in the finale, otherwise it's a slight disappointment. It also depends on your point of view with Joe's predicament. He doesn't really evoke that much sympathy. This was lead actress Bel Geddes' movie debut. Among other things, she's remembered as the lead on TV's “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” episode “Lamb To The Slaughter”.

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Rabbit Magic

 

 (imdb)

GET TO KNOW YOUR RABBIT-1972-Crazy counterculture comedy about an executive (Tom Smothers) who quits his high-pressure job to become a tap-dancing magician trained by Mr. Delasandro (Orson Welles).

He's hounded by his boss (John Astin) to come back. He goes on the road and is pretty much a success at gin mills and strip joints. He meets a “terrific looking girl” (Katherine Ross) and they have an affair. Later he gets pulled back into the corporate lifestyle but has his way in the end. Allen Garfield, Charles Lane, King Moody and M.Emmett Walsh are also in it. Timothy Carey appears un-billed as a cop.

Director Brian De Palma made this offbeat comedy the same year as SISTERS and two years after HI MOM! His next movie would be PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE IN 1974.

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