Black Magic

Besides working at the video store, I also worked as an actor. Mostly in regional theater and theme park venues, but in the last few years I've had some success with tv commercials and industrial films. One of my earliest influences for becoming an actor was seeing Orson Welles in a forgotten film of his called, Black Magic. Made in 1949, Black Magic tells the story of Count Cagliostro, a Gypsy charlatan & master of the black arts, who during the reign of King Louis VX, seeks revenge against those who were responsible for publicly executing his mother. A horrible murder he witnessed as a child. Welles is absolutely mesmerizing in the role of Cagliostro. One scene in particular which had influenced me as a child, takes place at the foot of the King's thrown. Cagliostro is brought before the King and Marie Antoinette to demonstrate his healing powers. A group of "cripples" are brought into the room screaming and moaning and begging for Cagliostro's magical cure. Before he can speak a word one of the afflicted stands and declares ..."No need to speak Cagliostro, one look from you and we are all cured!" The former patients then begin to rise and dance a minuet bringing much laughter and ridicule to Cagliostro. It is then the great actor in Welles can be seen taking the floor and announcing to the crowd, first quietly and then with a roar..."If I have the power to heal! I can also afflict!" What follows is pure Welles in all his scene-chewing glory. With nothing but words and that magnificent baritone voice he reduces one of the masquerading patients to a lifeless mound of flesh on the floor before the King. In what has been dismissed as a B picture, the scene is riveting and like the rest of the film keeps your eyes glued to the screen. The film was directed by Gregory Ratoff who also worked as an actor in such films as All About Eve and Exodus. But it was one of the many films in which Welles was said to have had a hand in the directing process without taking on-screen credit. The cast also includes Akim Tamiroff (a Welles Regular), Frank Latimore, Berry Kroeger, Raymond Burr, Nancy Guild and Valentina Cortese. The film also has an effectively eerie musical score by Paul Sawtell. The film was available on VHS in the early 1980s but has been out-of-print and is unavailable on DVD at this time. You may want to check Turner Classic Movies or Ebay listings for old VHS copies that may be around.