A ventriloquist is at the mercy of his vicious dummy while he tries to renew a romance with his high school sweetheart.A ventriloquist is at the mercy of his vicious dummy while he tries to renew a romance with his high school sweetheart.A ventriloquist is at the mercy of his vicious dummy while he tries to renew a romance with his high school sweetheart.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 2 wins & 5 nominations total
Anthony Hopkins
- Corky
- (voice)
- …
Steve Hart
- Captain
- (as Stephen Hart)
Robert Hackman
- Father
- (as Bob Hackman)
Michael J. Harte
- Minister
- (as Michael Harte)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaGene Wilder was the original choice for Corky, and director Richard Attenborough and writer William Goldman wanted him, but producer Joseph E. Levine refused, on the grounds he wanted no comedians in the movie to distract from the serious nature of the story.
- GoofsMembers of the crew are reflected in the cabin window when Corky gets his jacket before going out in the boat with Duke.
- Crazy creditsCredits: Fats Anthony Hopkins
- Alternate versionsMost commercial TV broadcasts of "Magic," strongly censor "Fats's" R-rated dialogue completely, or replace it with PG rated content.
- SoundtracksAh! Sweet Mystery of Life
(uncredited)
Music by Victor Herbert
Lyrics by Rida Johnson Young
Portion sung by Anthony Hopkins
Featured review
Sour Smell of Success
Sir Richard Attenbourough does a fine job directing this film about a magician that has little charm, personality, or self-confidence who must take a dummy into his act to let himself become famous. The only trouble is that the fine line that exists between the dummy and the ventriloquist becomes much too fine. Anthony Hopkins is really good as this shy, awkward man slowly descending into a world of madness as great success looms over the horizon. Hopkins also does the voice of the dummy, Fats, and lends his unique voice talents to create a very disturbing, eerie screen presence. The dummy is in many ways larger than life, and he steals almost every scene he is in. No supernatural puppet coming to life here, yet the character of Corky(Hopkins) gives his life to this dummy in a very unique way. The film is suitably creepy with some very atmospheric shots. As one reviewer noted, the scene where Hopkins is to not speak through the dummy for five minutes is easily the best. Each moment of that scene passed with incredible tension. It is downright chilling in fact. The other actors do very well. Burgess Meredith is made out to be much older that he was at the time, and I think he did a fantastic job. What can I say about Ann-Margaret. Stunning. She does a credible job acting, and let's face it, she looks like a million bucks(she even shows us more than expected as well). A spooky film, and a great screen performance by a much younger Anthony Hopkins.
helpful•864
- BaronBl00d
- Aug 2, 2001
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Magic - Die Puppe des Grauens
- Filming locations
- Blue Lakes, California, USA(Le Trianon Family Resort)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $7,000,000 (estimated)
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