One of the few films made with production care (but alas, not accuracy) at Republic in their final years, this is a very clumsy attempt at classy film making because of the wrong casting and silly storyline. The furniture and photography are good though. Supposed to be the story of Richard Wagner, it looks like a Monty Python version of The Music Lovers. Yvonne de Carlo was soon to be Lily Munster and Alan Badel must have been practising his bad German accent for 1979's Riddle Of The Sands long before it was needed. The problem with films like this is that real music lovers know and knew (in 1956 too) what Wagner was all about and how his music should be presented. This is very much a Liberace idea of European music and life. It's not even funny. It died, too. It actually is as if Republic, so used to making westerns just applied euro music and settings and then went about making a western anyway, it just happened to be the 'life story' of composer Wagner. Equally odd is the fact that the much lampooned wife of studio head Vera Ralston, with her thick euro accent SHOULD have been in this film instead of Yvonne, but wasn't.....
Review of Magic Fire
