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
creepy & funny
Strangely neglected at the time of its release, this is a creepy and sort-of black humored character study of a man who, basically, splits his personality in two halves; imagine Norman Bates with a dummy fixation instead of a Mommy fixation and you get a general idea what is in store. The scene where Burgess Meredith asks Anthony Hopkins to make the dummy stop talking for five minutes is worth the price of admission. Plus you get brief glimpses of Anne Margaret's bare breasts!
On the whole the plotting reminds me very much of a Jim Thompson novel. Not at all typical of the work of Director Richard Attenborough...unless to remember that as an actor in 1970 he portrayed real-life British Serial murderer & necrophiliac John Christie in TEN RILLINGTON PLACE (which was actually filmed in the exact house where the real-life killings took place!)
On the whole the plotting reminds me very much of a Jim Thompson novel. Not at all typical of the work of Director Richard Attenborough...unless to remember that as an actor in 1970 he portrayed real-life British Serial murderer & necrophiliac John Christie in TEN RILLINGTON PLACE (which was actually filmed in the exact house where the real-life killings took place!)
helpful•364
- raegan_butcher
- Aug 12, 2005
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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