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Magic Fire Reviews

  • 1956
  • 1 hr 34 mins
  • NR
  • Watchlist
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Elaborate episodic account of 19th-century composer Richard Wagner (Alan Badel), his life and loves. Yvonne DeCarlo, Valentina Cortesa. Cosima: Rita Gam. Franz Liszt: Carlos Thompson. Wesendonck: Peter Cushing. Von Moll: Frederick Valk. Ludwig II: Gerhard Riedmann. Hans: Erik Schumann. William Dieterle directed.

Tepid biography of brilliant German composer Richard Wagner, starring Badel (whose portrayal hardly lives up to Wagner's playboy reputation) as the title character and De Carlo as his first wife. The film concentrates on the composer's complicated love life, with only excerpts of his greatest works, produced under the steady supervision of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, to relieve the boredom. MAGIC FIRE fails to enlighten the viewer concerning Wagner or his music.