The restoration and release on Blu-ray of the 1949 costume drama Black Magic (Cagliostro) starring Orson Welles is getting generally positive reviews.
Welles stars as Joseph Balsamo, a poor French gypsy with a tragic past and is taken under the wing of Dr. Mesmer (Charles Goldner). Mesmer teaches Balsamo the secrets of hypnosis. While Balsamo promises he will use the skill only to help others, he instead uses hypnosis to steal money and forge himself a powerful reputation. Using his newfound power, Balsamo plots to replace French queen Marie Antoinette (Nancy Guild) with a young woman.
Based on the Alexandre Dumas novel Joseph Balsamo, the movie was directed by Gregory Ratoff, a filmmaker Welles had referred as “a great friend, and more fun to work with than anybody I know.”
Welles reportedly had a hand in directing some scenes in Black Magic, which was filmed in Italy between October 1947 and January 1948.
Here is a sampling of reviews of the classicflix.com release:
Cereal Midnight: It’s even been said that Welles co-directed the film–uncredited, of course. Given the iconoclast’s strong personality and intense vision, its undoubted that a lot of Welles the filmmaker can be seen here. In fact, Black Magic seems to have many of the hallmarks of films that we associate with the maverick, whether he directed them or not. The camera angles and use of light and shadow, even the climax of this film, which takes place high above the street on the rooftops (an echo of 1946’s The Stranger) all speak to the trademarks of Welles the craftsman. Speculation aside, Welles gives a great performance here, and he’s clearly having the time of his life. This film finds the screen giant in svelte shape, his tall frame appearing slender in black attire. This is Welles the swashbuckler. His near-constant struggle with studios and executives throughout much of his career would find him seeking roles in independent features such as this to finance his passion projects; later, he would say that Black Magic was the most fun he’d had working in cinema. Shot in Rome over three months and with no seemingly no boundaries whatsoever, who can blame him?
Home Theater Forum: The film’s 1.37:1 theatrical aspect ratio is presented in this 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. While the image is very sharp throughout, image quality fluctuates as edges of the frame vary in emulsion consistency. That also often affects dark levels, too, which can sometimes lighten to a medium gray. There is an occasional scratch or two, but nothing especially distracting. Those tonal variations across the frame do occasionally intrude on one’s enjoyment. The movie has been divided into 16 chapters. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono sound mix is typical of its era. Dialogue has been well-recorded and has been mixed with Paul Sawtell’s background score and the sound effects quite professionally. Unfortunately, low level hiss is an almost constant companion as one watches and listens, and there’s a tiny bit of crackle, too.
Trailers from Hell: Orson Welles in fine form! This lavishly produced costume drama, beautifully cast and directed, was filmed on location in gorgeous Italian palazzos, churches and villas. Welles is cast to type as the literally mesmerizing mountebank Cagliostro, who aids Madame du Barry in a scheme to seize the throne of France. Welles almost certainly ‘helped’ the credited director; the highly theatrical goings-on look exactly like Orson’s style. Super performances from Nancy Guild, Akim Tamiroff, Valentina Cortese, Margot Grahame and Charles Goldner turn Alexandre Dumas’ tale into swashbuckling mind-control excitement; the disc tops it off with a sensationally good restoration.
It Came from the Bottom Shelf: While Black Magic wasn’t exactly my cup of tea (or goblet of wine), it is a lavish, well-mounted production, with memorable performances by Welles and Guild. If costume pictures are your jam, or if you are already a fan of this particular film, the ClassicFlix Blu-ray is also heartily recommended. It is the best presentation the film has ever received on home video.
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