Magia e cinema

INTRODUCTION
Part of the magic of silent cinema was derived from stage magic. During the first decade of film history, a number of magicians became film performers, film exhibitors, and filmmakers. Among the many magicians who played key roles in early cinema were Georges Méliès, of course, the director of Paris’s Théâtre Robert-Houdin and more than five-hundred “Star” Films; Gaston Velle, the traveling illusionist who made numerous films for Lumière and Pathé-Frères (where he often collaborated with Segundo de Chomón); J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith, the conjuring team that formed Vitagraph; and Walter Booth, an expert magician who worked for Robert Paul and Charles Urban. Each of these filmmaker-magicians explored new forms of cinematic magic while often grounding these wonders in the figure of an onscreen conjurer or the modes of specific theatrical illusions, helping to make the trick film a popular film genre.
There is also another tradition of cinematic magic that used film less to transform reality than to reproduce the remarkable feats performed by the skilled body. This tradition is exemplified by Houdini, who asked (Conjurers’ Monthly Magazine, 1906, p. 133): “A painter when he dies, leaves behind paintings, an author leaves as a monument some of his books, the music master leaves his inspirations, but how can a magician leave behind positive proof of his genius?” Although Houdini tends to be remembered as an escape artist whose death-defying feats depended on the immediacy of live performances, he was in fact keenly interested in using films to capture, narrate, and represent his stunts to theatrical audiences. Non-fiction films of Houdini’s manacled bridge jumps, upside-down straitjacket releases, and other outdoor escapes were often integrated into his stage act. In 1918, Houdini left the stage for what turned out to be a relatively short-lived career as a movie star, acting in a fifteen-episode serial and four feature films.
As Hollywood’s interest in Houdini suggests, cinema turned to magic for compelling characters long after the heyday of the trick film. Among the most notable magicians of 1920s cinema are the fictional characters of several seldom seen silent films set in magic shows. Though cinema had by this time hastened the decline of variety theater – and with it, theatrical magic – magicians seem to have been less concerned with films as a form of competition than as sources of exposure. Professional magicians argued that films about magic gave audiences a backstage view of their tricks, exposing their secrets and spoiling the effect of theatrical illusions. This response suggests that these two respective arts had effectively parted ways, with cinema constituting a rather different – and profoundly less secretive – form of “magic,” one that bore only a distant relation, unlike previously, to the magic of the stage. – MATTHEW SOLOMON

Special thanks to Bryony Dixon; thanks also to Mirella Affron, Michelle Aubert, Luigi Boledi, Fleur Buckley, Ian Christie, Marina Dahlquist, Nico de Klerk, Jean-Baptiste Garnero, Frank Gray, Rosemary Hanes, Marleen Labijt, David Mayer, David Robinson, Charles Silver, Zoran Sinobad, Ed Stratmann, Gwendolyn Waltz, Todd Wiener, and Caroline Yeager.



	Manifesto conservato presso la Library of Congress. / Poster from the Rare Book Division of the Library of Congress reproduced on the cover of American Film, April 1978. (Courtesy Kenneth Eisenstein)
	INTRODUCTION Part of the magic of silent cinema was derived from stage magic. During the first decade of film history, a number of magicians became film performers, film exhibitors, and filmmakers. Among the many magicians who played key roles in early cinema were Georges Méliès, of course, the director of Paris’s Théâtre Robert-Houdin and more than five-hundred “Star” Films; Gaston Velle, the traveling illusionist who made numerous films for Lumière and Pathé-Frères (where he often collaborated with Segundo de Chomón); J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith, the conjuring team that formed Vitagraph; and Walter Booth, an expert magician who worked for Robert Paul and Charles Urban. Each of these filmmaker-magicians explored new forms of cinematic magic while often grounding these wonders in the figure of an onscreen conjurer or the modes of specific theatrical illusions, helping to make the trick film a popular film genre. There is also another tradition of cinematic magic that used film less to transform reality than to reproduce the remarkable feats performed by the skilled body. This tradition is exemplified by Houdini, who asked (Conjurers’ Monthly Magazine, 1906, p. 133): “A painter when he dies, leaves behind paintings, an author leaves as a monument some of his books, the music master leaves his inspirations, but how can a magician leave behind positive proof of his genius?” Although Houdini tends to be remembered as an escape artist whose death-defying feats depended on the immediacy of live performances, he was in fact keenly interested in using films to capture, narrate, and represent his stunts to theatrical audiences. Non-fiction films of Houdini’s manacled bridge jumps, upside-down straitjacket releases, and other outdoor escapes were often integrated into his stage act. In 1918, Houdini left the stage for what turned out to be a relatively short-lived career as a movie star, acting in a fifteen-episode serial and four feature films. As Hollywood’s interest in Houdini suggests, cinema turned to magic for compelling characters long after the heyday of the trick film. Among the most notable magicians of 1920s cinema are the fictional characters of several seldom seen silent films set in magic shows. Though cinema had by this time hastened the decline of variety theater – and with it, theatrical magic – magicians seem to have been less concerned with films as a form of competition than as sources of exposure. Professional magicians argued that films about magic gave audiences a backstage view of their tricks, exposing their secrets and spoiling the effect of theatrical illusions. This response suggests that these two respective arts had effectively parted ways, with cinema constituting a rather different – and profoundly less secretive – form of “magic,” one that bore only a distant relation, unlike previously, to the magic of the stage. – MATTHEW SOLOMON Special thanks to Bryony Dixon; thanks also to Mirella Affron, Michelle Aubert, Luigi Boledi, Fleur Buckley, Ian Christie, Marina Dahlquist, Nico de Klerk, Jean-Baptiste Garnero, Frank Gray, Rosemary Hanes, Marleen Labijt, David Mayer, David Robinson, Charles Silver, Zoran Sinobad, Ed Stratmann, Gwendolyn Waltz, Todd Wiener, and Caroline Yeager.





	Prog. 1 THE MAGICIAN (Edison, US 1900) Regia/dir: ?; 35mm, 65 ft., 1’05” (16 fps), Library of Congress. Copia preservata da un positivo 35mm in bianco e nero su carta / Preserved from a 35mm black & white paper positive. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. SUBSTITUTIONS (Société Lumière, FR 1902-03) Regia/dir: Gaston Velle; 35mm, 130 ft., 2’10” (16 fps), BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. THE MAGIC EXTINGUISHER (Williamson Kinetograph Company, GB 1901) Regia/dir: James Williamson; 35mm, 98 ft., 1’40” (16 fps), BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. UPSIDE DOWN; OR, THE HUMAN FLIES (Paul’s Animatograph Works, GB 1899) Regia/dir:Walter R. Booth; 35mm, 75 ft., 1’15” (16 fps), BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. THE HAUNTED CURIOSITY SHOP (Paul’s Animatograph Works, GB 1901) Regia/dir:Walter R. Booth; 35mm, 182 ft., 3’ (16 fps), BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. UNDRESSING EXTRAORDINARY; OR, THE TROUBLES OF A TIRED TRAVELLER (Paul’s Animatograph Works, GB 1901) Regia/dir:Walter R. Booth; 35mm, 182 ft., 3’ (16 fps), BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. THE MAGIC SWORD; OR,A MEDIAEVAL MYSTERY (Paul’s Animatograph Works, GB 1901) Regia/dir: Walter R. Booth; lg. or./orig. l: 180 ft.; 35mm, incompleto/incomplete, 151 ft., 2’30” (16 fps), BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. LE PORTRAIT SPIRITE (Star Film, FR 1903) Regia/dir: Georges Méliès; cast: Georges Méliès; 35mm, 145 ft., 2’25” (16 fps), Library of Congress. Copia preservata da un positivo 35mm in bianco e nero su carta / Preserved from a 35mm black & white paper positive. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. LE PARAPLUIE FANTASTIQUE (Star Film, FR 1903) Regia/dir: Georges Méliès; cast: Georges Méliès; 35mm, 175 ft., 2’55” (16 fps), Library of Congress. Copia preservata da un nitrato positivo in bianco e nero / Preserved from a 35mm black & white nitrate positive. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. [UNIDENTIFIED MASSON NO. 8] (?, c.1900-1910) Regia/dir: ?; 35mm, 505 ft., 8’25” (16 fps), Library of Congress. Copia preservata da un nitrato positivo in bianco e nero / Preserved from a 35mm black & white nitrate positive. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. MÉTAMORPHOSES DU ROI DE PIQUE (Pathé-Frères, FR 1903) Regia/dir: Gaston Velle; cast: Gaston Velle; 35mm, 85 ft., 1’25” (16 fps), George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. LE PARAVENT MYSTÉRIEUX (Pathé-Frères, FR 1904) Regia/dir: Gaston Velle; 35mm, 126 ft., 2’05” (16 fps), BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. JAPONAISERIE (Pathé-Frères, FR 1904) Regia/dir: Gaston Velle; 35mm, 180 ft., 3’ (16 fps), pochoir/stencil colour, BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. L’ALBUM MERVEILLEUX (Pathé-Frères, FR 1905) Regia/dir: Gaston Velle; 35mm, 236 ft., 4’ (16 fps), pochoir/stencil colour, BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. LE ROI DES DOLLARS (Pathé-Frères, FR 1905) Regia/dir: Segundo de Chomón; 35mm, 113 ft., 1’50” (16 fps), pochoir/stencil colour, preservazione su internegativo/preserved on colour internegative, Nederlands Filmmuseum. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. FÉE AUX PIGEONS (Pathé-Frères, FR 1906) Regia/dir: Gaston Velle; f./ph: Segundo de Chomón; 35mm, 180 ft., 3’ (16 fps), Library of Congress. Copia preservata in bianco e nero da un nitrato positivo colorato au pochoir / Preserved in black & white from a 35mm stencil-coloured nitrate positive. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. [DER ZAUBERER] (Pathé-Frères, FR 1907) Regia/dir: ?; 35mm, 142 ft., 2’20” (16 fps), BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. LES FLEURS ANIMÉES (Pathé-Frères, FR 1906) *Regia/dir:* Gaston Velle; f./ph: Segundo de Chomón; 35mm, 289 ft., 4’50” (16 fps), colorazione con metodo Desmet a partire da un originale colorato meccanicamente (au pochoir) / Desmet color, duplicating original stencil colour, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. LES CHRYSANTHÈMES (Pathé-Frères, FR 1907) Regia/dir: Segundo de Chomón; cast: Julienne Mathieu; 35mm, 211 ft., 3’30” (16 fps), colorazione con metodo Desmet a partire da un originale colorato meccanicamente (au pochoir) / Desmet color, duplicating original stencil colour, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. THE HAUNTED HOTEL (Vitagraph Company of America, US 1907) Regia/dir: J. Stuart Blackton; f./ph: Albert E. Smith; 35mm, 292 ft., 4’50” (16 fps), George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. WILLIE’S MAGIC WAND (Charles Urban Trading Company, GB 1907) Regia/dir:Walter R. Booth; 35mm, 257 ft., 4’20” (16 fps), BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles.



	Prog. 2 HOUDINI, DE BOEIENKONING [Houdini, l’illusionista / Houdini, the Escapologist] (NL, c.1920) (Trailer olandese di / Dutch trailer for The Master Mystery, US 1919) Regia/dir: ?; 35 mm, 577 ft., 8’33” (18 fps), Nederlands Filmmuseum. Didascalie in olandese / Dutch intertitles. [HOUDINI STUNTS] (?, c.1909-1923?) Regia/dir: ?; cast: Harry Houdini; 35mm, 2135 ft., 30’ (20fps), b&n, imbibizione originale di alcune sequenze ricreata con il metodo Desmet / b&w, Desmet colour duplicating original tinted sequences, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. Didascalie in inglese / English intertitles. TERROR ISLAND (L’isola del terrore) (Famous Players-Lasky, US 1920) Regia/dir: James Cruze; sogg./story: Arthur B. Reeve, John W. Grey; scen: Walter Woods; f./ph: William Marshall; cast: Harry Houdini (Harry Harper), Jack Brammall (Starkey), Lila Lee (Beverly West), Rosemary Theby (Stella Mordaunt), Wilton Taylor (Job Mordaunt), Eugene Pallette (Guy Mordaunt), Edward Brady (il capitano/Captain Black), Frank Bonner (capo/Chief Bakaida), Capt. Ted E. Duncan (primo ufficiale/First Officer Murphy), Fred Turner (Mr.West); lg. or./orig. l: 5813 ft.; 35mm, 3804 ft., 51’ (20 fps), Library of Congress. Copia preservata in bianco e nero da un nitrato positivo imbibito / Preserved in black & white from a 35mm tinted nitrate positive. Didascalie in inglese / English intertitles.



	Prog. 3 LES DÉS MAGIQUES (Pathé-Frères, FR 1908) Regia/dir: Segundo de Chomón; 35mm, 445 ft., 7’30” (16 fps), pochoir/stencil colour, BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. MÉTAMORPHOSES DU PAPILLON (Pathé-Frères, FR 1904) Regia/dir: Gaston Velle; 35mm, 106 ft., 2’45” (16 fps), colorazione a mano/hand-coloured, BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. YOU NEVER KNOW WOMEN (Maschere russe) (Famous Players-Lasky, US 1926) Regia/dir: William A.Wellman; scen: Benjamin Glazer; sogg./st: Ernest Vajda; f./ph: Victor Milner; cast: Florence Vidor (Vera Norova), Lowell Sherman (Eugene Foster), Clive Brook (Ivan Norodin), El Brendel (Toberchik), Roy Stewart (Dimitri), Joe Bonomo (il forzuto/The Strong Man), Irma Kornelia (Olga), Sidney Bracey (manager); 35mm, 5893 ft., 71’ (22 fps), Library of Congress. Copia preservata da un nitrato positivo in bianco e nero / Preserved from a 35mm black & white nitrate positive. Didascalie in inglese / English intertitles.



	Prog. 4 L’HOMME MYSTÉRIEUX (Pathé-Frères, FR 1910) Regia/dir: ?; 35mm; 320 ft., 5’20” (16 fps), BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. THE MEDIUM EXPOSED? OR A MODERN SPIRITUALISTIC SÉANCE (Is Spiritualism a Fraud? The Medium Exposed) (Paul’s Animatograph Works, GB 1906) Regia/dir: J.H. Martin; 35mm, 363 ft., 6’ (16 fps), BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. THE SHOW (Il padiglione delle meraviglie) (Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer Pictures, US 1927) Regia/dir: Tod Browning; scen:Waldemar Young; dal romanzo/based on the novel The Day of Souls (1910), di/by Charles Tenney Jackson; didascalie/titles: Joe Farnham; f./ph: John Arnold; scg./des: Cedric Gibbons, Richard Day; mo./ed: Errol Taggart; cost: Lucia Coulter; cast: John Gilbert (Cock Robin), Renée Adorée (Salomé), Lionel Barrymore (il greco/The Greek), Edward Connelly (il soldato/the soldier), Gertrude Short (Lena), Andy MacLennan (l’investigatore/The Ferret); data uscita/released: 22.1.1927 (lg. or./orig. l: 6309 ft.); 35mm, 6227 ft., 68’ (24 fps), George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. Copia preservata nel 1982 con una sovvenzione della NEA, l’agenzia federale americana per le arti / Preserved in 1982 with funding from The National Endowment for the Arts. Didascalie in inglese / English intertitles.



	Prog. 5 THE CABBY’S DREAM (Warwick Trading Company, GB 1906) Regia/dir: Charles Raymond?; lg. or./orig. l: 320 ft.; 35mm, 135 ft., 2’15” (16 fps), BFI National Film and Television Archive, London. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. LES GLACES MERVEILLEUSES (Zauberspiegel) (Pathé- Frères, FR 1907) Regia/dir: Segundo de Chomón; cast: Julienne Mathieu; 35mm, 446 ft., 7’30” (16 fps), pochoir/stencil colour, preservazione su internegativo / preserved on colour internegative, Nederlands Filmmuseum. Titolo di testa in tedesco; senza didascalie / German main title; no intertitles. MAGIE MODERNE (Pathé-Frères, FR 1908) Regia/dir: ?; 35 mm, 387 ft., 6’30” (16 fps), Cinémathèque Française. Senza didascalie / No intertitles. THE LAST PERFORMANCE (Poslední predstavení) (Erik il Grande) (Universal Pictures Corp., US 1929) Regia/dir: Paul Fejos; sogg./story, scen: James Ashmore Creelman; f./ph: Hal Mohr; mo./ed: Edward Cahn, Robert Carlisle, Robert Jahns; cast: Conrad Veidt (Erik il Grande/Erik the Great), Mary Philbin (Julie), Leslie Fenton (Buffo), Fred Mackaye (Mark Royce), Gustav Partos (direttore del teatro/theatre manager), William H. Turner (cassiere/booking agent), Anders Randolf (giudice/judge), Sam De Grasse (procuratore/district attorney), George Irving (avvocato difensore/defense attorney); lg. or./orig. l: 5999 ft. 35mm, 1578 m., 57’ (24 fps), Národní Filmovy´ Archiv, Praha. Didascalie in ceco / Czech intertitles.



	Cinema e magia / Magic and Cinema
		Introduzione/Introduction Prog.1 - Prog.2 - Prog.3 - Prog.4 - Prog.5
		Schede complete nel catalogo delle Giornate 2006 (pdf, 4,2 Mb). / For complete programme notes, download the Giornate 2006 catalogue (pdf, 4,2 Mb).