Magic (1978 film)

After Charles "Corky" Withers fails in his first attempt at professional magic, his mentor "Merlin" (E. J. André) says that he needs to have a better show business gimmick. A year later, Corky comes back as a combination magician and ventriloquist with a foul-mouthed dummy named Fats, becoming a huge success. Corky's powerful agent, Ben Greene, is on the verge of signing him for his own television show, but Corky bails out for the Catskills, where he grew up, claiming to be "afraid of success." In truth, Corky does not want to take the TV network's required medical examination because the doctors might find out that he suffers from severe mental issues, and that even off-stage he cannot control Fats (a manifestation of Corky's id).

In the Catskills, Corky reunites with his high school crush, Peggy Ann Snow, who is stuck in a passionless marriage with Corky's friend from high school, Duke. A magic trick with a deck of cards charms Peggy into thinking they are soulmates, leading to them having sex. This sparks the jealousy not only of Duke, but also the dummy Fats. In the midst of an argument "between" Corky and Fats, Greene arrives unexpectedly and confronts Corky, discovering the truth about Corky's state of mind. Corky pleads that nothing is wrong with him and that he is just rehearsing, so Greene puts him to the test, saying "Make Fats shut up for 5 minutes." Corky puts aside Fats, but is unable to last 5 minutes without delivering a rapid stream of speech through Fats. Greene demands that Corky get help and leaves to make some calls to the doctors, but Fats convinces Corky to kill his agent. Corky chases after Greene in the woods and bludgeons him with Fats' hard, wooden head and then attempts to drag the body into a lake. However, a still-living Greene suddenly lunges at him, causing Corky to drown him.

The next morning, Fats becomes even more possessive and jealous when Corky says that he plans to elope with Peggy and leave the dummy behind. Duke returns from his trip earlier than expected. Suspecting his wife has cheated on him, he wants to have a talk with Corky by the lake. Rather than confront him, Duke awkwardly confides to Corky that he loves Peggy and is worried about losing her. Duke suddenly spots Greene's body on the edge of the lake. Duke, believing Greene could still be alive, sends Corky to get help. Curious, he decides to search Corky's cabin, where Fats stabs him with a knife with "help" from Corky.

An increasingly deranged Corky manages to pull himself together and persuade Peggy to run away with him, but she insists on waiting to tell Duke face to face. She thinks everything is fine until Fats "comes alive" and reveals that Corky's card trick is only a ruse he uses to seduce women and that Peggy is only the latest of his conquests. Repulsed, she rejects Corky and locks herself in her bedroom. Fats says that, from this point on, he will make the decisions in Corky's life, immediately asserting this new authority by ordering Corky to kill Peggy.

Corky, turning on the charm and using Fats' voice, apologizes to Peggy through her locked door and leaves her a wooden heart that he carved. A short while later, Corky returns with a bloodstained knife. Fats seems pleased — until it is revealed that the blood on the knife is Corky's, who has fatally stabbed himself so that he will not kill anyone else. As a result, Fats also feels faint. They wonder which one of them will die first. Moments later, Peggy returns to the cabin, happily calling out that she has changed her mind and has decided to run away with Corky after all. As she speaks, she playfully changes her voice to impersonate Fats.

• Anthony Hopkins as Corky Withers (and the voice of Fats)
• Ann-Margret as Peggy Ann Snow
• Burgess Meredith as Ben Greene
• Ed Lauter as Duke
• E. J. André as Merlin
• Jerry Houser as Taxi Driver
• David Ogden Stiers as Todson
• Lillian Randolph as Sadie

The film received positive reviews from critics. Gene Siskel gave the film a very positive review, and ranked it at #9 on his list of the 10 best films of 1978.

However, The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review 1990 writeup of the film remarks that Hopkins appears stiff in the lead role, but praised the supporting cast: "Ann-Margret...invests her role with a considerable sparkle. Particularly good is the great and underrated Burgess Meredith whose sharp and alert Hollywood agent is a real plum of a performance. Jerry Goldsmith also adds a fine nervy carnivalesque score."[11] Vincent Canby for The New York Times wrote that "Magic is neither eerie nor effective. It is, however, very heavy of hand."[12]

The film received a "certified fresh" 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Goldman received a 1979 Edgar Award, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. Hopkins received both Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his role as the tragically disturbed Corky. Meredith received the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor.

The score was composed and conducted by the American composer Jerry Goldsmith.[13] The complete soundtrack was released on CD through Varèse Sarabande in April 2003 and features 22 tracks score at a running time of 42 minutes.[14] It was subsequently reissued by La-La Land Records.

As 20th Century Fox never owned complete rights to this film (the studio did, and still does, own the theatrical distribution and music rights), other companies (especially Embassy and, nowadays, MGM) have been able to release home video versions of Magic under different licenses. However, subsequent legal complications kept the film from being formally reissued on VHS and DVD in the last decade due in part to Embassy Pictures' corporate holdings being divided amongst different entities. Recently, the rights were acquired by the American Movie Classics division of AMC Film Holdings, LLC, while the TV rights are handled for syndication by Trifecta Entertainment & Media (under Paramount Pictures). An unedited version is currently available on widescreen DVD and Blu-ray.

Madness resulting from one person living two personas through a ventriloquist's dummy has been portrayed several times before in film and television, most notably:

• The Great Gabbo, a 1929 film
• Dead of Night, a 1945 British film
• Knock on Wood, a 1954 film
• "The Dummy", a 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone
• "Caesar and Me", a 1964 episode of The Twilight Zone
• Devil Doll, a 1964 film
• Generation 13 is a 1995 concept album by Saga partly influenced by Magic.
• "Conky", a 2004 episode of Trailer Park Boys
• "Read My Lips", a 1993 episode of Batman: The Animated Series, features a villain called the Ventriloquist, who leads a group of criminals through the persona of his dummy Scarface.

• Magic at IMDb
• Magic at Rotten Tomatoes