USA, 1926
83m
35mm film, black and white, tinted, 1.33:1
silent
An American horror film directed by Rex Ingram.
Plot Summary
In the Latin Quarter of Paris, sculptor Margaret Dauncey is hurt when a statue of a faun that she’s been working on falls on her. Her life is saved by the brilliant surgeon Dr Arthur Burdon and the couple fall in love. But waiting in the wings is the sinister Oliver Haddo, a medical student who dabbles in the occult and who discovers an ancient formula for the creation of human life that requires “the heart blood of a Maiden”. Margaret’s guardian and uncle, Dr Porhoët has also been looking for the same formula. Haddo sets his sights on Margaret, hypnotising her, forcing her to elope with him, leaving Burdon heartbroken just two days before their wedding, and showing her a vision of an orgy in Hell. Burdon tracks the couple to a casino in Monte Carlo and he and Porhoët pursue Haddo to his laboratory hoping to save her from the proverbial fate worse than death.
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Supervised by: Rex Ingram
Metro-Goldwyn presents Rex Ingram’s production of… A Metro-Goldwyn picture controlled by Loew’s Incorporated
Copyright MCMXXVI [1926] in U.S.A. by Metro Goldwyn
New version © 2010 Turner Entertainment Co.
Executive: George Noffka
Production Manager: Harry Lachman
Adapted by: Rex Ingram
Based on the Novel by: W. Somerset Maugham *
Photographer: John F. Seitz
Editor: Grant Whytock
Settings by: Henri Ménessier
Cast
Alice Terry (Margaret Dauncey)
Paul Wegener (Oliver Haddo)
Firmin Gémier (Dr Porhoët)
Iván Petrovich (Dr Arthur Burdon)
Gladys Hamer (Susie Boyd)
Henry Wilson (Haddo’s servant)
Stowitts [real name: Hubert I. Stowitts (dancing faun)
Michael Powell [man with hat] *
Alternative Titles
Čarobnjak – Yugoslavia (Serbian)
Czarodziej – Poland
Der Dämon – Austria
Estranho Domínio – Portugal
Le magicien – France
O Mágico – Brazil
Mágico dominio – Spain
Der Magier – Germany
El Mago – Mexico
O magos – Greece
Sihirbaz – Turkey
Sydänverta – Finland
Troldmanden – Denmark
A varázsló – Hungary
Маг – Soviet Union
魔術師 – Japan
References
Periodicals
- The Bioscope vol.69 no.1047 (4 November 1926) p.53
- Kinematograph Weekly no.1019 (28 October 1926
- The Picturegoer vol.13 no.74 (February 1927) p.14
Books
- 100 American Horror Films by Barry Keith Grant pp.129-130
- After Dracula: The 1930s Horror Film by Alison Peirse pp.30
- American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913-1929 by John T. Soister and Henry Nicolella with Steve Joyce and Harry H. Long p.363 – credits, article
- Arrows of Desire: The Films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger by Ian Christie pp.26
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) p.36
- Caligari’s Children: The Film as Tale of Terror by Siegbert Solomon Prawer pp.14, 24, 74
- Classic Horror Films and the Literature That Inspired Them by Ron Backer pp.106-108
- Euro Gothic: Classics of Continental Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby pp.34-35, 62
- The Films of Michael Powell and The Archers by Scott Salwolke pp.6, 7
- Horror and Science Fiction Films II by Donald C. Willis p.240
- Michael Powell by James Howard pp.17, 101
- Michael Powell by Kevin Gough-Yates p.46
- Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.280
- Silent Films, 1877-1996: A Critical Guide to 646 Movies by Robert K. Klepper pp.
- Vintage Science Fiction Films, 1896-1949 by Michael Benson p.160
- The World of Fantasy Films by Richard Myers p.137
