Magic Fire (1955) DVD-R

Starring Yvonne De Carlo, Carlos Thompson, Rita Gam, Valentina Cortese,
Alan Badel, Peter Cushing
Directed by William Dieterle

Print: color
Runtime: 95 min.
Genre: drama
Print Quality: B

Filmed in Germany (where it was released in 1954), Republic's Magic Fire
is the life story of controversial 19th century composer Richard Wagner.
Alan Badel comes off more as villain than hero as Wagner, which though
historically accurate makes it hard for the audience to pull for the central
character. Wagner's bizarre relationship with Ludwig II (Gerhard
Riedmann), the "mad king" of Bavaria, is downplayed, while the
composer's vitriolic anti-semitism is ignored altogther. The women in
Wagner's life are played by Yvonne de Carlo, Valentine Cortese and Rita
Gam, while Carlos Thompson does the "best friend/severist critic" bit as
fellow composer Franz Liszt. Dramatically uneven, Magic Fire is rescued
by Erich Wolfgang Korngold's orchestrations of Wagner's most famous
operatic and symphonic works.