Saturday, May 13, 11:00 AM, Charles Theatre 1

Director: John Brahm

Cast: Vincent Price, Eva Gabor, Lyle Talbot, Mary Murphy, John Emory, Donald Randolph, Lenita Lane, Patrick O'Neal, Jay Novello,

Country: USA
Year: 1954
Running Time: 72:00 minutes
Format: 35mm dual projection 3-D

Vincent Price, once again, wonderfully typecast as a maniacal artist out for revenge. In The Mad Magician, Price plays Don Gallico, a man who designs magic tricks for his employer, Mr. Ormond, who sells the tricks to famous magicians. Gallico, yearning for some of the glory his tricks have brought others, strikes out on his own as "Gallico the Great", until Ormond reminds him that he is in violation of their contract. Of course, don't expect a Vincent Price character to take that sitting down, especially when the man standing in his way is the same man who stole his wife years earlier. It turns out Gallico is also a master at making realistic masks, and with them he launches into a plan to murder everyone who has wronged him, take their places, and finally enjoy the much-deserved success he has so long desired.

Vincent Price is in his campiest, most devious, top form in this, one of the last 3-D films Columbia Pictures made until the eighties. Though shot in black & white instead of color, all other production values were top notch. The film is often unfairly compared to House of Wax because of having the same star (Price), a similar theme (tortured artist out for revenge), and the same gimmick (3-D), however, this film stands on its own. According to 3-D expert R.M. Hayes' description of The Mad Magician in his book, 3-D Movies, "The 3-D gimmicks were excellent, and the depth on all scenes were some of the finest examples of stereoscopic cinematography ever… impressive to behold… it may be the clearest and sharpest 35mm 3-D feature ever made."

-- Skizz Cyzyk

Presented By: Chris Kaltenbach

As the Maryland Film Festival's resident expert on 3-D movies, this marks Chris Kaltenbach's fifth year hosting the festival's annual 3-D screening, having previously handled informative introductions and lively discussions for such 3-D classics as Gorilla At Large, Fort Ti, Creature From the Black Lagoon, and House Of Wax (but not Hot Skin). He has been a Baltimore Sun writer for the past 24 years, the last ten as a movie critic and feature writer. His favorite movie is the 1933 King Kong.