United States

Since the dawn of time, man has been fascinated by MAGIC. Now the film of that title, brilliantly directed by Sir Richard Attenborough, is one of the most fascinating, frightening and suspenseful love stories ever made The camera prowls restlessly on a darkened room crammed with tools the magician's art — collapsible bird cages, top hats, flags, silks, linking rings. Willam Goldman's compelling screenplay adapted from his own novel presents an intriguing study of a lone entertainer, Corky (ANTHONY HOPKINS) who takes refuge from the illusionary world which MAGIC can create. Corky's split personality is represented in the acid-tongued voice of Fats, a ventriloquist's dummy which, within the framework of his nightclub act, mouths Corky's own hidden fears, yearnings, hostilities and aggressions. By combining ventriloquism with MAGIC, Corky catapults himself into the showbusiness limelight. His worldly-wise agent, Ben Greene (BURGESS-MEREDITH) tells him he is just one step away from the Big Time. But then Fats takes over as a final commitment which terrifies Corky, plunging him into a nightmare of self-created terror where murder seems the only recourse. ANN-MARGRET plays Corky's childhood sweetheart, Peggy Ann, with ED LAUTER as her hunter husband, Duke. The ever-present shadow of Fats adds a frightening dimension to a nerve-wracking, seat-gripping tale of escalating terror fuelled by the ventriloquist's illusion of "MAGIC" ...