Anthony Hopkins shines in ‘Magic,’ his finest screen role

MAGIC (1978)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Thirteen years before his Oscar-winning role as Hannibal Lecter, Anthony Hopkins gave an even better, more impressive performance headlining one of the best horror thrillers of the 1970s.

Based on the best-seller by William Goldman, “Magic” opened at theaters on Friday, Nov. 8, 1978 – two weeks after John Carpenter’s sleeper hit “Halloween” shocked everyone by raking in millions at the box office.

To this day, I believe “Halloween” was an unintentionally funny, vastly overrated low-budget shocker – one that sadly initiated the mad-slasher genre that saw a series of pointless “Halloween” sequels and the “Friday the 13th” series. “Magic,” however, is totally different.

This is the story of Corky Withers, a man who finds sudden fame as a successful magician; of Peggy Ann Snow, an attractive middle-aged woman afloat in a dying marriage; and of Fats, Corky’s ventriloquist dummy that is slowly taking over his personality.

“Magic” is, first, an unnerving, frightening film that gets deep under your skin. It’s also a sad, touching story of unrequited love – a story complicated by Corky’s inability to deal with a troubled childhood, his unhappy adult life and his sudden fame. This is a man on the edge of madness.

We’ve seen countless stories about people like this. They have appeared as episodes of such television shows as “The Twilight Zone” or “Night Gallery.” It even served as the driving force behind Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” the film “Magic” most closely resembles in tone.

Like “Psycho,” “Magic” is a small, intimate and intense thriller with a handful of characters. Hopkins as Corky and Ann-Margret as Peggy invest a lot of heart and soul into the film. They give it life, gravity and complete believability that “Halloween” and other slasher films lack.

It helps tremendously that Goldman adapted his own book for the screen. Goldman’s novel is a solid page-turner that frequently shifts time, location and point-of-view. For the film, Goldman told the story in a more linear, straight-forward approach. It works.

ANTHONY HOPKINS

You can sense Corky’s frustration with professional failure during the film’s stylish opening scenes. You can sense his growing unease with professional success after he incorporates Fats into his act. And you reel in horror when Corky begins losing touch with reality.

Ann-Margret, who has never looked more beautiful, significantly adds to the film’s tension. She gives a tender, vulnerable performance, slowly realizing she loves Corky while being completely unaware of his tenuous emotional state.

Other notable actors in the film include Burgess Meredith as Corky’s perceptive manager and Ed Lauter as Peg’s husband. Both add immeasurably, as does composer Jerry Goldsmith, to the film’s success.

Director Richard Attenborough, a great British actor in his own right, helmed “Magic” one year after his bloated World War II epic “A Bridge Too Far” hit the screen. “Magic” is a much better film; too bad it was over shadowed by the inferior “Halloween.”

“Magic” was promoted with a particularly effective, creepy 30-second television ad campaign, one that focused on Fats the dummy and gave many children nightmares. The ad campaign, a sample of which is included at the end of this post, was promptly pulled.

I have seen “Magic” countless times at the theater, on Home Box Office and on DVD. Some 33 years later, the film still packs a punch and generates significant suspense. This is easily the most haunting, and my all-time favorite, Hopkins screen performance.

“Magic” is available for purchase and rental on DVD and Blu-ray high definition disc. Click here
to purchase the film on Blu-ray disc from Amazon.com. The film is rated R for frightening scenes, profanity and violence.

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