Carnival Magic (1983) User Reviews

A Day in the Life as an Extra

[xena0056 · 3/10 · 19 April 2021]

I was asked on Friday, July 11, 1980 by Mr Feltner, while renting him a car, if I wanted to be in a movie. I'm sure I looked at him as if he was a dirty old man and he quickly read the situation and said, "Not THAT kind of movie. We are shooting at Earl Owensby Studios (which living in the area I was familiar with) and told me he would give me a line to say and $75. Sounded interesting, so I said ok, I'll be there. I drove to Gaffney on Saturday, July 12, 1980 to do my one line. In the directors cut he mentions that he asked the girl who rented him a car from Avis Rent a Car, me, to come down to Gaffney, SC to appear in this movie and that I rode down with him, which I did not. As I stated previously, I drove down the next day.

I had always assumed that the movie was never shown. Imagine my surprise after all these years, to discover that the movie was released and I was in it at around the 26 to 28 minute mark. The girl in the blue shirt in the Midway scene. I ended up spending the entire day. The monkey had gotten lose and they had to set up for the long shot on the Midway which was the scene I was in. It took over 2 hours to find the monkey, and another 3 hours to set up for the Midway shot.

I recall on the first take, after saying my one line, he yelled CUT! And asked if I could say my line less southern, as he didn't want the movie to sound like it was made in the south. I was a bit embarrassed but tried it again. Then I heard some one say, don't worry about it. When can dub over her voice later. To my surprise they didn't dub over my actual voice and they didn't cut my scene out of the movie.

After shooting wrapped for the day he asked if I wanted to go eat with him and the cast. I agreed and we went out to a local Steak House that served hush puppies. Don Stewart looked at them and asked what they were, cornbread??? I told him no, they were hush puppies. He nearly lost his mind laughing and asked me to repeat what they were until he had everyone at the table laughing at the word hush puppy and my southern accent. I won't lie, I was slighly offended. I can take a joke and laugh at myself. But when they started trying to mimic me and laugh, it started to get old. Mr. Feltner saw what was going on, he seemed to always be paying attention to everything going on even when you didn't think he was. He was extremely nice and somewhat paternal toward me. Being in a movie, even a sub B Movie, was an eye opening expericence. It does strip away a lot of the magic.

"A dizzying blow to body and brain"

[johgaines · 1/10 · 11 May 2017]

One of the most horrendous "kids" movies ever made, Al Adamson's Carnival Magic takes place in a grimy carnival in the dying days of the American circus, when theme parks were beginning to take over. "Markov the Magnificent", a traveling mesmerist who's kind of a mix of Dr. Strange, the Beastmaster, and Jesus, is very near getting kicked out of the carnival, when it's discovered he has something special in his trailer...Alex, the talking chimp! (Played by Trudi, an elderly female chimp). Can Alex save Markov's employment? Will Alex get involved in poorly filmed Hal Needham knockoff antics? Will the EEEEEEVVVIIILLLL lion tamer try to do something bad to Alex out of jealousy? All these questions and a bunch more you never wanted to ask will be answered over the course of Carnival Magic. Once you get in, be sure to stay tuned so you can see one of the most idiotic "inspirational" endings ever filmed. Grungy, robotically acted, and paced at the speed of a brontosaurus going uphill in January, Carnival Magic has something for everyone to hate.

Al Adamson Goes Ape

[wes-connors · 3/10 · 27 July 2011]

Carnival magician Don Stewart (as Markov) is fired from his job, but gets it back when he makes his talking chimpanzee companion "Trudi" (as Alexander) part of the act. The attention has a bad side effect when "Alex" is chimp-napped by a mad scientist and jealous lion tamer who think he may be the missing link. Director Al Adamson's wife Regina "Gena" Carrol (as Kate) is Mr. Stewart's bosomy assistant. Fortunately, Stewart kept his day job on "The Guiding Light" serial. Even more fortunately, Mr. Adamson's threatened sequel "More Carnival Magic" (1982) did not materialize.

*** Carnival Magic (1981) Al Adamson ~ Don Stewart, Jennifer Houlton, Howard Segal, Mark Weston

Less Magic, MoreTragic

[icaredor · 3 November 2010]

God bless TCM for giving some air to this obscure flick from schlocksploitation specialist Al Adamson. What a treasure. TCM showed this during its Halloween week horror marathon in tandem with another circus-centered terror, Joan Crawford's notorious "Berserk." Carnival Magic isn't a horror film in the usual sense, although, as the TCM scheduler must have recognized, it does supply plenty of unintentional horror. Nearly everything about the film is horrible including script, acting, directing, editing, and costumes.

Don Stewart plays Markov the Magnificent (no, really!), a carnival magician whose powers to read minds, levitate, bend steel bars and communicate with animals are, apparently, real. He was raised by Buddhist monks in Nepal, where his parents were missionaries, which must explain it. Markov's extraordinary talents are insufficient to save him from being fired at the insistence of the carnival's jealous, erstwhile star attraction, an alcoholic tiger-tamer (he's alcoholic, not the tigers).

Fortunately, on top of all of his amazing, yet insufficiently impressive talents, Markov shares his trailer with a talking chimp (no, really!) called Alexander the Great who has a Norleans accent, all bluesy and boozy. Markov incorporates Alexander into the act and turns the carnival from near disaster into what appears to be a moderate financial success.

Although amused, no one seems surprised at Markov's magic or at the talking monkey so the carnival doesn't immediately turn, as one might expect, into a media circus (sorry!). The chimp does attract attention from a lone anthropologist who thinks that in the great evolutionary chain Alexander may be the missing link based, presumably, on the chimp's ability to talk and drive a car. He has the monkey kidnapped by the less than gruntled tamer of wild, yet sober, tigers, and is sufficiently unimpressed by Alexander's cooperation that he decides to chop up the monkey to see what makes him work. Alexander is saved when the clinic is invaded by a swarm of carnies, some of whom, themselves, would probably be of interest as possible missing links.

The intensity of the drama, though not the intensity of the horror, is broken by a couple of romantic subplots, one between Markov and his assistant (Regina Carrol), who is buxomly busting out of her coruscating leotard, and the other between the carnival owner's tomboy daughter (Jennifer Houlton) and a drippy PR man in a drip-dry shirt and disco trousers.

This film has been out of circulation for far too long and needs to be released on DVD. Fans of bad movies should not be deprived of this; nay, they have a right to experience its phenomenal awfulness. Yes, really!

Madness is here

[BandSAboutMovies · 2/10 · 16 June 2019]

Al Adamson should have never made a children's film. This is the man who made Psycho a Go-Go, two different softcore movies with flying hostesses (The Naughty Stewardesses and Blazing Stewardesses), the staggering Dracula vs. Frankenstein and a Filipino horror movie that was dubbed, tinted in neon hues and released as Horror of the Blood Monsters. And oh, by the way, his film Satan's Sadists was shot Spahn Ranch and he was nything but shy about using that fact to promote the film.

But yeah. So then he decided to make a movie for the kids, it failed, he went into real estate and then ended up murdered by a contractor and buried in the cement under a new hot tub.

So are you ready for Carnival Magic? No. I really don't think you are.

According to an article in the Austin Chronicle, even the way that film was discovered is unsettling. Alamo Drafthouse programmer Zack Carlson said, "I didn't know about the movie until I already owned it. It was an entire movie on one giant reel, and written on the side of it, in Sharpie, it said Carnival CENSORED Magic. It completely decimated everyone. We couldn't understand what the movie was, because although it's made under the guise of a children's film, it features domestic abuse, vivisection, and, even more uncomfortably, it just has this pervasive air of stale, alcoholic uncles. It's the most quietly inappropriate kids' movie ever made. You can tell it was made by people who have never spent any time around children."

At face value, the movie is all about Markov the Magnificent (Don Stewart, who was on the soap opera Guding Light for sixteen years), a magician and mindreader whose career has hit the skids. However, when he teams up with a talking chimp - after a while, no one is really all that amazed that monkeys can speak - named Alexander the Great, their dirt poor Stoney Martin Carnival finally has a chance to be a success. Then again, Kirk the alcoholic lion tamer (Joe Cirillo, who played cops in everything from Maniac Cop 2 to Splash, Ghostbusters and Death Wish 3) and the doctor who wants to examine Alexander's brain may screw it all up.

Of course, Al's wife Regina Carrol shows up. But what you don't expect is that the monkey loves women's bras and stealing cars. You might wonder what child would want to see this or how they'd react being dropped off at the theater in 1981 by their parents and having to confront this film. I'm in my forties and barely survived it with my insanity intact (to be fair, I've gone back more than a few times to try and watch it again).

See, there's a war brewing between Markov and Kirk. Our hero doesn't like telling many people, but he was raised by Buddhist monks who taught him hypnosis, levitation and how to talk to animals. The main problem is, the more he talks to Kirk's animals, the less they take our villain as their master.

Speaking of talking, that's pretty much all this movie does. Everyone talks, about losing their wives, potentially losing their daughters, leaving behind their old lives and worries of their future. I'm not really sure what children want to see the inner workings and turmoil of a ratty circus. After all, we've all come to realize just how sinister the big top is and this movie will do nothing to dissuade you from that notion.

I really have no idea who this film is really for. But yet, that's part of the charm. Every year, there are so many movies made for kids that just fade away. Somehow, this oddity won't go away, even if the print for it stayed hidden for decades. Beyond all rational reasoning, Carnival Magic is available to watch on Netflix - albeit with riffing from Mystery Science Theater 3000 - and ready to mess with anyone's brain that stumble across it.

Spectacularly Bad, but Funny Bad if You Get the Joke ! (1981)

[cshep · 3/10 · 26 March 2011]

Al Adamson noted/notorious for making less than average films, outdoes himself with this creation "Carnival Magic !"

Take several aging would-be actors, place them in a sub-standard setting(Carnival), add a chimpanzee with an incredible ability, stir the pot and voilà', a hysterical look at the American culture, albeit a limited slice of the pie but still a slice.

Don Stewart as Markov the Magician has amazing powers , yet one of them is not having the ability to stay employed, unless , enter Alexander the Great(the chimp), who has the power to talk..wow...

Nice gimmick, except like the rest of the film, it is poorly executed.Even Alex looks aged.Spoiler Alert, Alex is or was Trudi the Chimp in real life. Not since "The Crying Game" has the gender bender been played so royally...except this time they used an animal, like "Lassie."

So, the jealous animal trainer doesn't like being second banana and arranges for the abduction of our talking hero, to the confines of a medical laboratory for a closer look, if you know what I mean.

So obviously the story has to resolve getting Alex back, but not before a chimp/police chase, hilarious or could have been under better supervision.

The closing credits roll over the carnival parade in Gaffeny, South Carolina, which has been a host to no less than 7 other films, what a hoot ! Watching Don tongue an underage girl in her teens is Classic, I guess his powers include perversion and statutory rape. Nice.

Oh, look for the Shriners, it wouldn't be a parade without them !

BTW, the joke I referred to in the summary title, is that you can build a TV Show/Film and/or Video Vehicle around a chimp, i.e."The Monkees", "BJ and the Bear","The Hathaways", it is done over and over because they try to reinvent the wheel or at least disguise it for a buck. Al Adamson was no different, he just failed to use demographics and threw this film against the wall, to see if it would stick. 3 stars out of 10, but filled with unintentional laughs, once you know the joke. Chimps are funny, people are too, but that is a different show.

Much better than I expected

[bensonmum2 · 4/10 · 26 April 2017]

Disclaimer – I watched Carnival Magic courtesy of the new MST3K. I am confident in my ability to separate the movie from the show. I'm not one of those who feels a movie is necessarily bad just because it appeared on MST3K. You'll find some real gems that probably didn't deserve the MST3K treatment. With that being said, even though I've rated Carnival Magic a rather paltry 4/10, I was actually pleasantly surprised that it was this good. Knowing that it was directed by Al Adamson, my expectations were VERY low. And with a name like Carnival Magic, I was expected something schlocky along the lines of Ray Dennis Steckler's The Incredibly Strange Creatures – a real abomination of a movie. Instead, I discovered a reasonably nice movie, presented in a fairly competent manner, featuring decent acting, and real production values. There's actually little in the way of exploitation – a real shock to me. It's not a great movie, but Carnival Magic is miles better than what I was expecting.

The movie tells the story of a struggling carnival/circus. Things start to look up, however, when a magician named Markov begins using his chimp, Alex, in his act. Alex is capable of a few astounding things – he can speak a few words and he can telepathically send messages to Markov. One day, a scientist is in the audience for a performance and wants to take Alex for research purposes. Markov says no. Unfortunately for all concerned, another performer, jealous of Markov's success, tells the scientist that he'll get him the chimp. Things get ugly for everyone involved.

Most of the cast is, as you would expect, littered with a bunch of no names. They give it their all and come out looking pretty good. The exception is Don Stewart as Markov. He's very good in his role and actually has a fairly impressive filmography. Impressive, at least, for an Al Adamson film.

One more face slap, and they would've lost that G rating

[rokcomx · 3/10 · 13 August 2020]

I found a DVD and just gave it a spin - not nearly as bad as a feared, but it's still one weird flick. I like that it captures the sleazy vibe of those flea market carnivals of the 70s - like the movie, they mixed kiddie attractions with crazy gross freakshows and sometimes burlesque and peep shows (I saw my first stripper sneaking under a carnival tent!). But the acting was so weak, it made Ed Wood's posse look like a PBS ensemble.

And what was up with that crazy chimp voice?? Al Adamson makes some of the most inexplicable flicks ever. There's a full audio commentary by the producer/co-director, "a critical appreciation" and silent outtakes, and the print quality is outstanding. How crazy that the flick was rated G! The producer says they had to cut the animal trainer slapping his girlfriend's face from three slaps down to two to get the G rating. His memory is astounding, he recalls where each performer was hired from. One gal was the rental car agent he picked up when he flew in, he just gave her a line in the midway scene!

There's one scene of the monkey running off after a trick - the producer says the monkey just ran off the set and was missing for hours! Nobody knows where he went or what he did. He just strolled back onto the set later that day, and they resumed shooting his scenes.

I bet there's some neighbor somewhere near where they shot this who's still telling wild tales that nobody will believe about the day that monkey showed up and raided the dog food dish....

Do the right thing here...

[Polarbear53041 · 1/10 · 20 April 2020]

Ironically, people giving a 10 star "so bad it's good" review may have their heart in the right place, but sadly do themselves and everyone else a disservice. At the time of this review, IMDB has Carnival Magic at 2.3. WAY too high.

I understand "The Room" holds the title of worst of all time (the WOAT?) But I strongly disagree. So what is it about Carnival Magic that makes it worse than The Room? I'm glad I asked! It all comes down to intent. Call it conspiracy theory but I've long felt The Room just a little TOO awful. Tommy Wisough(sp?) saw the masses of nostalgic hipsters and created for them their "Citizen Kane" (something I genuinely respect BTW). Carnival Magic ALSO thinks it's Citizen Kane. How does a movie this bad slip through so many people and get released? Well it's something future historians will struggle to answer. Its been said archeology is the study of trash, people's culture defined by their garbage. Carnival Magic is beautiful garbage. Real people wrote this script, real actors read for these parts, real casting directors hired these roles and somewhere a real director has this on a resume. Its a beautifully orchestrated train wreck done right, with tickets sold to passengers NOT to spectators!

(that train analogy was awesome)

So while the sheep continue "ironically" worshipping false idles, purchasing 4K special editions of Sharknado, waiting hours in line for a selfie with Tommy Wisoeh(sp? I refuse to Google that man), it's quiet unsung heroes, heroes like Carnival Magic, who sadly go unappreciated.

I urge you. Do what's right here, look into your heart. Give Carnival Magic the 1 star it deserves, the 1 star it earned.

Turrible carny film.... stars no-one.

[ksf-2 · 2/10 · 19 April 2017]

Honestly, the only interesting part of this film is the life story of the director, Al Adamson. He was murdered by a contractor, and buried in his own house. He gave his wife Regina roles in 14 of his (cheesey) films. Film quality, terrible. Script -- terrible. Sound, picture ... terrible. Mystery Science Theater 3000 highlighted one of his films, "Carnival Magic". Don Stewart is "Markov", who has a talking chimp, which steals the show in the failing carnival. Stewart spends most of the film shirtless, in an effort to boost the ratings. Awful. Terrible. Did I mention its pretty bad? They keep referring to "Alex" the chimp as HE and HIM, but acc to the credits, the chimp is actually a male, and in addition, is voiced by a female, in spite of the fact that Alex has a low, weird, gravelly voice. Mystery Science 3000 version, currently showing on Netflix. Mildly interesting, but ain't no thang. Turrible. Turrible.

Strange Things Are Afoot

[gavin6942 · 4/10 · 19 November 2017]

A magician in a carnival -- who actually can read minds and levitate people and objects -- works with a super-intelligent chimp named Alex, who can also talk.

Whether this is a bad movie or a so-bad-it-is-good movie will be up to the viewer to decide. I mean, either way we have to all agree it is pretty bad, right? But it does have a certain charm.

The "talking" ape is bizarre, because he basically just grunts and says nothing of value. There is a creepy 40-year old man who sexually assaults a teenage girl... and the next day she announces to her father that they are getting married. What? There is a mad scientist with s poorly dubbed German accent. Why? And a dead wife who is never fully explained.

Day of the Escape From Plan 9's Outer Space Carnival of The Apes

[gein · 10/10 · 24 November 2002]

The wonderful thing about living in Seattle is being able to choose among the many revival theaters that we film snobs have access to. On any given weekend we can choose between horror epics like Evil Dead, Psycho and Carrie; John Hughes' teen-angst epics like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Pretty In Pink; or just plain obscure epics like Al Adamson's Carnival Magic.

Now, Carnival Magic comes nowhere close to resembling an epic in the Cecil B. DeMille vein, but does remind me of a particularly painful epic experience that I had at the dentist's office when I was around ten. The dentist pried, drilled, scraped and pulled for what seemed to have been ten hours and after the enamel and bone dust settled, I was a couple of pounds lighter and a much stronger human animal. If you are "fortunate" enough to witness Carnival Magic, I am willing to wager that your experience will approximate my dental adventure.

Carnival Magic is a children's film (I think) that "stars" Don Stewart as Markov the Magician (imagine a young Harvey Keitel). Markov is a magician who has the genuine ability to read minds, levitate and bend steel bars. When not performing one miraculous feat after the other, Markov meditates and hangs out with his English-speaking chimpanzee companion, Alex (yes, you read that right). On one ominous day, the carnival owner's daughter begs Markov to put Alex into his act to save her father's fledgling fair. Markov begrudgingly agrees. At first, ticket sales soar and Markov and Alex are carny heroes. Unfortunately, the jealous alcoholic tiger-tamer, who was once the main attraction, becomes tired of playing second fiddle to the damn dirty ape and decides to kidnap Alex and sell him to a vivisectionist.

As I'm sure you have surmised, Carnival Magic is sort of a simian version of Day of The Dolphin but, regrettably, Al Adamson is no Mike Nichols and Don Stewart is sure as Hell no George C. Scott.

This film contains endless scenes of North Carolinians (nothing against people from North Carolina, it's just where it was filmed) riding carnival rides, playing games and eternally sitting watching Markov perform his magic. Occasionally, the film kicks out of "She Freak" gear and grinds into never-ending inane dialogs between Markov and the other fair folk. In one infinite scene we discover how a former beauty queen is transformed, without supernatural assistance, from Miss Arkansas to Markov's assistant through a series of hard-luck choices she has made. Watching paint dry can be more fun.

I won't give away the big surprise ending, but if you make it that far you deserve the big payoff - bring plenty of Kleenex.

Critics and so-called film fans endlessly rail on about Edward D. Wood, Jr.s' Plan 9 From Outer Space, heralded as the "worst film ever made", (obviously, these people have never seen "Eight Heads in a Duffle Bag"), but you never hear anyone giving speeches about Carnival Magic. Well, that's just plain wrong. Carnival Magic is a cinematic endurance test of the highest caliber. It takes a magnanimous spirit to sit through an entire screening of Carnival Magic but once you do, you'll be altered forever.

Sitting through this film rather reminded me of my younger-self sitting in that unholy dentist chair. Sure, I had to white-knuckle it through the entire process, but it has made me a stalwartly cinema survivor. If I can sit through that, I can take anything they throw at me. If you consider yourself a true cinemaphile, (you must if you've read this far), you owe it to yourself to see Carnival Magic. Take it from me, you'll be a stronger viewer for it.

12 reasons Carnival Magic needs to be released on DVD.

[hollywoodpsychic · 6/10 · 18 April 2009]

EDIT - 08/12/11 - Since posting this review my dreams have come true in the form of an actual DVD/Blu-ray release! I'm leaving this review as is, but know that you can and should pick up a copy in the format of your choice asap!

***Spoiler Alert***

1.) Any movie that casually features a talking-chimpanzee (with the attitude and vocal-inflections of a Mississippi blues-man) deserves to be seen by the widest audience possible.

2.) Ostensibly a children's movie, it somehow manages to showcase domestic abuse, vivisection, alcoholism, animal exploitation, attempted suicide and carnie chicanery, all from behind the pulled curtains of a southern, traveling carnival midway.

3.) The lead human protagonist is sort of a cross between Harvey Keitel circa "Fingers (1978)" and Patrick Swayze fresh off "Point Break (1991)".

4.) It was one of the final productions by exploitation/schlock director Al Adamson.

5.) It was the final film for Adamson's wife, buxom bombshell (and ex-Elvis arm-candy) Regina Carrol.

6.) A major character progressively transforms from frumpy tomboy "Bud" into total woman and lover "Ellen".

7.) A man gets mauled by a tiger.

8.) 60 minutes into the movie, the camera suddenly and inexplicably cuts to a shirtless, midget hick with a mustache and a mullet.

9.) A monkey performs in a magic show, steals a car and leads North Carolina police in hot pursuit, brawls with the staff (and random passerby) of a vivisection laboratory, and attempts to commit suicide.

10.) More unintentional laughs than the entire first season of "Walker Texas Ranger".

11.) There is a circus parade at the end of the movie. Seriously... who doesn't like a circus parade?

12.) And last but not least, perhaps the greatest unfulfilled promise ever made... the post-credit announcement: "Coming next year... More Carnival Magic!"

A Film Like This Could Only Be Adamson

[Michael_Elliott · 6 November 2010]

Carnival Magic (1981)

1/2 (out of 4)

Adamson, best known for drive-in stuff like Dracula VS. FRANKENSTEIN and BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR, ended his career making a couple kiddie flicks. This one was made in 1981 and LOST would follow a couple years later. Neither one was originally released to theaters and rumor has it that no one knew this film existed until police searched the director's home after his disappearance and found the film prints (before finding the director's dead body). In the film, Markov the Magician (Don Stewart) is fired from his carnival gig because the boss is under pressure from the lion keeper. Soon the boss' daughter discovers that Markov has a secret chimp who can actually speak. She convinces Marvok to tell the boss so that they can add the chimp to the act, which brings in a lot of money but soon the tiger trainer gets jealous and decides to steal the chimp. Yes, that's the story to this thing. Watching any Adamson picture can feel like an 70-year prison sentence but sometimes he would give us stuff so wild and over the top that you couldn't help but be entertained. Dracula VS. FRANKENSTEIN is the best example of this but CARNIVAL MAGIC is just a downright mystery. Who on Earth was Adamson making this for? Adults are going to be bored out of their minds and I think even kids would hate this thing. The film is certainly meant to be cute but it comes off more scary than anything else as you really can't help but feel uncomfortable with Markov and the teenage girl's friendship coming off a little weird. It also doesn't help that the chimp's voice makes him sound like a gargoyle or some type of freak with a smoker's voice who sounds like he's gasping for his last breathe. Another problem is that the screenplay is just downright bad as none of the character stories are of any interest and you can't help but feel as if the film should have ran no longer than 9-minutes at the most. Stewart seems bored out of his mind and wishing he could be somewhere else while the director's real-life wife Regina Carrol sleepwalks through things. You get the typical Adamson slowness and there are countless scenes that could have been left out as they add nothing to the film and in the end you're pretty much left with the type of film you expect from the director. There's no question that Adamson deserves his cult following because he certainly made some very unique films. Most were downright bad, a few are cult favorites and then there are others that make very little sense. CARNIVAL MAGIC is certainly the strangest film I've seen from the man and that's saying quite a bit.

Weak kiddie picture for matinee and regional bookings

[lor_ · 22 January 2023]

My review was written in November 1982 after viewing at a screening room in Times Square.

Lensed in 1980 at Earl Owensby Studios and other Norh Carolina locations, "Carnival Magic" is a mild children's film about a carnival magician and his talking chimp partner. Lacking any special effects or adult audience hook, the low-budget Elvin Feltner production faces tough sledding in the marketplace, though it may find takers in U. S. regions and foreign territories hungry for family fare.

Don Stewart toplines as Markov the Magnificent, a small-time circus magician whose chimp partner Alexander the Great (Trudi the chimp) can speak (well-synched dubbing by Linda Sherwood). Amidst very tame romantic subplots. Film's sole conflict arises when Markov's popularity overshadows that of the circus's lion tamer, who kidnaps Alex and gives him to an unscrupulous doctor for scientific experiments.

With filmmaking technique more appropriate to "backyard" pictures, "Magic" offers little beyond its fantasy element of a talking chimp. Judging from the lack of on-screen reaction to Trudi's dubbed dialog, even this factor seems extraneous. Since the old-fashioned magic tricks are achieved by editing, only the smallest tot will be impressed.

Acting is weak, with lead Stewart baring his chest a lot but underplaying to dreary effect. Tech credits are subpa, with director Al Adamson, vet of dozens of action and horror/sci-fi cheapies, unable to conjure up the sentimentality the script aims for.