A Night of Magic

Our hero takes delivery of a 3,000 year-old sarcophagus and it still turns out to contain a living, breathing Egyptian princess with an exceptionally ugly (and improbably blonde) forties hairstyle.

The budget didn't run to the real Wilson & Keppel, so a pair of lively impersonators play out out their routine sans Betty; but unfortunately we get far more of the egregious Billy 'Uke' Scott and his ukelele before finally reaching the stupid 'surprise' ending.

Rich young Robert Griffith goes home to his palatial manor, where the butler informs him that a box has arrived. When he opens it, he discovers an Egyptian mummy case, and when he opens it, he finds Marian Olive. She informs him she is the Princess Raviola (!). She's been sleeping there for 3000 years. She opens her arms, tells him to do with her as he wishes, so of course he takes her to a beauty shop for a makeover.

This Thorne-Smith style movie for five-year-olds continues with many, many musical numbers performed by Hal Leroy lookalike Billy Scott on his 'ukulele' - like George Formby's, actually a tenor banjo. Filled with performers and behind-the-camera talent as obscure as they deserve to be, this bizarre little effort looks and sounds like one of those movies that Gower Gulch producers might shoot in four days on the Tiffany lot in the early 1930s. It's utterly harmless, runs only an hour, and if you have a hankering for the ukulele stylings if Mr. Scott, mildly enjoyable.

By any reasonable standard, "A Night of Magic" is a simply awful film. The budget is practically non-existent, the acting frequently terrible and the plot is thread-bare at best. Mostly it's a long series of grade C stage acts. However, it is a bit fun at times in a kitschy and stupid way!

When the story begins, a man receives a cheap looking sarcophagus from his uncle. Inside is a hot woman who announces she's a 3000 year-old Egyptian princess. She seems about as Egyptian as Chop Suey--being all blonde and very British. However, the man is apparently a total moron and with no proof whatsoever, he believes her story. For the remainder of the film there are only a couple brief acting scenes and the rest consists of the stage acts--lots of singing and dancing of the low- brow variety. They also use some obviously older clips of various stage acts and clumsily throw them into the film.

The bottom line is that a few of the songs are cute, the rest are simply awful--as is pretty much everything else about this one. Fortunately, it is rather short!!

It is difficult to know why anyone would have paid money to go to a cinema to watch this film.The film clearly cost very little to make.The Studio appears to be the size of a greenhouse.Thje film is basically a revue.There is one artiste who performs sub formby songs on a uke.There is another double act who are vainly trying to do their Wilson Betty & Kepple act but without Betty and without the humour.The story is just a peg on which to throw these castoffs.I purchased the DVD out of curiosity but i have to say that although i enjoy watching British films of this era even this film at 56 minutes tried my patience.One of the worst of its kind i have ever seen.