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.
7 Reviews
Cheap, Awful And Actually Fun
boblipton16 August 2020
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.
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.
Slice of whimsy
Leofwine_draca1 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers
A NIGHT OF MAGIC is a strange and short production that seems to have been made on a different planet, let alone during a different era. It's a light slice of whimsy in which a random bachelor finds himself in possession of a sarcophagus containing a living and breathing Egyptian princess. She's blonde and glamorous, so he takes her out on a night on the town, watching the usual music and dance shows. I suppose this was made to lift spirits during the dark years of WW2, but viewers these days will be scratching their heads in puzzlement.
It's amazing what you can do with 4 pounds!!
planktonrules19 November 2015
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!!
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!!
Far Less Interesting Than it Sounds
richardchatten6 December 2019
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.
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.
What is this, One Touch of Isis?
mark.waltz2 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
What else would you call a "film" where in the first few minutes, the very boring leading man (Robert Griffith) receives the gift of a sarcophagus that contains the remains of an Egyptian princess which comes to life when he opens her tomb. From there, whoever dares to try to get through this is cursed with very boring love songs (which bares no resemblance to the plot) and some fairly comical British music hall style production numbers, and there's no mummy's curse to save you from it. Production values are practically non-existent and the acting, if you dare to call it that, is horrifying. Marian Olive, as the Princess Raviola, doesn't look either Egyptian or Italian (I kept calling her Princess Ravioli), and is oddly photographed. Gerald Pring, as the butler, and Billy Scott, as Griffith's brother-in-law to be, offer what little amusement this has. Overall, the less than hour long running time has 10 minutes of plot and the rest musical filler, making me call this one of the longest shorts I've ever seen. The sad thing is that on the budget it appears to have, it appears to have been intended as an exploitation film. I'll take an eternity of being damned watching exploitation movies after suffering through this.
It has its faults, but I liked it anyway!
JohnHowardReid8 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Director Herbert Wynne was associated with only five films. He directed a quota quickie, A Safe Affair, way back in 1931, and directed this movie in 1944. He produced four "A" movies between 1937 and 1946, including Walter Forde's The Playboy (1938) and was production manager of the Gitta Alpar vehicle, Because of Love, in 1936. A Night of Magic was undoubtedly the nadir of his career, but it still has something going for it, particularly if you're a fan of Billy Scott. This one and Rainbow Round the Corner (1944) are Billy's only movies, although he did appear on British TV from time to time. Well, I'm a fan so that does make A Night of Magic a must movie as far as I'm concerned. Billy is actually in the movie quite a lot even though he has very little (if anything?) to do with the oh-yeah plot. All the same, Marion Olive (sic, although her actual name was Marian) is a lovely lady and this is her only movie appearance. Her parents were British, but she was actually an American, born in Seattle. I gather that the Olive family returned to Britain before WW2 and that Marian/Marion obtained work as a singer. She was also a talented musician on the saxophone and accordion, but, alas, I don't recall her using these talents in the movie. Still, you can't have everything in a little quota quickie, and by QQ standards, A Night of Magic is well worth seeing. The Alpha DVD is nothing special but okay. I'm going to watch it again. Do you want to watch it with me?
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
