The Magic Bow

Wonderful old film on DVD, just as described and arrived on time.

I love this flick. I got a VHS dub of it about 5 years ago, and is has become one of my most prized posessions. The insane story begins with Paganini needing a new violin. It just so happens that a music professor down the street is running a contest in his apartment. The prize for the best two minute performance gets one of the professor's violins. Paganini wins and takes the Strad. Then, as a favor to a pretty girl, brings the violin to the local prison where he plays it to distract a prison guard while the girl breaks her father out of jail. So far, so good - everything sound fine. But there are a few things in the film I don't think really happened. Assuming they did allow friends of the musicians to ride their horses into the music hall, and enjoy the show from the saddle, I don't believe that one of Paganini's concertos sounded exactly like Beethoven's. Nor do I think that Paganini (1782-1840)ever saw the works of, let alone ever played any of the short pieces by, Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962). But you never know - maybe we'll see them in a new episode of Heroes or Flash Forward, or in a new Star Trek film. In any case, again - this is a great flick. Menuhin gets bigger billing than any of the actors, an his playing is in its prime. I have shown this to several (now former) friends, and none of them liked it, or even watched it past the free dad from jail sceen. My wife sat through the whole thing, but I paid in spades by having to sit through several chick flicks without complaint. You might want to watch this alone before you risk showing it to a loved one, or yourself.Update:December 2011 - I just bought the DVD. It has a much better picture than my old VHS dub had. And the sound, which wasn't bad on my original copy, is a bit better here. With all the improvement, however, it was really difficult to watch this time. The film has such a bad screenplay that I can't even tell if the actors are doing a good job or not. When I wrote the first paragraph of this review 3 years ago, I said this was a movie only a violinist could love. Now I'm not so sure. I don't drink, and I don't do drugs, but I think that if I did indulge, I would be able to really enjoy this flick a second, or even a third time. But I do think that it would be a hopeless effort to attempt watching this film unmedicated. The only good thing about the film is Menuhin.

The Magic Bow, a film about Nicolo Paganini the great violinist who was a rock star of his age, played by Stewart Granger a few years before he started making MGM films like King Solomon's Mines, is a marvelous example of British made films of that era of the late 1940s. I saw this film once as a boy so I've waited 65 years to see it again, it left a deep impression on me. Glorious sets and acting, it's too bad it wasn't filmed in color. The VHS came in perfect condition, it was first released about 15 years ago. Phyllis Calvert and Jean Kent are Granger's leading ladies, both sublimely beautiful.Jean Kent just died recently in her mid-90s, and she had a small role in Marilyn Monroe's The Prince and the Showgirl in 1957. The Magic Bow is a magical film.

Real classic masterpiece. Menuhin's solo (in background) is superb. Too bad they don't make this sort of movie any more.

Stewart Granger was an excellent choice to play Paganini; he probably comes as close to the real composer/performer as any actor could. Other than that, you might want to skip this one, as it's so far from factual that it might as well be a fairy tale. But if you're a fan of Paganini's music, you probably won't care whether the plot is true or feathery.

Perhaps this is a review of Yehudi Menuhin's playing the violin than of the movie itself. Though the sound quality of this DVD is average (it was a Korean import--they are cleverer than most of us in the west), there is enough of it to leave the casual music lover wonder what Paganini's playing would sound like. This is indeed a "Magic Bow," for the violin numbers in it, practically every musician who composed a piece for violin, but its culminating with a large segment of Beethoven's Violin Concerto (the one and only)is a real treat. Stewart Granger, an underrated actor,mimics Menuhin's finger dexterity with such amazing aplomb, bravado and temperament that one is inclined to forget the terrible wig he has to wear throughout this otherwise well made adventure romance. Phyllis Calvert is delightful as his inamorata, the aristocrat responsible for Granger's fortunes, and one who gives up Dennis Price's Napoleonic high-ranked officer to get her real love. The movie is a real joy for those who love the music, but do not discard fine acting and good adventure. This movie needs more attention. Yes, some think Granger is just an average actor with athletic qualities and good (no doubt) looks, a heartthrob in England before he came to Hollywood to fence Mel Ferrer in Scaramouche, but please, if you like this actor and love Menuhin's play, don't discard this movie. Just root for it, until it has better luck with native DVD editors. Thanks Korea for it anyway!

good

The film was I remembered it as a boy. It still thrilled me. The black and white seemed to intensify the story. However the captions, at times, were sadly astray. The transcriber very seriously misunderstood some of the speech, and the captions were sometimes not only inept, but ridiculOlous. But on the whole a very good product if I turn the captions off.

Good quality

A must for all Paganini/Granger/Menuhin fans!!!

Un gran clásico, difícil de conseguir, aunque tenga los subtítulos en chino, vale la pena

These were the first films I ever went to see. That was 60 years ago.Brought back many memories.

Great telling of the life of Nicolo Paganini centering on is love life. Stewart Granger does an adequate job of faking the playing while Yehudi Menuhin plays the actual virtuosic passages. Full of some great violin music accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra of England. I recommend to music lovers everywhere.