NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

JohnHowardReid Narrated by William L. Shirer. A Columbia Picture. Copyright 27 September 1951 by Columbia Pictures Corp. New York opening at the Criterion: 30 September 1951. U.S. release: September 1951. U.K release: 31 March 1952. Australian release: 27 June 1952. 92 minutes. The full-length 92-minutes version was released only in Australia. In the U.K. and the U.S.A., the movie was cut by 4 minutes, eliminating the Neville Chamberlain sequence.SYNOPSIS: William L. Shirer, foreign correspondent, is told the following story by a strange woman (Mrs Janus). Janus the Great, a brilliant impersonator, was once the most popular man on the Viennese stage; when the Nazis took over Austria, his wife left him to live with the Fuehrer, and he was sent to a concentration camp. He escaped in disguise, tricked his way into Hitler's service as a valet, killed the dictator and took his place; as the false Hitler, he purposely — by insisting on unwise military and political decisions — led Germany to defeat. In the hour of final defeat, in an underground shelter in Berlin, he revealed his true identity to his faithless wife and escaped to resume his old identity. (Hitler's body was never found).COMMENT: A really weird movie. Independently made in Austria by Mort Briskin and Robert Smith, it was picked up for distribution by Columbia as an exploitation item. Those expecting the real dirt on Hitler were doubtless disappointed, but people like myself looking for a way- out, unusual or preposterous entertainment found this "historical" ratbaggery amusingly off-beat.With its larger-than-life performances, its candidly goofy impersonation plot, its victim-of-the-blacklist director, and even in its somewhat amateurish technical deficiencies such as the jarring juxtaposition of studio and obvious newsreel footage, "The Magic Face" has all the qualities required of a first-class cult movie. I can only wonder why it has never been taken up by the corduroy set and reaped a financial bonanza for its present copyright owners around university campuses.

pdbarber I'm in my 70's. I saw this movie once somewhere when I was very young, maybe 20 - 25 years old. I searched for years to get the name of the movie until finally a movie reviewer in New York City identified it for me. I have searched at least another 10 0r 15 years to find some way to see it again. Finally, I got to watch it on my computer screen in 7 jerky parts on YouTube. It was still fascinating. One of the reviewers said he was able to buy a copy. Does anyone know where one can buy a copy in VHS or DVD? I have described this movie to dozens of people. Some of them in the film business but none have been able to come up with a copy. Does anyone know why this movie is being denied to the public? Or better question, where I can buy a copy?

melreid As i remember it, it was presented as a true story, according to the introduction. It is the only story of Hitler's life that explained many of the unexplained changes that happened during the war. It was very interesting and would love to obtain a copy of this movie for my own collection.

viper-31 Very interesting story set around Hitler and a magician and his beautiful wife. Intriguing story which is a very thought provoking possibility as to why Hitler changed tactics during World War II. We wish this movie was available on video so that we could view it again after all these years.