A Touch of Magic (1961)

★★★★★ · Wow! Just...wow! · Karma Hawk · 2005-03-29

I was contemplating titling this review "Bewitchingly Bizzare" becaus well it is. This film seems to be a loosely tied together story of a maried couple, but the story is just a front for the producers to throw in as much bizzare stuff as possible. Ok, the story starts off with a man designing a play suddenly a couple bursts onto the model scene he made and start singing, then they for some reason end up in Medievil times and a clown in a sourcers hat appears and traps the woman, the guy fights off her attacker and then a dragon, then after thier defeated poof we're back to modern times where…

★★★★★ · Cue the smoke extinguishers! · Spuzz · 2005-07-27

Almost like 'Design For Dreaming's little neglected brother, 'A Touch Of Magic' is amazingly similar to 'Dreaming', but is not as domesticated as DFD, so therefore loses some of it's appeal there. TOM tries a little too hard in the weird department right off that bat (just what WAS with that damsel in distress production with the dragon) and some of it doesn't really make sense anyways. (Like the dinner party thing). I guess what made DFD work is the whole space cadet science fiction tome to it, where this film you feel they're trying way too hard (notice it's in 35mm and there's credits at…

★★★★★ · Long live the King · Tamlin · 2006-06-15

Did you ever consider that if you scratch the surface of fairytales there is something that we are taught to think of as ugly. Every hero wants two things: a kingdom (Wealth) and a bride (Sex)- yet societies have at all times and places sought to deny people these things, preferring to enslave and castrate the many in the interest of the few - that is to say the few, sophisticated, or cynical enough to see that wealth and sex come not from moral goodness but earthly power. The fairy tale does not surrender or despair but it also does not delude us into accepting our slavery and calling it…

★★★★★ · A Moment in Time · StiversB · 2006-07-26

Some of the other reviewers have criticized the medieval theme of this particular piece of film; I respectfully wish to point out the exact era of this particular creation. This particular film was made at the same time that the "Camelot" craze was sweeping across the United States- popularized by the assertion, who knows if it's actually true or not, that its cast album was popular listening material of the Kennedys. This medieval motif isn't at all out of place for the era- indeed, part of the charm of it is the very distinctive interpretation and creative spin the filmmakers made on such a…

★★★★ · Interesting as a reflection of the early sixties · gl1200phil · 2011-08-10

This is a fun little piece. Yes it's banal and trite, goofy and shallow, and it isn't very effective as a advertisement. It would be easy to watch it and be left scratching your head, trying to figure out what it is and who the sponsors are. IMHO, I think there a couple of reviewers critiquing this, who aren't aware of how to fairly judge a video or anything for that matter! Any time you evaluate something, in order to assess it fairly, you need to evaluate it, WITHIN ITS OWN CONTEXT! This is from 1961. At that time, things like advertising and television, were shallow, overly optimistic and…

★★★★ · A Touch of Magic · Christine Hennig · 2002-12-14

Nuveena's at it again in this sequel to Design for Dreaming. This was made in 1960, near the end of the populuxe era, and you can tellÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ…