It was Lumiere, a Frenchman, not Greene, the Englishman, who invented moving pictures for mass audiences. However, despite this attempt at revisionist history, which has excellent acting and production values, we can forgive the director and writer who tried to make an entertaining motion picture about Greene in 1951. Like Greene himself, this film is a magnificent failure, and a box office flop. However, I found it to be quite entertaining. Films do not necessarily have to tell you the reality of a situation; they just need to be interesting to view. This film is a case in point. Robert Donat, one of my favorite actors, does an admirable job of capturing the compulsive behavior of Mr. Greene. Greene sacrificed his family, friends, and personal life for the sake of invention. In my opinion, that was too high a price to pay to move forward the process of motion pictures. If he could have mastered the art of moderation, he would have had a much more satisfying life. His life is more of a tragedy than a statement of great success. Although it is very interesting to view. Recommended.
Review of The Magic Box
