Black Magic (1949) - (Movie Clip) An Insolent, Devil May Care Vagabond

Black Magic (1949) -- (Movie Clip) He Hypnotized Half The World!

Producer Edward Small wringing every drop of historical gravitas from his even-then out-of-copyright literary source, Gregory Ratoff directing Berry Kroeger and Raymond Burr as Dumas père and fils, opening Black Magic, 1949, starring Orson Welles.

Black Magic (1949) -- (Movie Clip) His Cunning Gypsy Mind

We know from narration (by Berry Kroeger as Alexandre Dumas) that gypsy Balsamo (Orson Welles) is a prodigiously gifted hypnotist, seen here just after he’s been discovered and bailed out of a Vienna jail by the professionally interested Dr. Mesmer (Charles Goldner), in Black Magic, 1949.

Black Magic (1949) -- (Movie Clip) Long Live Cagliostro!

Gifted gypsy Balsamo (Orson Welles) has just learned that his powers of hypnotism will have great currency in European society, his crew (Akim Tamiroff, Valentina Cortese) enthralled as Berry Kroeger in the voice of Alexandre Dumas narrates his ascendance, in Black Magic, 1949.

Black Magic (1949) -- (Movie Clip) The Words Within Your Own Soul

Now renowned throughout Europe, hypnotist “Cagliostro” (Orson Welles) has just recognized his parents’ murderer (Stephen Bekassy), who needs him to revive catatonic Lorenza (Nancy Guild), in whose flashback we meet handsome Gilbert (Frank Latimore), Gregory Ratoff directing, in Black Magic, 1949.