Directed by:
John BoultingScreenplay:
Eric AmblerCinematography:
Jack CardiffComposer:
William AlwynCast:
Renée Asherson, Robert Donat, Maria Schell, Richard Attenborough, Edward Chapman, Henry Edwards, Robert Flemyng, Leo Genn, Joyce Grenfell, Kathleen Harrison (more)Plots(1)
Adapted by Eric Ambler from the controversial biography by Ray Allister, Magic Box contends that Friese-Greene was the true father of motion pictures, and not such upstarts as W. K. L. Dickson and Thomas Edison. Told in flashback, the film details Friese-Greene's tireless experiments with the "moving image," leading inexorably to a series of failures and disappoints, as others hog the credit for the protagonist's discoveries. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
![Eric Portman](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/030/247/30247421_c52cae.jpg)
Eric Portman
UK
Best movies:
Freud (1962)
The Bedford Incident (1965)
The Magic Box (1951)
![Dennis Price](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/272/272656_7a80e3.jpg)
Dennis Price
UK
Best movies:
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
The V.I.P.s (1963)
Ten Little Indians (1965)
![Michael Redgrave](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/505/505326_dbf968.jpg)
Michael Redgrave
UK
Best movies:
The Hill (1965)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
The Browning Version (1951)
![Margaret Rutherford](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/387/164387829_dc663a.jpg)
Margaret Rutherford
UK
Best movies:
Trouble in Store (1953)
The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)
The Smallest Show on Earth (1957)
![John Stuart](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/271/271479_6cecbc.jpg)
John Stuart
UK
Best movies:
The Magic Box (1951)
Superman (1978)
Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
![Ernest Thesiger](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/271/271467_50e517.jpg)
Ernest Thesiger
UK
Best movies:
Father Brown (1954)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The Million Pound Note (1954)
David Tomlinson
UK
Best movies:
The Water Babies (1978)
Mary Poppins (1964)
The Magic Box (1951)
![Peter Ustinov](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/163/315/163315852_48afc9.jpg)
Peter Ustinov
UK
Best movies:
The French Revolution (1989) (TV movie)
Spartacus (1960)
Jesus of Nazareth (1977) (TV movie)
![Harcourt Williams](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/726/159726587_9dffce.jpg)
Harcourt Williams
UK
Best movies:
Roman Holiday (1953)
Hamlet (1948)
The Magic Box (1951)
![Joan Hickson](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/276/276194_0e05b2.jpg)
Joan Hickson
UK
Best movies:
Trouble in Store (1953)
The Million Pound Note (1954)
The Man Who Never Was (1956)
![Janette Scott](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/421/421424_cbba06.jpg)
Janette Scott
UK
Best movies:
The Devil's Disciple (1959)
The Magic Box (1951)
School for Scoundrels (1960)
![Googie Withers](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/000/159000272_2bebe1.jpg)
Googie Withers
Best movies:
Shine (1996)
Night and the City (1950)
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
![William Hartnell](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/488/488786_2c12cc.jpg)
William Hartnell
UK
Best movies:
Footsteps in the Fog (1955)
This Sporting Life (1963)
The Mouse That Roared (1959)
![Barry Jones](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/479/161479175_c4b11f.jpg)
Barry Jones
UK
Best movies:
Plymouth Adventure (1952)
War and Peace (1956)
Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
![Emlyn Williams](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/099/533/99533912_2b1963.jpg)
Emlyn Williams
UK
Best movies:
The Citadel (1938)
The Wreck Of The Mary Deare (1959)
The Magic Box (1951)
![Marius Goring](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/157/948/157948875_266d72.jpg)
Marius Goring
UK
Best movies:
The Red Shoes (1948)
Holocaust (1978) (series)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
![Garry Marsh](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/307/158307319_313292.jpg)
Garry Marsh
UK
Best movies:
The Magic Box (1951)
Dead of Night (1945)
Number Seventeen (1932)
![Michael Hordern](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/527/161527020_25ef13.jpg)
Michael Hordern
UK
Best movies:
Gandhi (1982)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
Shogun (1980) (series)
![Mary Ellis](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/464/158464095_85cbd5.jpg)
Mary Ellis
USA
Best movies:
The Magic Box (1951)
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960)
The Eligible Bachelor (1993) (TV movie)
![Richard Murdoch](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/538/158538401_5c6526.jpg)
Richard Murdoch
UK
Best movies:
The Magic Box (1951)
Whoops Apocalypse (1986)