The Magic Bow

The Magic Bow (1946)

Biography of the famous Italian violinist Nicola Paganini which focuses as much on the musician's romances as it does on his craft. Phyllis Calvert plays Jeanne de Vermond, the aristocratic French woman who captures Paganini's heart, and real-life violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin supplies the breathtaking Paganini solos.

Date of release
1946-11-25
TMDB
5.8 / 10 (9)
Runtime
1h 46m
Genres
Music, Drama, Romance
Director
Bernard Knowles

Casting

Interesting facts

The Magic Bow is a 1946 British musical film based on the life and loves of the Italian violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini. It was directed by Bernard Knowles. The film was entered into the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.

Production

The film was based on a 1941 book. Maurice Ostrer announced the project in July 1945.

The lead role was offered to James Mason who was excited to accept it and started practising the violin. However, when he read the script, he was disappointed to find it focused on Paganini's love life and turned it down. The part went to Stewart Granger.

Yehudi Menuhin was hired to perform the violin solos heard in the film. He arrived in London in May 1945 to record the tracks. In August it was announced Stewart Granger would play the lead role as part of his last two films for Gainsborough Pictures; the other project was Caravan. Phyllis Calvert was to be his co-star. Filming had to be postponed due to an illness to Phyllis Calvert, so Caravan was rushed into production and made first.

Phyllis Calvert's character was fictitious, a composite of various women who had helped Paganini.

The character of Bianca, the Italian singer, was real. Margaret Lockwood was originally announced to play the role, but was replaced by Jean Kent. Lockwood wrote in her memoirs that she felt it was "a very poor and unsuitable role... I was so offended by the script that, although I was under contract, I had made up my mind I would not accept it." At the suggestion of Phyllis Calvert they went to see J. Arthur Rank, who neither had met.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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