Carnival Magic

Carnival Magic (1983)

A magician in a carnival--who actually can read minds and levitate people and objects--works with a superintelligent chimp named Alex, who can also talk. The magician and the chimp soon become the stars of the carnival, drawing in big crowds. However, the wild-animal trainer, who has been displaced by the team as the carnival's top act, decides to kidnap Alex and sell him to a medical laboratory for experimentation, thereby getting rid of his competition.

Date of release
1983-03-04
TMDB
2.9 / 10 (38)
Runtime
1h 26m
Genres
Drama, Fantasy, Family
Director
Al Adamson

Casting

Interesting facts

Carnival Magic is a 1983 American children's film directed by Al Adamson and starring Don Stewart. It was produced by Krypton Productions.

Background

Principal photography took place for the film over the span of three weeks in July 1980 in Gaffney, South Carolina, during that city's South Carolina Peach Festival. Many of the scenes in Gaffney were shot at the peach festival's carnival, its parade, and in a second parade staged for the movie. Additional work for the film was done at the Earl Owensby Studios in Shelby, North Carolina.

Producer Elvin Feltner and director Al Adamson intended the film as family fare, aimed at children, and it was in fact given a G rating by the MPAA. However, the prevalence of adult themes (alcoholism, sex, abuse, violence) left many viewers confused. The film premiered at the Crosscreek Cinemas in Greenwood, South Carolina, on March 4, 1983, and was also shown in other theatres in the region beginning on that date.

This was the last acting role for Regina Carrol, who was married to director Adamson and featured in several of his films. Philip Morris, a real-life ringmaster, magician, and costume maker, appears as a carnival barker. This was also one of Adamson’s last two films before retiring from the film industry and pursuing a career in real estate.

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

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