Magic at War

As the festive season approaches, families around the world will be settling in to watch some classic Christmas movies. Among more modern selections, many will revisit It's a Wonderful Life . Routinely voted to be one of the greatest films of all time, this 1946 film stars American actor James Maitland Stewart (1908-1997).  James Stewart (c1948) (Source: Creative Commons Licence) When Stewart was growing up in Indiana (Pennsylvania, USA) he was good friends with Bill Neff. By his mid-teens, Neff was a budding magician and the pair developed a magic act. They built many of their own tricks and illusions, with help from Stewart's father who ran a hardware store. Stewart interned as Neff's assistant, later becoming a magician in his own right. The pair's magical career was helped, briefly, by magician Jack Gwynne. "He was my first director," Stewart later said. James Stewart (seated) with Bill Neff (Source: Public domain) Another photograph of James Stewart  (lef...

Famed  Nineteenth  Century magician and illusionist, Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin, once wrote, " a magician is an actor playing the part of a magician ".  During wartime, mov ies provided war-weary audiences an escape from the turbulence and sacrifice of war, while also providing an opportunity for nations to boost morale, through government-funded propaganda films.  Some  World War Two-era magicians were also actors, appearing in movies made between 1939-1945 to entertain the public. The most famous of these was James Stewart. Before becoming a world-famous movie star, Stewart started out as an amateur magician, partnering with fellow magician Bill Neff. He was a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and contributed several tricks to magic magazines. Turning to acting, Stewart appeared in more than 90 films, television programmes, and shorts.  He starred in 12 films between 1939-1941, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), It's a Wonde...