Magic at War

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...

During wartime, cinema remained an extremely popular pastime. In Britain alone, between 25 and 30 million cinema tickets were sold each week.  Movies 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.  The epic American film  Gone With The Wind  (1940) was the smash hit of the war, but British films such as  In Which We Serve  (1942) and  Millions Like Us  (1943) were also highly successful.     Magic-related plots, scenes, or magician characters were a steady feature in films released during World War Two. Here's a selection : The Magician's Daughter (1938). Playing in British cinemas in the summer of 1939, as war was breaking out across Europe, The Magician's Daughter is a 'movie short' made by MGM Pictures.  Billed as a "miniatu re musical" the title character falls in love with a magaz...

Wars aren't cheap. Put aside the human sacrifice and the social, environmental and political upheaval, there's also the financial cost. For America - and for many other nations - World War Two was their costliest war. The total bill was almost US$5 trillion (adjusted for today's prices). And, given that the U.S. didn't join the war until December 1941, this money covered just the 3 years and 9 months of their involvement. Great Britain and other nations endured six years of war. While the government might wish to hire a load of magicians to make money appear, that wouldn't work in reality. But, many magicians were employed to make money during the war. Here's how... One way that modern governments finance war, is by putting additional money into circulation. In effect, printing money ('magic money'?). But, putting lots of money into an economy will drive up inflation. To compensate for this, governments sell debt securities, known as war bonds. The funct...