The Magic Box
Directed by	John Boulting
Produced by	Ronald Neame
Written by	Ray Allister and Eric Ambler
Starring	Robert Donat Margaret Johnston Maria Schell Robert Beatty
Music by	William Alwyn
Cinematography	Jack Cardiff
Editing by	Richard Best
Distributed by	British Lion Films
Release date(s)	1951
Running time	118 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Magic Box is a British film released in 1951.

Description

The Magic Box was a project of the Festival of Britain in 1951. It gave a biographic account of William Friese-Greene, who first designed and patented a working cinematic camera. The accuracy of this claim is subject to some controversy, but evidence now tends to support the claim. The film was notable for its cast: many well-known British film actors appeared in it as 'bit-part' cameos (see below). The film was completed and shown just before the end of the Festival, but the general release was not until 1952.

Main cast

• Robert Donat as William Friese-Greene
• Margaret Johnston as Edith Harrison
• Maria Schell as Helena Friese-Greene
• David Oake as Claude Friese-Greene
• Janet Scott as Ethel Friese-Greene
• John Howard Davies as Maurice Friese-Greene
• Robert Beatty as Lord Beaverbrook
• Richard Attenborough as Jack Carter
• Basil Sydney as William Fox Talbot
• Bernard Miles as Cousin Alfred
• Eric Portman as Arthur Collings
• Mary Ellis as Mrs Collings
• Muir Mathieson as Sir Arthur Sullivan
• Joyce Grenfell as Mrs Claire
• Dennis Price as Harold
• Margaret Rutherford as Lady Pond
• Mervyn Johns as Goitz
• Glynis Johns as May Jones

Cameo parts

• Barry Jones as a doctor
• Bessie Love in wedding group
• Cecil Parker at the Connaught Rooms
• David Tomlinson as a Lab Assistant
• Emlyn Williams as a Bank Manager
• Ernest Thesiger as "man"
• Kay Walsh as a receptioness
• Laurence Olivier and Jack Hulbert as Police officers
• Leo Genn as a doctor
• Marius Goring as an estate agent
• Michael Denison as a reporter
• Michael Hordern as the Official Receiver
• Miles Malleson as an orchestra conductor
• Peter Ustinov as an "industry man"
• Sheila Sim as a nursemaid
• Sid James as a police sergeant in storeroom
• Stanley Holloway as a broker's man
• Thora Hird as a housekeeper
• William Hartnell as a Recruiting sergeant
• Ronald Shiner as a fairground barker
• Googie Withers, A. E. Matthews, John McCallum, Patric Holt, Robertson Hare, Richard Murdoch and Sybil Thorndike as sitters

The Magic Box was nominated for two BAFTA Awards in 1952—Best Film and Best British Film.

References

TimeOut Film Guide - published by Penguin Books - ISBN 0-14-029395-7