User Reviews

"The Magic Bow" is a fictional account of the famous adult years of Italian composer and musician Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840). The movie is part musical biography, part romance, and part history. With some nice touches of light comedy, it's a very enjoyable film.

The comedy fits, considering the life and character of Paganini. While he had a reputation as a womanizer and gambler, he was something of a flamboyant performer. He was known to purposely break strings on his violin and then go on to play superbly. A scene in the movie shows two strings breaking and then his playing a number on just two strings.

Nicolo was a true musical genius with natural talent. No one could match him in his day on the violin. His advanced techniques have influenced violin virtuosi since then. But his musical genius far surpassed what this film portrays. He also mastered the cello and guitar, and composed music. Something else the film doesn't show was his acquaintance with prominent composers of the day, and his guest conducting for them at times. All that was in the later part of his life.

While the romance in this film with Jeanne de Vermond, and the contest of his winning the violin are fictional, they resemble some actual details in his life. A number of the other things the film shows actually happened, but at different times and places. His biography in the Encyclopedia Britannica doesn't mention a duel. A wealthy French trader lent him a Guarneri violin to play a concert. After hearing Paganini play, the merchant gave him the violin. In real life, Nicolo pawned his violin to pay a gambling debt. He did have a long relationship with the singer, Antonia Bianchi, and they had a son out of wedlock. His son, Achilles, toured with him later.

The character Luigi Germi, who becomes his manager in the film, is fictional. Nicolo's father taught him the mandolin as a young child and then started him on the violin by the age of seven. With his natural talent, he quickly surpassed all of his successive instructors in ability. His father traveled with him to get him started in his regional performances around Italy. Italy then consisted of several city-states, small monarchies and republics. He made his European tour of all the major capitals in 1828-1831, when he was age 46-49. After that, he toured England and Scotland and became wealthy.

The historical aspects involving Napoleon and the French annexation of part of Italy occurred as noted in the movie. For a few years, Nicolo was music director and violinist for the Baciocchi court at Lucca and then Florence. Elisa Baciocchi was Napoleon's sister. In 1827, Pope Leo XII made Nicolo a knight of the Order of the Golden Spur. Other great artists have been so knighted. They include painters Raphael (1483-1520) and Titian (1490-1576), sculptor Bartolomeo Cavaceppi (1716-1799), and composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). The latter at age 14.

In 1833, Nicolo settled in Paris where he opened a casino. After it failed, he sold all his instruments to pay his debts. He had health problems in his later years. He quite performing in 1834 and moved to Marseilles and then to Nice, France. He died there in 1840 at age 58.

Apparently, Gainsborough had difficulty with the script in making this movie. The editing does show a little disconnectedness. But the production overall is very good. The acting is superb by all the main characters – Stewart Granger as Nicolo, Phyllis Calvert as Jeanne de Vermond, Jean Kent as Bianchi, and Cecil Parker as Luigi Germi. The camera work is outstanding, especially in showing Granger playing the violin. Granger had two instructors and does a remarkable job in appearing to play the music we hear. And of course, that music is divine. Famed American-born British violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999) recorded the music for the film.

This film is superb just for the music. But with an interesting story, a little bit of history and a superb cast, it's an outstanding film. It's a fair look at one of the great musical geniuses and outstanding violinists of all time.

Here are some favorite lines from the film. For more, see the Quotes section on the IMDb Web page of the movie.

Niccolo, "Forgive me; I'm in a bad temper." Jeanne, "Perhaps I could cure it." Nicolo, "I believe you could."

Nicolo, "Nicolo Paganini play in the street?" Jeanne, "Oh, at the time there would be nobody about to hear you." Nicolo, "No one to hear me? Musicians play to be heard, Mademoiselle."

Nicolo, "The name is Paganini, jailbird."

Nicolo, "With the violin, I can talk to the world. By God's will."

Luigi Germi, "Nicolo, what's the matter? You find the laurels harder to gain than you imagined?" Nicolo, "Germi. I'm a fool." Luigi Germi, "Good, it takes most of us a lifetime to realize that."

Jeanne, "Tell me, do all people who play the violin divinely have such bad tempers?" Nicolo, "Who else do you know who plays the violin divinely as I do?" Jeanne, "Nobody darling. Nobody."

Luigi Germi, "Nicolo Paganini, a knight?" Cardinal, "Exactly!" Luigi Germi, "I must be a much better manager than I realized."

Nicolo, "Your holiness. With your permission I should now like to play a piece of music which came to me when I needed a prayer, and which is especially near to my heart." Pope Leo, "Play my son. Your prayer may just be answered."