The Mad Magician

THE MAD MAGICIAN

The Mad Magician is a 1954 American horror film in 3D, directed by John Brahm and starring Vincent Price, Mary Murphy and Eva Gabor.
It was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures, with a release in 3-D to build on the craze started by films such as House of Wax (1953), which also starred Price.
In fact, it was the first film to be broadcast on television in 3-D.
In the film, a master illusionist (Price) murders his employer after learning the employer tricked him into signing away ownership of every trick he invents, and finds that to avoid being caught for the murder he must kill again and again.

Don Gallico is a master at creating magicians' stage illusions and tries to establish his own stage show as Gallico the Great.
His performance is interrupted mid-show by his employer, Ross Ormond, who has obtained a court injunction to stop him.
Gallico had long ago signed an exclusive contract with Ormond, which secretly gave Ormond ownership of any illusions Gallico might create.
Gallico sets out to get his revenge against those who have wronged him, including Ormond, his ex-wife Claire (who now happens to be Ormond's wife) and magician The Great Rinaldi who is Ormond's business partner and the main beneficiary of Gallico's new magic tricks.
A clever young detective, Lt. Alan Bruce, uses a new identification technique- fingerprints-, to identify the killer.

Seeing Hollywood's version of classic stage illusions makes this movie well worth viewing!