The Last Performance (1929)

Don't be put off by the "horror" descriptor - this isn't at all a scary film, nor does it intend to be. Conrad Veidt is smashing as the magician deeply in love with his seventeen year old assistant "Julie" (Mary Philbin), whom he wants to marry when she is old enough. Snag is, she doesn't reciprocate. Indeed, she is busy fending off the attentions of his assistant "Buffo" (Leslie Fenton) and is actually in love with his protégé "Mark" (the dashing Fred MacKaye). Now the younger man is a bit of a scoundrel, something not unknown to his magician master "Erik", and the first rule of magic is (or, ought to be, anyway) never mess with a man in love, when you are going to be stuffed into a box for the seven sword trick... We can guess much of the rest, though there are a few twists during the suspensefully directed trial scenes that keep us on our toes. It's a smart film to look at, and some of the magical tricks do make you scratch the top of your head. The unrequited love stuff is a bit too melodramatic for my tastes, but Veidt makes sure the film still works well and I really quite enjoyed it.