Movies:
Illusion |
- Rating:
- Genre: Drama
- Movie Type: Melodrama
- Themes: Suicide, Romantic Betrayal
- Director: Lothar Mendes
- Main Cast: Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Nancy Carroll, June Collyer, Kay Francis, Regis Toomey
- Release Year: 1929
- Country: US
- Run Time: 80 minutes
Plot
Carlee Thorpe (Buddy Rogers) and Claire Jernigan (Nancy Carol) enjoy considerable success with their vaudeville magic act. Offstage, Carlee thrives as a solo, performing various bits of sleight-of-hand at fancy society parties. At one such function, he falls in love with Hilt (June Collyer), the daughter of wealthy social-climber Jake Schmidlap (Knute Erickson). Heartbroken, Claire breaks up her act with Carlee and signs on as a "human target" for stage sharpshooter Magus (Rychard Cramer). Her depression deepening over Carlee's affair with Hilda, Claire suicidally replaces Magus' blank pistol cartridges with real bullets, hoping to be killed in the course of their act. Sure enough, Claire ends up being wounded on stage, but when she awakens in the hospital, the repentant Carlee is at her bedside. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideCast
- Charles "Buddy" Rogers - Carlee Thorpe
- Nancy Carroll - Claire Jernigan
- June Collyer - Hilda Schmittlap
- Kay Francis - Zelda Paxton
- Regis Toomey - Eric Schmittlap
Knute Erickson - Jacob Schmittlap; Maude Turner Gordon - Queen of Dalmatia; William Austin - Mr. Z; Frances Raymond - Mrs. Y; Catherine Wallace - Mrs. Z; Eddie Kane - Gus Bloomberg; Michael Visaroff - Equerry; Paul Lukas - Count Fortuny; Rychard Cramer - Magus; Bessie Lyle - Consuelo; Lillian Roth - Singer; Eugénie Besserer - Mrs. Jacob Schmittlap; Virginia Bruce - Bit Part; Conrad Veidt; J.E. Nash - Mr. X; Anna Magruder - Fat Lady
