The Master Cheaters
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Like vaudeville itself, the magic profession was dealt a stiff blow when the first movies appeared. The big stage illusionists, mind readers, escapists, and peddlers of other mirrored trickeration were suddenly in competition with a miraculous spectacle on screens from coast to coast: A light flickering through a loop of film could conjure any thing or action found under the sun, from cowboys robbing a train to Russian sailors mutinying on the Potemkin.
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