| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Michael Caine | ... | ||
| Anthony Quinn | ... | ||
| Candice Bergen | ... | ||
| Anna Karina | ... | ||
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Paul Stassino | ... |
Meli
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| Julian Glover | ... |
Anton
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Takis Emmanuel | ... |
Kapetan
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George Pastell | ... |
Andreas
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Danièle Noël | ... |
Soula
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| Jerome Willis | ... |
German Officer
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Ethel Farrugia | ... |
Maria
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Andreas Malandrinos | ... |
Goatherd
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George Kafkaris | ... |
2nd Partisan
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Anthony Newlands | ... |
Party Host
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Stack Constantino | ... |
3rd Partisan
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An English teacher arrives on a sleepy Greek island to take up a vacant teaching post. The last man to hold the post committed suicide under mysterious circumstances. Slowly but surely, he is drawn into a bizarre game engineered by a reclusive local magician. The deeper into the game he is drawn, the more he senses danger... yet cannot seem to untangle himself from the fascinating and compelling influence that the game is having on his mind. Written by Jonathon Dabell <barnabyrudge@hotmail.com>
This movie, contrary to the Woody, Allen, is extremely testy and requires that you understand the title. It is only magic if you let it, and try to follow it, rather than just enjoy it as a prank. From that perspective, it really catches you entirely off guard and it cannot be made sense of - kind of like most magic tricks. I saw it in 1968, by accident, and being the type to always be looking for "meaning" to most things, got completely taken in. If you just watch it without trying to find a plot, you see rather quickly, that there is none and none will be found and THAT will drive you and Woody and the previous teacher, mad. I loved it because it got ME, and I did not get IT. Not until years later!