Plot

An illusionist becomes homicidal when his best kept magic secrets are stolen by his rival.

Don Gallico is a master at devising magicians' 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 to provide him with any illusions he might create. Gallico sets out to get his revenge against those who have wronged him, including Ormond, his ex-wife Claire, who happens to be Ormnond's wife and magician The Great Rinaldi who is Ormond's business partner and the main beneficiary or Gallico's new magic tricks. A clever young detective, Lt. Alan Bruce, uses a new identification technique, fingerprints, to identify the killer.—garykmcd

At the turn of the century, Don Gallico, a master at creating stage illusions including of disguises, works at Illusions, Inc. developing these stage illusions for magicians. Catching the performing bug, he has mounted his own magic show using the stage name Gallico the Great, the show paying homage to the magician greats, such as The Great Rinaldi. The show, which he hopes will become successful enough to make its way to Broadway, climaxes with his latest creation, the buzz-sawed woman. But part way through the premier show, he receives a cease and desist order which was initiated by the owner of Illusions, Inc., Ross Ormond, who states that Gallico's contract gives all rights of the illusions Gallico develops to Ormond, effectively putting an end to Gallico's on-stage career permanently even before it begins. This act by Ormond is only the latest issue of dissension between the two, the biggest arguably being Ormond marrying who was Gallico's gold-digger wife, Claire. That dissension turns physical as Gallico ends up murdering Ormond with said buzz-saw. Beyond one close call involving his assistant Karen Lee, Gallico is not only able to hide the fact of the murder, but direct any blame away from himself to others when it appears that something has indeed happened to Ormond. This situation sets up Gallico going on a murder spree with the victims being people he feels have wronged him. One of the questions becomes how far he will go if people he actually likes get too close to discovering the truth, including Karen and her boyfriend, NYPD detective Lt. Alan Bruce.—Huggo