The Magus – (1968) only recently available on DVD, screenplay by John Fowles based on his own novel, starring Michael Caine as Nicholas Urfe, Anthony Quinn again portraying a Greek, Maurice Conchis, and Candice Bergen as Lily/Julie. In his attempt to condense his labyrinthine novel into a two-hour movie, Fowles had to make numerous changes, and most were for the worse. Yet there are a few gold nuggets within, such as Conshis’s comment to Nicholas, “God never has to choose, we do.” The principal story begins and ends with T.S. Eliot’s lines from “Little Gidding V” in Four Quartets:

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2006 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Patrick Ivers can be reached via e-mail at .