Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Best movie ever!

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

(63%) A quite quaint dramatisation of one of the first ever inventors of a camera with motion capture capability. The story itself is one of quite strong sadness as poor old Friese-Green struggling to keep his, and his families, head above water while he works away below stairs on his invention. Everything is as you'd expect from a well made early 50's British movie with a capable cast with a few big names making an appearance, and it is quite an insight into the inner workings of late Victorian/Edwardian photography and life in general. Anyone with interest in either early cinema or British classics (or both) should give this a hunt down.

My wife and I enjoyed the movie immensely. As a former projectionist at Macquarie University in Sydney who was supposed to be taught 35 and even 70 mm projection I was wondering what size that film was that Willie came up with. Looked about 140mm to me!! I related to his excitement in dragging the Bobby in in the middle of the night to see his 'pieste resistance' pardon my spelling. I believe all of us who are creators of some kind or other are like Willie..all forgetful and obsessed with the project at hand. I appreciate the other reviewer in straightening it out for us about the second marriage which we knew must have happened from the beginning of the movie, but never got aired again throughout. I would be interested in the missing fifteen minutes spoken of by the other reviewer as well. I presume the movie we are now seeing is a colourised version - not sure how long ago that was re touched. I am surprised seeing the movie has been re processed that Sub titles were not added as we could have understood Willie a lot more and even some of the other very fast speakers as well. maybe down the road someone will decide to add subtitles..if they do PLEASE make it in Region 2 or 4 thanks.

Superb film often overlooked when we talk about the accomplishments of the late Robert Donat. Donat proved to be a fine character actor and too bad that he died so early; otherwise, there would have been more brilliant performances in store for him.This film is the autobiography of William Friese Greene, who by the account of this fine film, made the moving picture literally move by camera.The film is splendidly detailed and boasted a cast of every well known British star of that period.If you blink an eye, you don't realize that the film goes back to his first marriage. Notice that nothing is really said about what happened to his children from both marriages.Friese Greene was a kindly, devoted inventor who should never have married. He allowed his work to neglect his responsibilities as a husband and father. The man was a dreamer and Donat captured every movement of that dream.This was certainly a stellar film.

A first-class actor ,playing a character from his youth to an old man,with the same talent:he is as convincing as the mischievous boy who takes photographs unbeknown to his boss as the old man who tries to save the seventh art from the moneychangers in the Temple . The film has an unusually inventive construction:it is roughly made of two flashbacks ,but the first one takes place after the second one."The magic box" tells the story of a pioneer of the cinema who died in dire straits ("that's the price for a seat for pictures" )His destiny resembles that of Georges Méliès who ended his life selling candies in a railway station and who never complained about his fate.Geniuses often die unnoticed.The cinematography is splendid with tasteful colors ,the dialog does not forget humor (Donat:"Enjoy yourselves!Schell:"We're going to the church!!"),and there are very powerful scenes:the concert where Schell sings a moving solo "Where is he?I know not!I know not!";an ecstatic Donat showing his film to a constable .The cast is incredibly various and includes such luminaries as Laurence Olivier,Margaret Rutherford,Peter Ustinov,Stanley Holloway and more ,all in supporting parts or even often cameos.How prophetic the pioneer's last words were!