The dazzlingly handsome Stewart Granger is at least physically well cast as the charismatic 18th century violinist Paganini. The fact that the illusion explodes whenever he opens his mouth mattered not at all to Granger's legions of British female fans. Luckily for the screenwriters, Paganini was as celebrated for his many love affairs as for his musical accomplishments, so it wasn't necessary to cook up a romantic plotline from whole cloth. The actual Paganini solos are performed by Yehudi Menuhin, and in this respect (and this respect only) the film is worthwhile. Magic Bow was another guilty pleasure from Gainsborough Productions, England's principal purveyor of bodice-ripping romances.
