The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam

Running time: N/A

He trained Laurel and Hardy and Orson Wells, he opened for the Marx Brothers, and he was publicly admired by George Burns and Ed Sullivan. Even Harry Houdini tried to recruit him for his exclusive inner circle. A brilliant acrobat and magician, Chinese-born Long Tack Sam was one of the greatest international vaudeville acts of all time. Trained from childhood in the ancient art of necromancy, Long Tack Sam married an Austrian shop girl and fathered three Eurasian children at a time when interracial marriage was rare. For over forty years, he traveled the world dazzling audiences with magic, acrobatic feats, ancient mysticism, comedy, and his beautiful and talented daughters. His narrow escapes from persecution during the world wars and his brushes with Hollywood fame are the stuff of legends. Director Anne Marie Fleming travels the globe to unearth the remarkable story of her great-grandfather and discover the reasons behind his disappearance from the annals of popular culture. What she discovers is a tale full of myth, magic, romance and near misses. The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam is a delightful, visual feast that uniquely blends different animation styles with actual footage to tell the story of a truly extraordinary man while evoking a wonderful, but forgotten, era. - Meredith Sherter Benston Preceded by: Confection (Eva Saks, 5min, 35mm, USA). A delicious short film about a little girl who learns empathy from a pastry.