The original idea was to put Cruise in the main role but he has decided not to take it?
3rd December 2001
Tom Cruise will develop a British accent for a new film about a Second World War magician.
He is lined up to star in The War Magician.
It is based on the true story of an entertainer who baffled Germans in North Africa with his illusions.
Cruise and his producing partner Paula Wagner have hired Jurassic Park 3 writer Peter Buchman to prepare a script.
5th September 2003
The film was originally set up as a starring
vehicle for Cruise, but he plans to limit himself to producer at this point.
http://www.thezreview.co.uk/comingso...agicianthe.htm
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Jasper Maskelyne
In 1930s Britain, Maskelyne was a star magician, and, when the Second World War broke out, his sleight of hand techniques came in useful during the campaign to beat the German army in north Africa. The Channel 4 programme, Magic at War, part of the Secret History series, tells the astonishing story of how one magician helped defeat Rommel.
In January 1941, General Wavell, commander of British forces in north Africa, created a unit called A Force, which was dedicated to counter-intelligence and deception.
Maskelyne was posted to A Force, where he was able to apply his skills to the task of concealing British forces from German aerial reconnaissance. He assembled a 14-strong group, known informally as the Magic Gang, whose members had had careers in analytical chemistry, electrical engineering and stage set construction.
In 1941, Maskelyne was involved in an elaborate operation which diverted German bombers from the port of Alexandria by setting up a fake harbour in a nearby bay; this involved constructing dummy buildings, a dummy lighthouse and even dummy anti-aircraft batteries which fired thunderflashes. He also made it hard for German bombers to locate the Suez Canal by fitting searchlights with a revolving cone of mirrors, producing a dazzling wheel of spinning light beams nine miles across.
Maskelyne's crowning achievement came in 1942 with his involvement in Operation Bertram, prior to the battle of El Alamein, which turned the tide against the Germans in north Africa.
The attack was to take place near the coast, at the northern end of the German line. Accordingly, at the north of the line 1,000 tanks were camouflaged as lorries, while 30 miles south 2,000 fake tanks were assembled, complete with explosive special effects. To support the illusion, a fake railway line was built; there were even fake radio broadcasts and sound effects to mimic the noise of construction.
Crucially, a fake water pipeline was built to supply the simulated armies. Its progress could easily be tracked from the air by German planes: the trick was to convince the Germans that it would not be ready, and therefore that no attack could begin.
After El Alamein, the Magic Gang disbanded; there were no further wartime coups for Maskelyne. He received no decoration or honour in recognition of the part he played; official accounts of the war in north Africa made little or no mention of him. Already a published author – his 1936 book White Magic told the story of his family – Maskelyne told his side of the story in his 1949 memoir, Magic: Top secret.
http://www.channel4.com/history/micr...es/jasper.html
