Yesterday's film was actually good. This one, not so much. But Mandrake the Magician, a deservedly unsuccessful TV pilot starring a stage magician, represents a milestone of sorts. It's the only time anybody tried to make a TV show out of what some believe to be the first comic book superhero. Mandrake is not an ordinary stage magician. Oh, no. He's from a magic kingdom. His dad is ancient. His main squeeze, Princess Narda, is from the European land of Cockaigne. His best friend, Lothar, is an African superhero prince. How an African superhero prince got the name Lothar is best taken up with the scriptwriters…

Anyhow, this thing is half an hour, but seems longer, trust me. It's not particularly well done, and reminds us unpleasantly of the kind of World War II spy movie in which the villain says, 'Ve haff vays of making you talk.' Nonetheless, it has some interest. After all, having an African American actor in such a prominent role in 1954 practically amounted to a political statement. And it's not the actors' fault the dialogue is so lame.

Getting 'magicians' – meaning those prestidigitator fellas who keep calling themselves that – onto TV has always been a goal of fans of the pursuit. In the early 1970s, Bill Bixby finally pulled it off for a short run. Once you've giggled over Mandrake, you might want to watch The Magician's pilot episode. Just follow the bouncing Youtube links after the first one. This series, too, is heavy on the fantasy and light on the meaningful content, but the girls are pretty and the magic tricks are authentic. In addition to being an actor, Bixby was a stage magician.

Speaking of 'magic' tricks, you might prefer to see a master at work. Paul Daniels does a great job here of reproducing Robert-Houdin's famous orange tree. It's stately and quite satisfying – and there are no bad guys around, just a nervous security guy from Cartier.