Black Magic is a 1949 Italian–American adventure drama film directed by Gregory Ratoff and starring Orson Welles, Nancy Guild and Akim Tamiroff.

Things begin to go downhill when he enters a plot to substitute a young girl called Lorenza for Queen Marie Antoinette along with gypsies Gitano and Zoraida.

[6] Writer Charles Bennett mentioned that José Ferrer was also approached play the lead, but he demanded a three-picture contract from Small who refused.

French producer Henry de Saint-Girons announced his version in April 1946, to be directed in color by Robert Péguy from a script by Pierre Maury.

But the modest production, to be filmed at the small Château de Vieux Moulin in Nièvre, was quickly abandoned due to logistical problems (see The Marriage of Ramuntcho).

[7] André Paulvé of the better-heeled DisCina relaunched the idea a few months later, based on a new script by André-Paul Antoine.

[8][9] Mid-April 1947, he announced from New York that he had secured an agreement to proceed with the film, to be directed by Francesco De Robertis in partnership with his usual Italian partners Scalera.

[12] In the same month, Greg Ratoff revealed that he had signed on to helm Small's version, also slated to film in the summer.

[14][15] The American producer thus announced the relocation of his production to Scalera Studios, effectively taking over the concurrent project planned there.

[18] While he could use American assets that had been frozen by the Italians during World War II, the bulk of his savings came from the cheaper workforce.

Each of the thousand wigs ordered by production cost 20 percent of their American equivalent, while dresses that would run between $3000 and $5000 there were procured for $700 each.

[21] Another perk offered by Italy was the authentic locations that could be woven into the film, such as the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Villa d'Este gardens and the Santi Nereo e Achilleo church.

[14] When the footage came back from Italy, it was deemed unreleasable and Bennett was summoned to write new scenes, which he directed himself at United Artists over four nights.

In issue 62 of Superman from January–February 1950, Welles discovers a Martian invasion (reminiscent of his famous War of the Worlds broadcast) during the filming of Black Magic, and teams with the titular superhero to thwart it.