The Genii Forum

Is the woman in this video in fact, Suzy Wandas? It would seem so if you read this, but perhaps not, if you read this.

It sure looks like her - and what random blonde Hollywood actress could manipulate cigarettes like that! However according to the article on Wandas by Gabe Fajuri in the September 2000 issue of Magic magazine, Suzy did not come to America untill 18 years after this film was made ... "At the insistence and financial beckoning of Percy Abbott, Suzy first came to the US in 1953. She was brought across the pond as the headlining act of Abbott's Get-Together that year."

So if it's not Suzy Wandas, then who is it?

That is indeed Suzy Wandas! What a treat!!! Remarkable ability and style. Her poise was as wonderful as her manipulations.

Why do you think it is her?

Because it looks just like her so I did some research to be certain before I posted. That is a rare MGM short entitled "Starlit Days at the Lido" and she is credited to be the "cigarette" girl in that scene.

Where is she credited? I cannot find it.

As for her looks, she also looks a lot like Constance Bennett, who is in the movie; but she didn't do magic as far as we know.

The best information we have says that Wandas didn't make her first trip to the USA until the 1950s. While this is not 100 percent certain, it is the best we have so the timeline just doesn't work.

And when I look at Wandas and this gal, I see a slightly different nose. But the eyebrow line is very much the same. So I go back to the known timeline of her life.

http://www.all-about-magicians.com/suzy.html

is where you can see a frame from that scene in the short and it states that it is her.

Sorry, but I'm not seeing that. And I would expect that to appear in her bio if it's true. Furthermore, the bio supports the timeline of when she came to the USA--too late for this film.

While it's possible, I also do not believe (and I think that I mentioned this before, when this first came up and I spent hours looking into it) that the woman in this film is 39 years old, as Wandas would have been when it was made.

I'm still not convinced that it's her.

Sorry but I provided the wrong link! It's this one:

forums.ellusionist.com/showthread.php?92956-Suzy-Wandas-*MAGIC

was the movie filmed in the US?

It appears that it was filmed at MGM Studios in CA.

I began trying to find out who this young woman was about a year ago. I posted on about four forums including this one. A student of Suzy Wandas told me right off it wasn't she.
SO WHO WAS IT? She's either a good magician or well coached. If Genii had been around when "Starlit Days At The Lido" (from MGM 1935) then we'd know because Genii was so plugged in to Hollywood.
I'm going to look up the names of the women I'm not familiar with in the short's IMDB. Maybe I can match up an the young lady's image with one of those names.

I.M. Magician wrote:Sorry but I provided the wrong link! It's this one:

forums.ellusionist.com/showthread.php?92956-Suzy-Wandas-*MAGIC

Given all of the evidence to the contrary, I would not consider that source authoritative or, frankly, even reliable.

While not 100% perfect, neither IMDb nor another film-geek site (links below) lists her in the credits.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0292700/ful ... cl_sm#cast

http://www.aveleyman.com/FilmCredit.aspx?FilmID=29332

Brad Henderson wrote:was the movie filmed in the US?

It was filmed at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

Not sure who it is but at least here's some more information on the subject.

Wikipedia has a page on the Ambassador http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambassador_Hotel_(Los_Angeles)

Looking there I found Jean Harlow's name as a celebrity that frequented the place. Harlow was 24(?) years old at that time. I then googled 'Jean Harlow magic lido' and landed here: http://forums.tcm.com/message.jspa?messageID=7887597 Where they were saying the actress wasn't Harlow but probably Sally Eilers who was 26(?).

Picture of Eilers.http://www.aveleyman.com/FilmCredit.aspx?FilmID=29332 I haven't seen the whole film to know if this screen frame is the only time you see her or not.

Sally Eilers is listed in the credits.

Looking at pictures of Sally Eilers on Google images... it sure looks like that could be her?!

Even though Cliff was 40 years old there I just don't see that actress next to him being 39.

I saw a youtube comment that suggested Marian Chavez, but after seeing her picture here, I don't think so.

The world of magic 'wandas' if it is Susie.

Thank you so much, I'm here all week - try the veal'

I don't know. Give Marian a dye job and shoot her from the other side and it might be her. Both the woman in the film and the photo share a similar facial sheen (to coin a new facial trait).

Here is another clip from the show

Will the real Suzy Wandas please stand up!

This summer in Colon I remember being puzzled by the large Wandas poster on the ceiling in the Abbotts showroom. (I wondered if it might be an act with multiple women named Wanda.) Before now, I had no idea who Suzy Wandas was. I love this thread. Thank you all!

The question came up on Boing-Boing a few days ago. Now it's on Metafilter.

Here's some video of Ms. Wandas about 25 years after the subject film was made (courtesy of Todd Karr's Miracle Factory). It's short, but you get a decent look at her hands. Take a close look at the shape of her hands, particularly the thumb. What say you: The same?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhtn9bIOPhA

Todd Karr's latest "The Eye" column in Genii confirms that this is indeed Suzy Wandas. And that it was not filmed at the Ambassador, but at the Lido Room in the Knickerbocker Hotel.

The video is unavailable now. What a shame! I would like to have seen it!

Here it is Mark ... Suzy Wandas?

Thank you kindly.