The Magician from Vienna

The action in "The Magician from Vienna" takes place in Vienna in 1777, as the city is going through similar rumors, anxieties and upheavals as Paris where soon the Revolution will change everything. In the nerve centers of power, one reacts rather skittishly to all scandals and sensations of any kind. The Magic Healer Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer is traveling with his black coach through country and cities, heals people for free, and proclaims the coming of a new universal harmony. Vienna's physicians don't like the sound of such talk and action. They are interested in neutralizing Mesmer and his theory of "animal magnetism." During a sting operation, the Secret Police apprehends the young aristocrat Jean-Theo von Vogelauer who makes money by trading girls. The Police forces him to find Mesmer and to eliminate him. But the real catastrophe happens when Mesmer tries to heal a blind woman with his magic powers...