Word: maelzel
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...German flimflam man named Johann Nepomuk Maelzel appeared in the U.S. and began wowing the natives with his traveling show of mechanical marvels. His treasures included an automated trumpet player, a device called the panharmonicon that could duplicate the sound of a 40-piece orchestra (playing Beethoven) and an elaborate diorama showing the burning of Moscow. But Maelzel's star attraction was a hoax: a chess automaton nicknamed the Turk that took on all comers-and was every bit as talented as the human player cleverly concealed within it. That role was filled by William Schlumberger, an Alsatian hunchback...
...Kingkill has more on its mind than special effects. The two main characters, Schlumberger and Maelzel, lock themselves in a struggle as tense and potentially humiliating as a championship chess match. Maelzel tempts the malformed Schlumberger into his machinery by using Louise Rouault, the wife of a mechanic-assistant, as bait. Eventually, Louise disappears but Schlumberger remains. The Turk frees him from the fear of losing a match publicly and gives him the power to expose Maelzel at any time. For his part, Maelzel exploits Schlumberger's gift for his own profit and dreams of a truly automated player...
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