Friday, July 17, 2015

BREAKING: TCM WILL AIR 'THE GRIM GAME' ON OCTOBER 18

"I'm on my way!"

Here's the news we've all been waiting for! TCM will air their restoration of Houdini's The Grim Game on Sunday, October 18 at 8:00 PM (ET) and again at 11:45 PM (ET). The movie will be part of a special evening of "Lost and Found" silent films, which will also include the recently discovered 1916 Sherlock Holmes starring William Gillette.

This news was fished out of the TCM advanced schedule by our great friend Meredith Secaur. Thank you, Meredith!

For those who might not have been following, the last known print of The Grim Game was acquired by TCM last year from collector Larry Weeks. It was restored and premiered at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood in March. It has since screened at a handful of theatrical venues. October 18th will mark its television debut.

Needless to say, mark your calendars!



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19 comments:

  1. Thanks for the kudos, John. I am totally geeking out about finally getting to see both films; Christmas is definitely coming early for me this year!

    -Meredith

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    1. Thank you again, Meredith, for fishing this out! I checked and it now shows the air-date on TCM's Grim Game page. It didn't last time I checked, which was just a few days ago. So this just went up. You must be psychic. :)

      Also what a treat that Sherlock Holmes is airing the same night. I'm super excited to see that.

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  2. Ha. I'm not psychic, just obsessive. I can't help thinking that Houdini would have loved television and how it's made entertainment more readily available to the public; how fitting that his most rarely-seen film is to be broadcast nation-wide.

    -Meredith

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    1. I remember when I learned about all this on Halloween of last year, I thought how in a years time The Grim Game could go from Houdini's least seen film to his MOST seen film. In fact, for many, it will be the first and only Houdini film they'll ever see. Now it's happening. :)

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  3. That photo in the post says it all. TGG is on its way to television.

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    1. Indeed!

      BTW, Joe, there was a small news article specifically about this under the truck stunt. Houdini says something about it being the most dangerous stunt in the movie. I thought it was in the pressbook, but it isn't. Where the heck did I see that? Was it on your site?

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    2. http://harryhoudinicircumstantialevidence.com/?p=1884

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    3. Ah ha! That's it. Thanks, Joe.

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  4. John Hinson great nephew of Bess and Harry HoudiniJuly 18, 2015 at 4:25 AM

    It would be nice to see all the Houdini movies, that week,wilh a great ending.

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    1. A Houdini film festival! That could be fun. I'm having one of those at the moment here at home. Just watched Terror Island and I'm working my way through The Master Mystery.

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  5. Hot news! Thanks for covering this beat so well!

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    1. It's a great beat to cover! What a year it's been so far.

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  6. Bout time, man!

    That was HH doing his version of Raiders of the Lost Ark. You know that scene where Harrison Ford is under that truck? Never mind...

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    1. Indeed! But Harry did it first and, insanely enough, for real.

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  7. Yes, it certainly looks real. I believe the prop team added that bar under the truck so that HH could comfortably hang on underneath it. Not unlike the special gimmicks made for Douglas Fairbanks to make his stunts actually possible and look graceful in his costume films.

    In Son of Zorro he had a long stairway built with the banisters fairly close together so that he could slide down on them with his hands. A long curtain in Robin Hood had a large slide underneath so Fairbanks could slide down gracefully on it. I read somewhere that between takes, Fairbanks would slide down the curtain like a schoolyard kid and began wearing out the material.

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  8. Fantastic news! Cheers.

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  9. Hello!

    I used to be a HH junkie, watching any clip I could find and reading up on everything you guys so graciously provided for us, but I have been out of the loop on all the Houdini Happenings for a few years now (shame on me!).

    Please forgive my choosing to comment on something a year old.. Because of my absence, I missed the news of TGG's restoration and premiere on TCM (I tried their website but the video player seems to malfunction for me for some reason).

    Is there any news of another showing or perhaps a DVD release? I would very much like to watch this film in its entirety.

    Thank you for your time and for all these years of HH goodness!

    - HM, a returning HH Fan

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    1. Welcome back to the fold, HM!

      Unfortunately, there is no news on a repeat showing or a DVD. Nada! If I hear anything, I will certainly let everyone here know.

      I'm surprised and disappointed that we don't yet have a DVD. Almost feels like the film is lost...again.

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  10. Thank you, Mr. Cox. It's good to be back! There's so much new stuff to read up on, I am overwhelmed - but in a good way! I surely did miss the magic man (and you wonderfully knowledgeable people!).

    We never spoke directly as far as I can recall, as I was always a lurker around here with nothing really to contribute to the community, but I am nonetheless appreciative and respectful of the collective work that goes into bringing forward all the HH news. Thank you a thousand times!

    I do hope the film is released sometime soon. Gosh, it would be such a treat to add the complete film to my Kino set, haha.

    Thank you again for your time!

    - HM

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