Thursday, November 14, 2019

Mysterious Houdini footage now mysteriously gone


At the beginning of this year, thirty remarkable minutes of largely unseen Houdini footage appeared on a YouTube channel run by someone called "Sleight of Direction". The clip was titled "Various TV Magic Clips from the US - 1970s to before." The video description didn't even mention Houdini, and when I asked about this, I received an odd reply to my comment:

"Yeah, I noticed that when the video was first uploaded. But the majority of my viewers are exclusive fans of sawings/slicings/zig zags/twister/compressors/selbits illusions, so didn't think it'll be of any interest. However, it's good to know fans of other illusions exist."

It now appears this channel and video are gone. I can't say I'm surprised. There was something strange about this user, and I'm wondering if any of this footage was ever theirs to share. (I continue to think these clips may have somehow come from the late Bill McIlhany's collection.)

While the quality was poor, the footage was amazing! (I've detailed it in the original post.) I did save the footage and can upload it to my own YouTube channel and re-link it. But I don't want to step on any toes.

If anyone knows the story behind this, please email me. Thanks.

UPDATE: I decided to go for it and upload select clips to my own YouTube channel and have embedded those clips HERE. Enjoy.

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12 comments:

  1. For the love of everything that is holy, UPLOAD IT! :)

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    1. Haha. I'd love to, I just want to proceed with caution. I don't want to get my channel zapped. I have a lot of embedded videos on this blog connected to it.

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  2. Always better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Please upload!

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  3. Put it up over the weekend for those who are interested and take it down
    D AND D

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  4. If you suspect some of the footage comes from the McIhany archive, perhaps someone at Magicana can confirm?

    If that goes nowhere, I wonder who - if anyone - owns the footage? I can understand the hesitation to post. Even just posting edited snippets of the full video could be risky.

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    Replies
    1. I've reached out to David Ben. If they don't recognize this, and if someone else doesn't lay claim, then I will probably share, or at least share selections (like the visiting Gladys clip). But my real wish is to see these clips shared in the best quality that exists, so I'm hoping someone has that.

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    2. I emailed with David Ben at Magicana who said they've yet to go through all their film and tape, but they have a lot labeled Houdini and Hardeen. But he is fine with me sharing this. Here's hoping they do have this in better quality, and maybe more footage no one has ever seen!

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  5. I have the footage too...glad I downloaded it!

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  6. Oh no...my discovery is gone. Just glad John saved it. The Houdini footage really is truly remarkable. Probably the only film footage of Gladys in existence.

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    1. This was indeed your discovery and an amazing start to the year! Unless I get waved off, I likely will upload some of these clips to my own YouTube and share in a new post.

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  7. I've resolved that I will upload and share selections from this video, but give me a week or so to work it all up.

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    Replies
    1. That's wonderful news! I haven't seen any of this footage since it first appeared. I'd love a revisit.

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