Monday, February 16, 2026

"An Open Letter to Harry Houdini"

Repost from May 13, 2022, with an update.

Here's a curiosity from the September 11, 1925 Pittsburg Post. I'd love to know whether this "Open Letter" was the Aldine Theater manager's idea alone, or if he and Houdini cooked it up together as a nice bit of cross-promotion. Houdini was performing his "3 Shows in One" at the Alvin Theater in Pittsburgh this week.

The Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 11, 1925

Did Houdini take Mr. Sidney up on his offer? Afraid I don't know the answer, but I'm sure the medium-debunking theme of the movie would have met with his approval.


Despite being a work by Dracula and Freaks director Tod Browning, today, Wikipedia calls The Mystic "a little-known film with a cast of now-forgotten names."

UPDATE: The Mystic has now been released on Blu-ray as part of a special 3-film set of Tod Browning films that includes Freaks (1932) and The Unknown (1927). Below is a review from one of my favorite YouTubers. He does long and very technical reviews. The Mystic is the first of the three films he reviews.  Learning more about the plot, this certainly does seem to be a film that would have interested Houdini, and one he would have supported.


You can buy Tod Browning's Sideshow Shockers on Blu-ray and DVD at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

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5 comments:

  1. Leo HeviaMay 14, 2022 at 9:43 AM

    This looks like it should have been a private letter, unless Mr. Sidney was promoting the film.

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    1. John CoxMay 14, 2022 at 10:49 AM

      Oh, I think this is all about promoting the film at his theater. I just wonder if this was his idea or something he and Houdini cooked up together as it works to promote them both.

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    2. Leo HeviaMay 14, 2022 at 11:45 AM

      Mutual promotion has always been the order of the day. As for the film, it went quietly into the night. Hollywood can't predict a runaway hit so they throw a lot on the wall and see what sticks.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2026 at 9:16 AM

    Looks very much like a letter for promotional purposes...especially for "The Mystic" which may have needed all the promo it could get.
    There were at least 2 different mentalists that had also used the name, "Zara" that the film's mystic went by.
    It is on youtube (click link below)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnyig3sqyHM&pp=ygUKdGhlIG15c3RpYw%3D%3D

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    1. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2026 at 9:19 AM

      The above link won't open, but you can still see it going to youtube.

      Delete