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| Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library |
The year 2026 marks the centennial of legendary escapologist and magician Harry Houdini’s death. In recognition of his amazing life and the Library for the Performing Arts’ current exhibition Mystery & Wonder: a Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York, we will screen his 1919 silent film The Grim Game with live piano accompaniment by Makia Matsumura. Houdini plays an intrepid young journalist framed for murder after falling in love with a winsome ingénue played by Ann Forrest. Chases, dramatic escapes, and a real mid-air plane crash are only part of the fun. Following the screening, Dorothy Dietrich, magician and co-founder of the Houdini Museum, and magician and historian Richard Cohn will discuss the making of the film, its re-discovery and restoration, and Houdini’s legacy today.
Curiously, the film is advertised as being screened on 16mm film. The only 16mm print of The Grim Game I'm aware of is the original that was owned by Larry Weeks. I doubt this could be that print. So, at some point, a 16mm print must have been struck from the digital TCM restoration, or this could be a mistake, and this is the DCP. I suspect the latter.
Either way, The Grim Game hasn't been screened in a few years, and it is really fun to watch with an audience, so this is a must-see screening!
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