I've already talked about how I was bitten by the Houdini bug in late 1975 after the one-two punch of seeing
Houdini (1953) and Doug Henning's first magic special. As we entered 1976, I was officially "into" Houdini and started searching for more. That's when the universe seemed to conspire to turn me into a Houdini fanatic by feeding me a steady stream of new Houdini gems. One of those was the first American airing of the 1970 BBC documentary,
The Truth About Houdini, 50 years ago today, on May 15, 1976.
This introduced me to a larger Houdini world. Not only was I able to see film footage of the real Houdini in action, but I was also able to see the giants of Houdini's world at that time: Walter B. Gibson, Milbourne Christopher, James Randi, and Sidney Radner.
I have done many posts about this important documentary, which you can revisit via the related links. If you've never seen it, you can give it a watch below. It will always be my favorite Houdini documentary, and an important part of my Houdini awakening.
Want more? You can view a cut scene from the documentary as a member of my
Patreon.
Gosh I love his goofy smile 😭❤️🥺✨ also I watched this already but I’ll be happy to watch it again if I have time - Abby Martin
ReplyDeleteTotally changed my life too
ReplyDelete5ft 3???? Makes you wonder who did the measuring??
ReplyDeleteLook at his Toe Work!
ReplyDeleteI'd been into HH for a bout a year at this time, I discovered Gibson's Houdini on Magic (the one with the green cover) in our Jr. High school library the prior year and I was hooked.
ReplyDeleteMy dad had just purchased our first VCR (Sony Betamax) and this was one of the 1st things I recorded. I kept that thing for years until it accidently got erased.
Sounds like my own story! The green Gibson was my first Houdini book, and my dad also got a Sony Betamax and I recorded Truth. I still have the tape.
DeleteMy story too but my green Gibson book was Houdini's Escapes--not Magic. I had mixed feelings about that book. Gibson left out the secret to the USD, probably had to when the book was published in the 30s. The secret to the handcuff act was more complicated than I had imagined. No silver bullet, lots of different approaches were required. The Gresham bio was next. The paperback with an old looking HH in his mourning clothes doing the Siberian Chain Escape. Cheap binding glue required scotch tape to hold it together.
ReplyDeleteIn '76 I picked up all three Gibson books. (I still have them), Gresham (My 1st PB copy is falling apart, so I just got another one), Christopher's bio, and JC Cannell's Secrets of Houdini PB with the blue tinged cover of him on a roof ledge in a straitjacket.
DeleteI still have all of them. My Christopher was hardcover bought at a library sale.
1976 was a banner year to be 11 and discover Houdini. A treasure chest of media and books awaited new fans of the Handcuff King. We were spoiled by one Houdini discovery after the next. He was like nothing I'd ever seen before. The J.C. Cannell book had a bevy of great photos...and secrets.
DeleteI was 13, but yes, I agree.
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