Paging Professor Murat

In the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin (them again!), not all the Houdini treasures are in the Houdini Collections. The Ransom Center also holds a large collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's correspondence. There one can find several letters he exchanged with Bess in the months after Houdini's death. These letters contain some fascinating information.

Today I wanted to highlight a paragraph from one letter dated July 8, 1927 in which Bess writes:

Was awfully pleased to hear from you. Houdini never traveled under the name of Ellington but took the name of Houdini when he was fourteen years of age. Thirty-two years ago he used the name of Professor Murat for one week as a hypnotist and then a few years later as a card magician, for a short time was known as "Cardo", but those are the only names, other than Houdini, that he ever used.

These aliases are mentioned in Silverman (sourced from this letter in the HRC), so this isn't new info. However, Bessie appears to have misspelled the name Murat. Details of his act at Daly's Star Theater in Hoboken during the week of February 10, 1896 can be found in local papers under the spelling "Morat":

Then came Prof. Morat, with his "European Sensation–Man in a Trance." He produced his "subject" and made the audience shiver as he jabbed pins and needles into the soft parts of the man's anatomy. The subject didn't seem to mind it. He was supposed to be in the state of hypnotic catalepsy.

Unfortunately, I've never been able to find any account of Houdini's time as "Cardo." Every once in a while I do a hard target search of newspaper.com for any mention of a Cardo from 1895-99 who could logically be Houdini, but so far I've come up empty. I did find a magician in 1889 named Signor LaCardo, but clearly not HH. Maybe someone else will have more luck?

By the way, Houdini also appeared at least once as "Harry Raynohr, Sleight of Hand" during his early days. Strange Bess forgot that one as she appeared on the same bill as "Beatrice Raynohr, The Melodious Little Songstress."

Want more? You can read the entire Bess letter and see the Prof. Morat clippings as a Scholar member of my Patreon. Just click the image below.

Related:

• The Ransom Center file
• Houdini the hypnotist?
• The family language

REVIEW: Houdini & Doyle (ep. 6): The Monsters of Nethermoor

Houdini & Doyle episode 6, The Monsters of Nethermoor, provides an unexpected journey for our heroes in what is now the second half of the 10 episode series. Instead of London, the setting is the countryside, and this time the rolls are reversed; Houdini is the believer and Doyle is the skeptic. The crux of the mystery; aliens!

Our first look at Houdini and Doyle in this episode is a clever re-creation the classic Sidney Paget illustration with our heroes in the roles of Holmes and Watson. This is great fun, and I love that it pretty much confirms what has been simmering since episode one -- that Houdini is Doyle's new Sherlock, right down to being an irritant.

Houdini, Doyle and Adelaide arrive in the small town of Nethermoor (shot in Darbyshire) to investigate what's believed to be an alien abduction. But because the couple who experienced the attack are interracial, racism becomes a theme in this episode. Houdini comes to the defense of the black survivor, feeling that Doyle is judging him too quickly because of his race (forget that we've already had several black characters in the series). During the course of the episode, Houdini's own strong feelings about bigotry boil to the surface, and at one point Houdini beats up a man in a bar for his disparaging remarks. (More on this below.)

Eventually, Houdini and Doyle find themselves tied up in a cave. Following the role reversal idea, Doyle is able to free himself while Houdini cannot. This sounds better than it plays out as the ropes don't really appear to be holding him in any way that would defeat The Great Houdini. But it's good for a laugh.

The mystery of Adelaide Stratton continues to deepen, and I have to admit, I'm not loving this. Adelaide is my second favorite character, and I feel she's slipping away from me just as she's slipping away from Houdini and Doyle. I loved her forthrightness and clarity. Now she's a woman with a past and many secrets and that just isn't working as well for me. But I guess we'll see how this develops.

Spoilers
The solution to the mystery is pretty unusual. The abducting creatures are neither monsters nor aliens, but human cave dwellers who have lost all contact with the outside world for generations. I'm not sure this entirely explains their extreme appearance, but it was a nice twist, and Houdini leading them into the light gives Harry a chance to be messianic in a whole new way.

Just the facts

During their meeting with "Mad Martha" (played by veteran actress Janine Duvitski), Houdini reveals his background after she presses him on the matter. At first he says he's from the U.S., but then admits to being born in Budapest and that his family immigrated when he was four. All true. It's also true that Houdini would always claim to be an American (born in Appleton, Wisconsin). "I'm sure you're not a stranger to prejudice," says Martha.

Houdini's heritage comes into play later when he tells Adelaide a story of experiencing anti-Semitism as a boy. It's suggested this is what motivated him to become an escape artist. It's a good story, but it doesn't come from the life of the real Houdini. In fact, if Houdini experienced direct prejudice, this is one aspect of his life that he kept private.

Still, there are indications that Houdini understood full well the world in which he was living. When he ran away from home as a young boy, he concealed his Jewish last name and instead went by White. When in Russian in 1903, Houdini visited the site of a recent Jewish massacre and commented on how Jewish entertainers were "licensed like a dog" when entering the country. Houdini also experienced no shortage of indirect anti-Semitic attacks from Spiritualists. One was Dr. Le Roi Crandon, the husband of Margery, who once stated in a letter to none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "My deep regret is that this low-minded Jew has any claim on the word American."

The scene in which Houdini gets into a bar fight includes the nice detail of Houdini first inviting the man to hit him in the stomach. (Instead, the man hits him in the face.) Of course, Houdini inviting people to punch him in the stomach is an infamous part of Houdini lore as it was a contributing factor to his death.

Depicting Houdini as a brawler is also accurate. Houdini grew up in hard times and on rough streets, and the world of circus sideshows and early vaudeville were rough and tumble. Houdini apparently had such a bad fight with "Bill the Dog Boy" that he started carrying a gun. There are also scattered stories of scuffles with various rival Handcuff Kings and cab drivers, and the infamous Houdina Co. brawl that landed Harry in legal trouble. He also gave fight scenes in his movies his all, throwing himself headlong into action, even breaking his wrist in The Master Mystery.

Finally, Houdini is shown employing hypnosis in this episode. Houdini was not known to possess any legitimate hypnotic abilities, but in his struggling days, he learned the rudiments of the act from a man named Billy Diamond and performed for a time as a hypnotist under the name "Professor Murat."

Next Monday: Houdini & Doyle find themselves in "Bedlam."

Houdini Star of David image from The Devil's Workshop.

Related:

• Clearly not wild about Harry
• The Handcuff King's blog: Breaking into Russia
• A new twist in Houdini vs. Houdina
• Houdini's greatest secret

FOR MORE REVIEWS VISIT MY HOUDINI & DOYLE EPISODE GUIDE.

Houdini's electric chair - the shocking truth

Today we have the answer to the question of what happened to the electric chair Houdini purchased from Huber's Dime Museum in 1910 and kept in his New York home (read: Houdini and his electric chair). I can also now show you exactly what the chair looked like.

Reader Richard Lane, who's specializes in researching hypnotic performers, shared with me information he uncovered at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. The university houses a massive Houdini collection, including correspondence with Dr. Walford Bodie, a Scottish hypnotist and stage magician famous for his mock electrocutions. (Bodie was not a real doctor, the M.D. stood for "Merry Devil," he explained.)

Bodie, who counted Charlie Chaplin among his admirers, wrote to Houdini on April 8, 1920, asking if he did indeed own the first electric chair from "Sing Sing", and that he would love to see it. By the end of the month, Houdini gave Bodie the chair. Bodie displayed the chair in theater lobbies in the UK with a sign that boasted not only its grisly history, but that it was a gift from the "Great Houdini."

Below is a photo Bodie sent to Houdini as thanks. This photo finally reveals Houdini's electric chair.

Harry Ransom Center The University of Texas at Austin.

While this answers the question of what happened to Houdini's chair, it creates new questions. The world's first electric chair, the one used to execute Kemmler, was housed at Aubun State Prison, not Sing Sing. And the Bodie photo reveals that the chair was clearly not the same chair from Auburn, nor is it the chair seen in Houdini's The Master Mystery.

The chairs from Auburn Prison (left) and The Master Mystery (right).

It's possible Huber's advertised the chair as coming from Sing Sing because that was the more infamous and recognizable name to the general public. In a Dime Museum, exaggeration and hype was the name of the game. It's also possible this was just Bodie's mistake and Houdini never corrected him. "He'd had Sing-Sing rattling around his brain for 23 years," says Richard.

But I also think we need to consider the possibility that the Huber's chair may have been a fake from the start. Maybe the museum mocked it up and Houdini was fooled. Or maybe the young Houdini, who was performing at Hurber's the week the chair arrived, had a hand in creating the chair himself. He could have even suggested the idea. This is why he felt "sentimental" about it and bought it in the 1910 liquidation auction. This also explains why he let it go so easily in 1920. It wasn't a true historical artifact, just a bit of fun, and Houdini might have been happy to see it once again play the role for which it was created in the first place.

You'll notice that Bodie offered a £1000 Reward to anyone who could prove this was not the first electric chair or "furnish information contrary." He was lucky no one collected on that bet.

Today the whereabouts of the Huber-Houdini-Bodie chair is unknown, so that's still a mystery to uncover. But it wouldn't surprise me at all if it's still sitting on display somewhere, teasing people with its grisly (and questionable) history.

Thanks to Richard Lane for sharing his info on Bodie, and to Chelsea Weathers of The Harry Ransom Center for her help securing the Bodie photo. Also thanks to Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz at the Houdini Museum in Scranton who first alerted me to the Bodie connection.

UPADTE: Our friends Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz at the Houdini Muesum in Scranton have uncovered more information about Houdini's chair in the book, Old Sparky: The Electric Chair and the History of the Death Penalty by Anthony Galvin, which includes this revealing paragraph:

Related:

• Houdini and his electric chair
• Memories of "Dime Museum Harry"
• Ransom Center shares Houdini Scrapbook Collection online

Houdini the hypnotist?

Here's an interesting article from the February 15, 1926 Reading Times about the state of magic, citing Houdini as a "the foremost example of the progress made in magic art." But one thing that jumps out here is the claim that: "hypnotism is a factor of great importance in Houdini's success as a magician."

Hypnotism?

This is the first time I've ever heard Houdini associated with hypnotism. But who knows? Maybe we are all subjects of some century old hypnotic spell? That would explain a few things! Or maybe this writer is just being hyperbolic. You decide.

Thanks to our friends Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum in Scranton for finding this one.

UPDATE: For a tale of Houdini as hypnotist go here: Paging Professor Murat.

Did Houdini really help create Myra's mysteries?

The Mysteries of Myra is a lost 1916 movie serial directed by Theodore Wharton and written by Perils of Pauline screenwriter Charles W. Goddard. Houdini buffs are well familiar with this title as it has always been said that Houdini acted as a technical advisor on the film; one of his first forays into the movie business. But is it true?

While Ken Silverman mentions Houdini's involvement with Myra in Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss (aka My Bible), the original source appears to be Milbourne Christopher, who wrote in both Houdini The Untold Story (1969) and Houdini A Pictorial Life (1976) that:

As technical consultant in 1916 to the Pathe thriller The Mysteries of Myra, Houdini devised a whirling-mirror hypnotism machine and special seance effects.

But now Eric Stedman, who recently republished the original The Mysteries of Myra novelization and is working on a modern day adaption, is here to tell us that Houdini was not involved in this production after all. Says Eric.

"Mr. Houdini was not involved in the production of THE MYSTERIES OF MYRA. Nothing could have been more pro-spiritualism and Houdini as you know was interested in debunking all things occult, not promoting them as real as MYRA does. The actual consultants on the film were Hereward Carrington, who was the real-life prototype for the screen's first paranormal investigator Payson Alden, and Aliester Crowley, who the villain the "Master" is made to resemble.

The confusion about Houdini being involved in this serial comes from his relationship with the Grossman pictures outfit which made THE MASTER MYSTERY serial and had filmed two serials in Ithaca previously, where MYRA was filmed, one of which was called THE CROOKED DAGGER. "Houdini is making a serial with a studio that worked in Ithaca" has been transformed over the years to "Houdini consulted on THE MYSTERIES OF MYRA serial which was filmed in Ithaca." No evidence exists that Houdini even ever visited Ithaca for any reason and if he would have worked on MYRA the Whartons would have promoted that fact in their advertising. There's no such mention of him in the original literature; the press releases are all about Hereward Carrington, the prolific spiritualist writer and founding member of early spiritualism societies.

Again, the Houdini connection here is entirely erroneous; if HH had seen the script and all its astral bodies and ghosts flying around and automatic writing he would have laughed it off as ridiculous bunk."

Steve Rivkin, who is currently writing a biography of Hereward Carrington and has an excellent Hereward Carrington blog, agrees with this, adding:

"It seems likely that the numerous escapes in the film may have influenced someone to think Houdini might be involved. Hereward Carrington did not have an association with Houdini that I am aware of till about 1922 when they began to be on friendly terms. There is no known association of Houdini with the film and Carrington never mentioned it and surely would have. If anyone ever discovers proof otherwise I would be interested."

My only disagreement with all this is the idea that Houdini wouldn't have worked on Myra out of principle. In 1916 Houdini hadn't yet formed his combative stance on spiritualism. In fact, his own film, The Man From Beyond, features publicity that could be considered pro-spiritualism, and even promotes the casting of Jane Connelly as a psychic occurrence. While Houdini certainly didn't buy into spiritualism, he seems perfectly comfortable in playing up the theatrical nature of mystical whatnot (Imprisoned with the Pharaohs anyone?), and probably would have seen working on Myra as simply helping engineer movie magic.

But other than that, sounds like Eric and Steve know what they are talking about. While I still think it's important that we learn and consider Christopher's source (which very well could be a letter or diary), I'm willing to accept the challenge to this long held idea that Houdini helped conjure The Mysteries of Myra.

Did he or didn't he?