Houdini in Paris

In 1920, Houdini shot footage on the streets of Paris for a film he was planning about counterfeiting. Some of that footage appeared in Haldane of the Secret Service (1923), but a lot never made the cut. Now you can watch nearly 4 minutes of that unused footage on my Patreon.

This is not an exclusive. You can find and view this at Historic Films. But I make things like this easy for patrons!

Related:

• Unpublished Houdini: Street shoot
• Unpublished Houdini: Man of action
• Haldane was here

My thoughts on Disney's Houdini project news

I know I'm on a holiday break, but I felt I had to drop back in to comment on the news of a Houdini project in development at Disney. According to a report at Deadline, Becoming Houdini is a "spy thriller" about "Houdini’s undercover work for his adopted homes of Britain and America." 

Here's the comment I've left on the story. It doesn't appear to have been approved, so I will share it here. Feel free to quote, copy, or steal:

While Houdini was friendly with law enforcement and did advise police at times, the idea that Houdini was some sort of super spy is an idea that has little grounding in fact.

It is true that Houdini was friends with William Melville of Scotland Yard, who is said to have operated an informal, early version of British Intelligence. Houdini appears to have provided Melville with two "reports" while he was in Germany in 1900 and 1902. Does that make him a spy? Kinda! But that's it. Everything beyond this is pure speculation, with no secret missions, assassins, and no connection to U.S. intelligence whatsoever. 

Houdini had a brilliant career as the world’s foremost magician, escape artist, and debunker of fraudulent spirit mediums. It’s a shame to see Disney forgoing his fascinating real life in favor of salacious pseudo-history that is more the stuff of the History Channel.

Good title, though!

It might not be all bad. The article states that the film is "set to be written by Michael Finch and Alex Litvak," which means this was likely just a pitch sale and a long way from becoming an actual movie. Plenty of time for them to find a better approach.

Okay, back to the hot tub.

Related:

• Summit set to turn Houdini into an action hero
• The Secret Life of Houdini screenplay reviewed
• Brad Meltzer is out peddling the myth that Houdini was a spy

The Boy Houdini makes The Black List

Deadline Hollywood has posted this year's Black List, a roundup of Hollywood’s "most-liked unproduced screenplays." Coming in under #11 is a Houdini project.

THE BOY HOUDINI 

Matthew Tennant 

New York, 1889. When young street urchin and aspiring magician Harry Houdini discovers a mysterious puzzle-box, he must use his talent for illusion and escape to unlock the box’s powerful secrets and keep it from the hands of a vengeful occult sorcerer hot on his tail. 

MANAGEMENT: ECHO LAKE ENTERTAINMENT 

MANAGERS: NICK ARNSTEIN, KARA HUME, KEGAN SCHELL 

PRODUCERS: IAN BRYCE PRODUCTIONS, OLIVE BRIDGE 

Sounds similar to Simon Nicholson's Young Houdini series or Marty Chan's The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles. Also sounds like the kind of thing Hollywood loves. Congratulations to screenwriter Matthew Tennant and his representation for making this list. Maybe this will help bring The Boy Houdini to the screen.

Thanks to Dave Sikula for the tip.

Related:

• What's next, Hollywood?
• Young Harry Houdini (1987)
• The Chronicles of Young Houdini

Houdini announces "Yar" as his next movie

How serious was Houdini about making Yar The Primeval Man? Until recently I would have told you it was just one of several possible movie ideas he had floating around, although it was the one with the most complete story. But while going through newspaper clippings at the Harry Ransom Center I found this gem from the June 11, 1922 New York Tribune in which Houdini says "Yar" will indeed be his next film.

Click to enlarge.

This was an exciting find as it is the first and so far only public mention of the film I've ever encountered. I think this elevates Yar The Primeval Man (or just Yar) as the most likely third Houdini Picture Corporation production, had Houdini continued making movies.

The timing of this story is also interesting. This was just nine days after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle famously "fooled" magicians at an S.A.M. banquet at McAlpin Hotel with stop motion animation of dinosaurs. The footage was from an upcoming film adaptation of his book, The Lost World. Houdini has already written the Yar story (it's copyrighted 1921), but did the Doyle footage reignite his interest in the prehistoric project? Or perhaps he felt he needed to establish his idea before the release of The Lost World, which would come in 1925.

You can read the entire (bonkers) story of Yar The Primeval Man via the links below.

Related:

• Yar, The Primeval Man by Harry Houdini (Part I)
• Yar, The Primeval Man by Harry Houdini (Part II)
• LINK: That One Time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Punked Houdini With Dinosaurs

James Caan's Houdini moment

I'm sorry to learn today of the passing of actor James Caan. While Caan is well-known for a myriad of famous film roles, I always think of him as one of the actors touted as a possible Houdini. In 1974 Caan was favored by producer Ray Stark for what was then called, The Magic Man: The Story of Houdini.

Variety, Sept. 18, 1974

At this time Caan was on everyone's short-list of leading men, so it's hard to know how seriously he considered the part. Ultimately, Caan never played Houdini and Stark never made his Houdini film. But it's always fun to think about what might have been!

You can read James Caan's obituary at Deadline Hollywood.

Related:

• The men who almost played Houdini
• Ray Stark's 35 year Houdini conundrum
• My choice for Houdini is still Tom Cruise

Joe Notaro cracks 'The Mystery of the Jewel'

Our friend Joe Notaro at Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence recently shared documents from his trip to the Harry Ransom Center related to Houdini's (ill-fated?) film acquisition, Il Mistero de Osiris aka The Mystery of the Jewel aka Ashes of Passion aka Reincarnation aka Ashes of Passion (again).

The story goes that Houdini acquired the negative of a 1919 Italian film, Il Mistero de Osiris, in a U.S. Customs auction of unclaimed goods in 1921. Just like his recently completed The Man From Beyond, the movie was a riff on the theme of reincarnation. Under the guise of a new company, Mystery Pictures, Houdini copyrighted the movie as The Mystery of the Jewel (Talisman) and printed an English translation of the plot synopsis, just as he had for his (bonkers) Yar The Primeval Man film treatment. And that's about all most books have to say about The Mystery of the Jewel, if they say anything at all.

But these documents reveal Houdini's plan to spruce up the film for release in the U.S. by creating new English inter-titles and inserting new footage. One sequence involved stock animal footage that Houdini provided specific instructions on how to assemble and where to insert into the movie. It's also possible Houdini planned to shoot new footage in Egypt, although that's not clear. Along the way the film's title changed to Ashes of Passion and in March 1922 Houdini attempted to interest the Vitagraph Co. in the still unfinished project.

Eventually, Mystery Pictures entered into an agreement to sell the movie, now titled Reincarnation, to Bernard Levey and Basic Enterprises for $5,250.00. A contact was drawn up on September 25, 1922 that shows Basic and Levey would hire a director to complete the film and share a percentage of the profits of any release with Mystery Pictures.

I was excited to see this contact as it appeared to finally explain what happened to the movie and I was set to search for a film called Reincarnation. However, Joe found another document dated April 24, 1923 in which Mystery Pictures entered into a new agreement with someone named Sheik Tahar. The movie was now back to being called Ashes of Passion and Tahar was granted a $1 option on the film against a $6000 purchase price. So it appears the Levey-Basic Enterprises deal didn't work out.

That's the last document, so it's unclear what became of Ashes of Passion. But I think it's likely Tahar never found a buyer and the film never saw a release. It became just another one of Houdini's unrealized and unprofitable film ventures.

You'll want to check out the original documents at Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence where you can also read a synopsis of the movie's plot. And be sure to follow Joe's current series looking at Houdini's various film treatments. His next installment will be on The Great Tontine.

Thanks to Joe Notaro and the Harry Ransom Center for the info and images.

Related:

• LINK: The Marvelous Adventures of Houdini (1917)
• Houdini, reincarnation, and a man named Von Treck
• Harry Ransom Center reopens Houdini and magic collections

My choice for Houdini is still Tom Cruise

This Memorial Day weekend Top Gun Maverick roars into movie theaters and is already setting box office records. I loved the movie and think it deserves all its success and more. Tom Cruise still knows how to make a movie for everyone.

But all this just reminds me of how close we came to having a big budget Houdini movie starring Tom Cruise. Cruise was interesting in, and may have even been attached, to the Houdini project producer Ray Stark tried for many years to launch at Columbia.

The one Ray Stark commissioned script I've read was written by Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson. It's excellent and on every page you can envision Tom Cruise in the part. An early scene in which Houdini is filming the rapids action for his movie The Man From Beyond, doing his own stunts and demanding perfection from his crew, seems right out of the Tom Cruise playbook. So does Houdini's drive, his intensity, his fearlessness, and his sense of moral justice. 

I really feel like Tom Cruise and Houdini are cut from a similar cosmic cloth and that Cruise would embody Houdini better than any other actor. And Cruise's compact 5' 7" frame is a nice physical match. Yes, I know he's now older than Houdini ever became, but have you seen Maverick? Apparently not an issue

Recently Paramount announced they were developing a new Houdini movie. Of course, Paramount is also the home base for Tom Cruise's production company, Cruise/Wagner. While the Paramount movie is being developed by a different producer, maybe the two can get together? Although, personally, I'd love to see them just go back and shoot the Rivele and Wilkinson script.

Oh, wait, Houdini and Tom Cruise....both pilots! So how about a movie dramatizing Houdini's race to be the first man to fly in Australia?

Click the links below to read more about the Houdini movies that never were. And see Top Gun Maverick. Trust me.

Related:

• Tom Cruise was set to play Houdini in 2004
• Ray Stark's 35 year Houdini conundrum
• A scene from Ray Stark's Houdini

LINK: The Marvelous Adventures of Houdini (1917)

Our good friend Joe Notaro at Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence kicks off a new series today in which he'll look at the 12 known film treatments written by Houdini. Some became movies (The Man From Beyond) and some did not (Yar, the Primeval Man).

Joe starts with Houdini's first treatment, The Marvelous Adventures of Houdini, The Justly Celebrated Elusive American. This almost became Houdini's first feature film in 1917...but I'll leave it to Joe to tell the tale.

Click the headline to have a read at HHCE.

Related:

• Houdini the writer
• Houdini's underwater epic that wasn't
• Yar, The Primeval Man by Harry Houdini, Part I | Part II

Paramount puts Houdini movie into development

Deadline reports that a new Houdini movie is gestating at Paramount. Below are the key details:

EXCLUSIVE: Transformers duo Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are producing a movie about iconic escape artist and illusionist Harry Houdini for Paramount. 

Plot details are being kept under wraps on the untitled development project but we understand it will be set of its time in the early 20th Century and have a Sherlock Holmes tone, dealing as it does with a human superhero type. 

Script is being written by Neil Widener and Gavin James who are also working with the studio on Jerry Bruckheimer’s Beyblade project. 

Always great to hear about a new Houdini project. But before we get too excited (or upset), know that there have been dozens of announced Houdini movies that fail to escape from development. But I wish everyone involved in this latest project the best of luck.

UPDATE: I enjoyed this comment on the original Deadline story.

Click to enlarge.

Related:

• What's next, Hollywood?
• Ray Stark's 35 year Houdini conundrum
• Ben Affleck set to slip on Houdini's shackles?

Houdini planning a new film in 1925?

Here's a curiosity I came across this weekend in the May 25, 1925 Frederick Daily News.

As we know, Houdini stepped away from movie making after he completed The Man From Beyond and Haldane of the Secret Service in 1921. So the idea he'd consider a return in 1925 is pretty interesting. It's also interesting to see the name of Arthur B. Reeve, who co-wrote The Master Mystery and Houdini's Hollywood films.

In 1923 Houdini told the L.A. Times he planned to adapt his book Miracle Mongers and Their Methods into an "out-and-out stunt picture" following his Keith's vaudeville tour. This item appeared the Monday after he completed that tour. So could this signal the start of that process?

Unfortunately, I've found no other mention of this in any other paper nor any follow-up. So this could just be wishful thinking on the part of E.S. Manheimer, who appears to have been an independent producer with J.W. Film Corp in New York. Nevertheless, I like finding oddities like this and thought I'd share as you never know when we might find another piece of the puzzle.

Related:

• The Landrah Corporation?
• Miracle Mongers the Movie
• The omen

Ben Affleck set to slip on Houdini's shackles?

For the second time in a week The Hollywood Reporter has revealed the existence of a (new?) Houdini project, this time with Ben Affleck attached as the Handcuff King. In a profile of Jeff Robinov, a former Warner Bros. executive turned producer, it lists his current projects: 

About six months ago, the 61-year-old Robinov started setting up scores of his Studio 8 projects around town, including Black, an adaptation of the Black Mask comic series, at Warners, the family comedy Adulting at Sony and a pair of Ben Affleck star vehicles — Houdini at Disney (with Black Mirror's Dan Trachtenberg directing) and the Robert Rodriguez-helmed thriller Hypnotic at Solstice Studios.

Last I heard Dan Trachtenberg was attached to direct the long in the works movie based on Bill Kalush's book, The Secret Life of Houdini. That project has moved from Summit to Lionsgate and now sounds like it's at Disney?

As with all the other Houdini projects percolating in Hollywood, we'll wait and see. But I'd be fine with Bendini.

UPDATE: Slashfilm reports that Affleck's role is actually not that of Houdini:

THR says this Houdini movie will be a "star vehicle" for Affleck, but we’ve heard that the actor won’t be playing Houdini himself. Instead, Affleck will play a supporting character who is some kind of agent.

Related:

• 'Secret Life of Houdini' movie shows new signs of life
• Chris Bremner co-writing Lionsgate Houdini movie
• Johnny Depp won't be Houdini...again

Johnny Depp won't be Houdini...again

For many years it's been rumored that Johnny Depp was interested in playing Houdini. He's been reported as attached to various Houdini projects, all of which have never materialized. Now The Hollywood Reporter has a lengthy profile about the actor's recent troubles, and in it it says he's been dropped from a "prestige Harry Houdini TV project" to be produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. This is the first I've heard of this project! Below are the relevant paragraphs:

In the ensuing days, Warner Bros. excised him from its Fantastic Beasts franchise — a firing that played out publicly — while sources tell THR that he is no longer involved with a prestige Harry Houdini TV project produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, his most powerful remaining ally. 

Insiders say Depp's relationship with Bruckheimer has frayed in recent months. Sources say the actor was poised to play the iconic illusionist Harry Houdini in a Bruckheimer-produced high-end production, offering a career jump-start after multiple pricey bombs [...]. The Houdini series, which had not yet found a home, would mark Depp's first foray into TV since his 21 Jump Street days.

It's been a while since we've gotten news of a new Houdini project from Hollywood. But if ten years of this blog as taught us anything, it's that the vast majority of these come to nothing. So we'll see if this Bruckheimer TV project resurrects with a new Harry. Let's just hope it's not Houdini the spy! But I bet it is.

Related:

• Hollywood Reporter: Johnny Depp in talks to play Houdini
• Deadline Hollywood throws cold water on Johnny Depp Houdini report
• What's next, Hollywood?

The Heart Is Quicker Than The Eye – the unmade Houdini biopic of 1976

It's not generally known that when Melville Shavelson was preparing his 1976 TV biopic The Great Houdinis for ABC, a rival Houdini movie was in the works at NBC called The Heart Is Quicker Than The Eye. Produced by Paramount and Playboy Productions, the aim was to air the film in October to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Houdini's death. Of course, this was also the proposed air date for the ABC film.

When asked about the coincidence of two Houdini projects, Edward L. Rissien, executive VP of Playboy Productions said, "There are many instances where a personality lends itself to two different treatments. We are proceeding as announced for NBC."

Patrick Culliton, who worked as a technical advisor on the NBC project, says two names producer Bill McCutchen mentioned for the role of Houdini were Robert Blake and Charles Bronson. Bronson was a big movie star so that was probably wishful thinking. But Robert Blake was a real possibility and a good choice. Blake was the star of the hit TV show Baretta at this time. Actress Joan Hackett was mentioned as a possible Bess. While no casting was finalized, production was announced to begin March 15, 1976.

A copy of the screenplay by Jean Holloway resides at the The William H. Larsen Sr. Memorial Library at The Magic Castle. What's most striking is how close this script follows the Harold Kellock book, Houdini His Life Story. It's almost as though Holloway had the book opened in front of her and transcribed it beat for beat. But this means The Heart is Quicker Than The Eye would have been the most accurate of all the Houdini biopics. Hardeen, Martin Beck, Margery, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle all feature in the film. And while Houdini does break his ankle in the Water Torture Cell, he does not die in it. In fact, his death is for the first time depicted accurately.

But somehow all this doesn't make for a better movie. The script is plodding, repetitive, and strangely dull. "I suffered through a treatment and three drafts of Jean Holloway's script as a research man," says Patrick. "I hated them all."

One original aspect Holloway introduces is the suggestion that Bess possesses true powers of extra sensory perception that she does not fully understand. But she is able to foretell events and successfully warn her husband off danger (when he'll listen). This is pretty interesting and I love the irony that Bess is the Houdini with the true powers. But it isn't developed far beyond the first act, and Bess's role in the film is largely to be a worried wife.

A fun detail is when Houdini is examined by a doctor for a burst blood vessel in his kidney (a regular source of pain for him in this script as it was in real life). The doctor's name is Larsen. Is this a nod to the famous Larsen magic family of Magic Castle fame? Could they have even considered having Bill Larsen Jr. play the role? Remember Bill was in Houdini (1953) as the S.A.M. head chopping magician, so this would have been a fun nod to this first Houdini biopic.

So what happened to The Heart Is Quicker Than The Eye? Despite Playboy's assurance that they were moving ahead, it appears the announcement of The Great Houdinis was enough to give the network cold feet. Says Patrick, "At that time, a decision to go with our Houdini movie took NBC a year, the decision for ABC to go with Mel Shavelson's project seemed to have been made in a week. Bill McCutchen was trying to save his project, but, it was over. We'd been scooped."

Patrick went on to work on The Great Houdinis, and even appears in the film as Franz Kukol.

The novelization for The Great Houdinis says it is a co-production with Playboy, so it's possible some kind of agreement was worked out between the networks and production companies. Whatever the case, The Heart Is Quicker Than The Eye was shelved and ABC's The Great Houdinis was the sole Houdini film to take to the airways that anniversary year.

Related:

• The men who almost played Houdini
• Making the great Great Houdinis
• Ray Stark's 35 year Houdini conundrum

One last Yar

Here's a little something fun to end our week devoted to Houdini's unmade caveman epic Yar, The Primeval Man. In the early years of my Houdini obsession, I would compulsively draw Houdini. One of my masterpieces was a montage devoted to scenes from his movie work. (I recently found these while moving.) On it I included a speculative look at Houdini as Yar. Now that's a caveman!

You can read Houdini's full treatment for Yar, The Primeval Man via the links below.

Related:

• Yar, The Primeval Man by Harry Houdini (Part I)
• Yar, The Primeval Man by Harry Houdini (Part II)

Yar, The Primeval Man by Harry Houdini (Part II)

Yar, The Primeval Man is treatment for an unmade film that Houdini wrote in 1921. You can read Part I HERE. Below we conclude the saga of Yar, Aie, and War, and also explore how Houdini's psychology is on show in this strangest of all his strange tales.

The roar of the Great Animals draws nearer, awakening Yar to a new peril. Huge rocks are dislodged by Yar and the people and rolled down the hill on the approaching animals, some of which retire. Suddenly there is a shriek is a huge tusked monster attacks Aie’s father. Yar runs to his assistance with a sharp pointed stone and kills the monster.

Realizing the value of the animal’s weapons, Yar, with a sharp pointed stone, cuts out the animal’s tusks. He roars with joy for he now has a formidable weapon to battle with the monsters. Yar also notices that none of the animals approach the fire. He swiftly heaps leaves and twigs on it and surrounds the people in a ring of fire. From this barricade they drive the animals back.

Dawn approaching, the people go to refresh themselves at the big water (drinking hole) and to look for food. The males tear the skin and tusks from the animals they have killed during the night. There is feasting. Aie turns with loathing from the blood-dripping flesh. She remembers the roasted meat and wants some of that. Yar also prefers the cooked meat and burrows for more cooked animals. He then remembers the fire. He drags the carcasses over, places them on the fire, and watches the burning meats.

The females, who have gorged themselves with the raw and dripping meat, now look upon the discarded skins. After speculating upon the matter they arrive at the conclusion that Aie and War look very attractive in their furs. In a short time every male and female is gowned in the latest fashion and has a tusk for a weapon.

But Aie and Huf have not forgotten their old feud during all these wonderful experiences. Huf attempts to take Aie from Yar with the result that there ensues a long battle for supremacy. The two roll down a precipice from the top of the hill, and drop into a tree, the branches of which break, sending the two into the rushing waters. There are the fight continues until Yar, holding Huf’s head under the water, vanquishes his opponent.

Aie watches it as her mother did befor her and gurgles with glee to see Huf vanquished by her mate. Yar returns to Sun Girl. He looks about as if he defies anything to harm her and then crushes her in his arms.

Even as they embrace there comes the Great Cold, the forerunner of the Great Doom. How long and how far the huge icebergs had traveled no tongue can tell, but slowly and surely they come on. Yar, his arms protectingly around Aie, watches open-mouthed the oncoming white meance. He clutches his tusk but even as he does he realizes that his weapon is useless against such a monster.

The Little People, oblivious to the approaching of the Great Doom, snuggle into their furs with the increasing severity of the Great Cold. On and on comes the huge white monster, towering above the cliff on which a Little People make their homes.

Aie, terrified by the sight of the monster, shrieks and runs, leaving Yar standing as of hypnotized by the glare of the oncoming demon. Aie runs on—anywhere to escape the monster. Yar catches a glimpse of Aie as she disappears. He pursues her. Down the cliffside he rushes and as he is swifter than Aie he overtakes her and draws her, trembling, in his arms.

In the shallow basin which they have reached, Aie again feel safe, for she cannot see the white monster.

Suddenly a terrific roar reaches them—a roar mightier than Thor’s. The next instant the white monster topples toward them. They back against the wall of the basin, their eyes closed to the terrible thing. When they open them again they are choking in water, brought to great heights by the fall of the iceberg into the basin.

Quickly recovering himself, Yar seizes the sinking Aie and after a harrowing struggle brings her safely back to the ledge. Before the fire which Yar has built outside a cave, Aie regains her composure.

Yar sees that the Little People are unhurt, the White Monster having missed them, though they have suffered from the cold and large pieces of ice that fell on their ledge.

Yar vainly attempts to coax Aie into the cave. He tries to force her but still she refuses. Yar is perplexed. Somehow he cannot drag her in by the hair, as has been the custom. He hears the voice of his mother whimpering and enters the cave leaving Aie seated at the fire.

Attracted by the fire, a tail man (ape) wanders towards Aie, seizes her and attempts to carry her away. Her shrieks attract Yar who battles with the tail-man, kills it and frees Aie.

Yar takes Aie back to the cave but still she refuses to enter. He cannot understand for Aie is his mate. After making his whimpering mother comfortable, Yar ponders over his problem.

An inspiration comes. With a smile of assurance for Aie, Yar gathers up some of the larger branches and twigs. Aie watches him curiously and sees him stand the larger branches and twigs upright, then other across the top until Yar has built a tent like lean to. He then gathers leaves and soft moss which he piles inside the shelter until he has formed a soft downy couch. He motions to Aie to enter.

Aie starts toward the shelter, surveys the inside and then turning an illuminating smile upon Yar, she takes him by both hands, purses up her lips and with her lips on his she draws him into their home.

THE END

In Yar, The Primeval Man Houdini seems to be digging deeper into is own psyche than ever before. Of course, the idea that he's the smartest and strongest of all the cavemen is not far below the surface. But the most compelling and most discussed aspect is the three-way relationship between Yar (Houdini), War his mother (Cecelia Weiss), and the outsider "Sun Girl" Aie (the Catholic Bess). One of the things I most like about Yar is it's really the first time Houdini has written the authentic Bess into one of his stories. How like Bess are Aies' "rages" which, interestingly, Yar finds attractive. It's his most unsentimental relationship, and, ironically considering the setting, his most realistic.

As for the de rigueur mother worship, in Yar we actually get an evolution. In the end, Yar is able to set his mother aside and join Aie in private (sexual) domesticity. How different from Bahl Yahn the Strong Man, written in 1907, which concludes with Bahl working the fields with his mother strapped to his back for the rest of his life. And speaking of mothers, I find it intriguing that both stories feature spouses who have been unintentionally handicapped by their husbands. Perhaps a deep seeded feeling that Rabbi Weiss unintentionally threw his spouse and family into a world of desperate struggle?

Interestingly, in June 1922 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would show footage at an SAM banquet of dinosaurs created using stop motion animation for a proposed film of his book The Lost World (ultimately released in 1925). While Houdini only refers to them as "animals", it's clear Yar is battling an assortment of prehistoric beasts, and Doyle's footage would have shown him how these special effects could be achieved. Had it been made, Yar might have broken new ground. Wouldn't it have been wild if, along with the first movie robot, a Houdini film would have been credited with the first stop motion dinosaur?

Finally, it's fun to note the many similarities between Yar, The Primeval Man and the classic 1966 film One Million Years B.C. starring John Richardson and Raquel Welch. Not just the battles with dinosaurs and rival cavemen as you'd expect, but the core story of a caveman meeting a mate outside his tribe. But I guess there are only so many cave stories one can tell!

Descendants of Yar and Aie.

Related:

• Yar, The Primeval Man by Harry Houdini (Part I)
• Bahl Yahn the Strong Man. A Good Night Story by Harry Houdini
• Q reclaims his title as the first movie robot (kinda)

Yar, The Primeval Man by Harry Houdini (Part I)

In 1921 Houdini wrote a treatment for a proposed movie called Yar, The Primeval Man. It was never made, which might have been for the best. Of all Houdini's writings, Yar may be the most revealing of his relationships and his inner world (his inner caveman). And like his short story "Bahl Yahn, the Strong Man", of which it bears many similarities, Yar was clearly written by Houdini himself.

Houdini copyrighted Yar by printing it as a 12-page pamphlet that he appears to have only given out to friends. I own the copy he gave to Joseph Dunninger and I've used it to transcribe the story in full below. Because of the length, I'm sharing this in two parts. I've also spiced it up with photos from The Man From Beyond.

Enjoy this strangest of Houdini's strange tales.

The Strange People are happy. They dance with glee for they have the better position. They squirm in and out the great boulders, and with mighty pushes send huge rocks tumbling down on their enemies, the Little People.

They soon tire, however, of watching the writhing wretches below, and turn to rest in their caves. Yar, chief of the Strange People, looks for War, his mother (she cannot keep up with the younger people, so Yar always swings her over his back and carries her to her cave) but she is nowhere to be found.

Yar is perplexed. Where is she? Is it possible she has fallen in the tsish tsish (great waters)? He runs back and anxiously surveys the cliffs. There he sees her hanging helplessly on the ragged edge. His primitive mind, unable to reason his own danger, he run swiftly down the incline, reaches her, and with a guttural cry swings her over his back just as Gurre, the chief of the Little People and deadly enemy of the Strange People, pounces on him and drags him down to his cave.

Yar holds one hand on his mother to prevent her from tumbling off his back and with the other hand fights gallantly with his assailant. He is overpowered, however, when Huf, son of Gurre, comes to his father's aid and Yar is obliged to watch his mother being dragged away by her hair. The Little People tie Yar with the fibrous ferns and foliage to two long branches of the huge trees, arrow fashion, in the same manner that they dispose of the sick and wounded people, so that he can be catapulted into the great waters.

After their labor of securing him, the Little People all gaze on Yar with savage joy; all but Aie, the sun woman, whose hair is like the sun. She is the daughter of Ahi the Loon, (Ahi never leaves his cave, not since he lost Ooo, the mother of Aie).

Many moons before, all the Little People were hunting in the black forest for the small animals for food, Ahi wandered further than any other people ever had dared. He soon returned, however, but with him was a strange woman, a woman with Sun Hair. She was a strange creature, evidently of higher intellect than the Little People, but they accepted Ooo without showing any emotion except the first one of surprise. Ooo liked to wander on the higher cliffs, but Ahi soon showed her, in his primitive way, that he did not care for her wanderings. Ooo was an obedient and affectionate mate. Soon Aie was born. It was then that Gurre, the young chief, coveted Ooo.

There were some stirring battles between Ahi and Gurre, at which Ooo looked on quietly with her cryptic smile. One day Ooo, who was running swiftly away from Gurre, missed her footing, and fell headlong into the Great Waters, just as Ahi emerged from his cave. He thought Gurre had thrown or pushed Ooo. Again they had a battle. Ahi was badly wounded and ever since he has been a loon.

Aie, his daughter, brings him food. Seeing Yar, Aie gazes fascinated at this strange being, who is different from her people. She is pleased with him. She touches him, she looks into his eyes. Yar seems as pleased as she. He is really too surprised to release himself, until he sees her shudder. It is the shudder of fear for she hears Thor, the God of Thunder, rumbling with displeasure.

Yar quickly breaks the bonds while the people run to their caves to get away from the angry waters of Thor. 

Yar finds his mother in places her in a hole to protect her from the Angry Waters. He, however, does not fear Thor. He rather likes the torrents of water, and the angry lights of Thor’s eyes (lightning).

He walks toward the black forest, catches some of the scurrying animals and returns to feed his mother. Thor bellows louder and louder and the people huddled together, whimpering with fear. Thor sends another angry flash of his eyes right into the Black Forest and presently the Black Forest burst into flames.

The angry flames come nearer and nearer to the caves and the people, excited and shaking with fear, run in all directions. Yar, with his mother on his back, climbs to the high hills. Aie follows him with her eyes. Surely the strange being can conquer Thor, she feels. She runs after him and her father, who is now forced to leave his hermit cave as the flashes approach, follows. Then the people who cannot reason, forgetful that Yar is their enemy, also follow.

At the top is safety. Yar stands at the brink, defying Thor to send his flames up on the hill. Aie is close by looking at him in admiration. Her fear leaves at Yar’s bravery, but there in the background is Huf.

Huf sees the look on Aie’s face. With a quick stride he reaches her side, for he has chosen her to be his mate. He seizes her by the hair. She struggles and squeals. Yar turns to see that it is the Sun Girl.

He seizes Huf by the nape of the neck and flings him aside. Aie glides shyly to Yar’s side. They chatter in their nameless language, well pleased with each other. As they look each other over, not yet able to understand the call of love, the storm subsides. The people are hungry. Yar is the first to go for food. He enters the black forest. The people follow at a distance, ready to run at the first sign of Danger. But there is no food. The animals have vanished. Yar burrows in the ruins. He soon discovers a creature. Strange, it does not struggle. He had always been obliged to fight the creatures. In a rage, he tears it to pieces. Hunger calls and he tastes. It is not disagreeable, though of course, there is no rich dripping blood. But in all the vast forest there is no fast scurrying creature, so this must suffice until his hunger is appeased.

Aie soon follows the example of Yar and burrows into the ground.She also imitates Yar by eating the roasted animals. The people, desperately hungry, follow suit and soon all are feasting. After the feast, they look around for caves, and find them on the side of a cliff.

Yar finds an attractive large one. He enters, but quickly emerges, grasping by the throat an animal which had escaped the flames. He quickly kills it, and dexterously skins it. He now has food for a long time.

He enters the cave again, but this time more cautiously, and finds no more fighting creatures. He then looks for and finds his mother and gently shoves her into the cave. The people are soon asleep. From the outer edges of the black forest come the Great Animals, who now can find no food, since the fire has destroyed their prey. 

 

Yar hears their roars and sends a challenging cry. Aie comes shivering from her cave. The night is cold. He shoves her in the same cave with his mother, but it is cold there too. He has an inspiration. He tosses the skin of the animal he has killed over the two women. (The people wore no covering of any kind, save leaves.) Yar also remembers that he felt no cold when he walked on the ashes of the great forest.

Again his mental faculties work. He rushes over to the forest, grabs a smoldering ember and places it in front of the cave. The flames lick up the twigs and leaves lying about. He gathers more wood and presently has a roaring fire.

Aie hears the crackling of the flames and thinking the animals have approached, runs to the entrance of the cave with the bearskin about her. Yar’s mother whimpers when she finds her covering gone. Yar hears her whimper, realizes that both women want the fur, and is perplexed.

He tries to take it from Aie but she won't give it up. Yar’s mother is shivering. He tries to push the fire near the cave, but finds it hurts. He looks about for another animal. There are only the Great Ones beyond the forest whose growls he hears.

A solution to his problem offers itself, and acting upon it, Yar takes the fur from Air (who kicks and bites to keep it) and with his teeth tears it in twos he does his food) and gives each woman half of it. They are then all pleased, but Aie soon finds she must keep both hands on the fur to keep it on; she cannot wrap it about her as before.

She makes a spring to take the other part of the skin from the older woman, but even then it won't stay put. Whenever Aie is perplexed she flies into a rage. To Yar she looks adorable in her rage, but he must find a way to appease her.

Yar remembers how he was bound on the catapult, so he hunts for the long ferns, wraps Aie in the fur, and winds the ferns about her body. The touch of her flesh thrills him. He touches her again, each time more tenderly, and puts both arms around her. Slowly he crushes her to him. Some impulse drives him to place his lips on her, and then he kisses her. It is the first kiss.

Aie dances with joy. Yar is astonished at her pleasure and kisses her again and again. The people who had slowly gathered around the blaze look on in awe. Huf, who has looked on all this with displeasure, glides up to Aie. He would like to try this new amusement.

He touches Aie, roughly seizes her to reach her lips. Aie quickly stoops, picks up a stone and promptly crashes it upon Huf’s head.

Yar’s mother, hearing all the exciting chatter, emerges from her cave holding the fur about her. Yar remembers what he did to Aie’s robe and arranges his mother’s the same way. Remembering in the kiss, Yar kisses his mother. Both are astonished. It is not like the kiss of Aie, but it is as if God kissed them both. It is sacred. A look of joy overspreads the old woman's face and she places her arms about her son, swaying backward and forward with cries of joy.

She places her lips on Yar’s brow. It is a sacred rite. The other females look to their children (as a rule they dragged them by their hair), but now they lift them in their arms in imitate Yar’s mother. The children are rocked to sleep for the first time, to the worldless crooning of the mothers.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Related:

• Houdini the writer (page)
• Hear 'Houdini’s Strange Tales' on CD
• Bahl Yahn the Strong Man. A Good Night Story by Harry Houdini

The 1950 Houdini multimedia project

It took Hollywood 30 years to make the first Houdini biopic. But this was not for a lack of effort. The idea for a Houdini movie travelled from RKO to Columbia to Paramount to David O' Selznick and then back to Paramount. However, there was another stop on this journey that has been largely forgotten.

In 1950 a former drug store operator, Joseph Raboff, and a real estate man, Earl Cohen, formed a company called, Film Producers, Inc. They acquired the film, radio, and TV rights to Houdini, reportedly "from the late magician's estate." It's unclear who that would be in 1950, but their rights included the Kellock book, so possibly the estate of Bernard Ernst.

Teaming with a former Paramount executive, Endre Bohem, the producers commissioned a screenplay by Stephen Longstreet (The Jolsen Story) and announced production of The Life Story of Harry Houdini for October 1950. The project would star either John Garfield or Lee Cobb in the lead role. There was also talk of a half-hour TV series following the film's release, which might be the most intriguing part of all this. What would a Houdini TV series have looked like in 1950?

It's unclear what happened to Film Producers, Inc. ambitious project, but it's likely the Raboff and Cohen realized they had bitten off more than they could chew. The Longstreet script, as far as I know, has never surfaced.

In September 1951, Paramount reacquired the rights to the Kellock book from Cohen and Raboff when producer George Pal expressed interest in doing a Houdini movie. This time the result was the classic Houdini with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh in 1953. The idea of a Houdini TV series would have to wait until 2016 with Houdini & Doyle.

UPDATE: Summary of 1950 Houdini Screenplay (Property of Film Producers)

Related:

• Houdini in 1950
• Houdini on early television
• Ray Stark's 35 year Houdini conundrum

Mystifier, First Quarter 1998

Continuing my issue by issue look back at the Mystifier, the newsletter of the Houdini Historical Center that ran from 1991-2003.

The controversial "Masked Magician" television specials continued to stir up the magic world at the start of 1998. This inspired the HHC to create a special display, as curator Margaret Ehr explains in the First Quarter Mystifier:

The ongoing discussion about revealing the secrets behind magic effects provides a focus for the latest installation in the Houdini exhibit's document case. Fueled by the Fox television network's two recent magic expose programs, the latest wave of controversy prompted the Houdini Historical Center to explore Houdini's own revelations during his career.

The display includes Houdini's Ladies Home Journal article on "How I Get Out of A Strait-Jacket" as well as excerpts from his book Handcuff Secrets beside various shackles. While the display sounds interesting, eventually Sid Radner and the HHC would have a falling out over exposure displays. One wonders if the seeds of that conflict were first planted here?

Speaking of handcuffs, this newsletter contains a true gem. It's a very well researched article by Mark Lundblad and Bill Liles that dissects Houdini's famous 1906 "Europe's Eclipsing Sensation" poster, identifying the various makes of handcuffs depicted on it.

The images included in the "Handcuff King" poster range from a very simple, single handcuff (Left 1) to a complex combination of multiple handcuffs (Left 3, Right 2 and Right 4). These cuffs may have been selected just for an appealing artistic balance or for other reasons. Perhaps Houdini intended this poster to be not only a sensational advertisement for upcoming performances, but also a personal commemoration of events from the many stages of his long and varied career.

The newsletter continues with the museum shop announcing it now has straitjackets in stock. (!) There's the announcement that Sidney Radner will give a lecture about "Jeanette Chapman: Houdini's Undercover Girl" on April 27. Chapman worked with Houdini in 1925 as one of his spiritualist agents. Intriguingly, it says the lecture will include an 18 minute video interview with Chapman. I've never seen this video, but I would love to share it here!

Sid kicks off his "Backstage" column by noting that a clip from The Man From Beyond was shown on the Academy Awards during a segment celebrating 70 years of special effects. He also reveals that a new Houdini biopic will be produced by cable network TNT starring Johnathon Schaech. This bit of news, Sid notes, was sent in by John Cox "who always forwards Houdini news from Variety and other entertainment publications." Indeed I did!

Sid then announces that in the next issue of the Mystifier he will expose a man who calls himself "Harry Houdini Hardeen." The man is not a member of the family and is using a social security number of a deceased family member. "Let Houdini fans and historians be warned," says Sid. This would not appear in the following issue, nor do I recall it ever appearing. But I believe I encountered this character still working his con at the Houdini Walk of Fame Star ceremony in 2008.

Sid concludes with the "scoop" that Tom Thayer of Universal is planning to produce a movie about Houdini and Margery from a script by Edithe Swenson with "some very interesting new material involved." This project never surfaced, but I've met Tom and he still aspires to make his Houdini/Margery movie.

Mystifier

Volume 8, Number 1

First Quarter, 1998

6 pages

Contents:

Tools of the Trade
Member News
The Labors of Houdini
From the Museum Shop

Backstage with Sid Radner

PREVIOUS ISSUE | INDEX | NEXT ISSUE

Related:

• Houdini, the Magician's Code, and the Talking Tea Kettle scandal
• Oscars Houdini alumni
• 20th anniversary of TNT's HOUDINI

Adolphe Menjou was almost the first Houdini

In 1932, RKO was going to make a movie based on Houdini's life called Now You See It, written by Houdini's friend and fellow spirit buster Fulton Oursler. It was not strictly a biopic as the main character was called Harry Pinetti. But events in Pinetti's life, such as becoming trapped under the ice of frozen lake and exposing fake spirit mediums, would leave little doubt in anyone's mind that this was the story of Houdini.

I covered the development of Now You See It at length in 2010. In fact, it was my first real research scoop here on WILD ABOUT HARRY. But recently I found the following item in the November 12, 1932 issue of Hollywood Filmgraph that shows the movie came even closer to being made than I had thought. In that year the studio signed actor Adolphe Menjou to play Pinetti/Houdini.

It was later reported that Menjou was being coached in magic by Walter Baker, who had originated what became the famous Tarbell Course in Magic. When the Harrisburg Telegraph picked up the news on December 28, they recalled their days with the real Houdini.

Now You See It was never made and marked the first of many Houdini projects developed and then abandoned by Hollywood. That finally changed in 1953 when Paramount released the classic Houdini with Tony Curtis in the lead.

Adolphe Menjou had a long career, appearing in both silent and sound films such as Valentino's The Sheik, The Front Page (in which he was nominated for an Oscar), and the original A Star Is Born with Janet Gaynor. He was also a stanch Republican who cooperated with Senator Joseph McCarthy's House on Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s. Menjou died on October 29, 1963.

For more on Now You See It check out my two-part posts below.

Related:

• RKO 589: Discovering Hollywood's first Houdini film (Part I)
• RKO 589: Discovering Hollywood's first Houdini film (Part II)
• The men who almost played Houdini

Duffy Hudson joins Son of Houdini

Last year I reported on a proposed movie from SilverFox Cinema called Son of Houdini that was seeking investors. Now comes news that Duffy Hudson, known for playing Houdini in his acclaimed one-man show, has been cast as Berl Weiss, father of hero, Hyman Weiss. Duffy is also on-board as "Authenticity Consultant" (now there's a job title I'd like to see associated with more Houdini movies).

Son of Houdini is described as a "Coming-of-Age Romantic Comedy without violence, obscenity, nudity, crudity, car chases or the ingestion of questionable substances that demonstrates finding true love may be the greatest trick of all."

For more information visit the official website.

Related:

• 'Son of Houdini' looks to unlock investors
• Duffy Hudson brings Houdini to life in South Pasadena