The living Bessie

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the death of Bess Houdini on February 11, 1943, aboard a train outside Needles, California. I thought a nice way to mark the day would be to bring her back to life in the best way possible. Below is Bess in the 1938 film Religious Racketeers aka Mystic Circle Murder. If you've not seen this footage, you are in for a treat. This is currently the only sync sound footage of any member of the Houdini family. Enjoy.

Here's to Bessie!

Related:

• When Madame Houdini spoke
• AUDIO: Marie Hinson remembers the death of her sister Bess Houdini
• Halloween 1936: The Final Houdini Seance

Early Houdini playbill produces $2880 at auction

An 1896 playbill clipping for the Marco Magic Company in Halifax, Nova Scotia, sold today at Potter & Potter's The Magic Collection of David Baldwin II auction for $2880 (including 20% buyers premium).

The young Houdini and Bess were members of this ill-fated magic troupe. The program shows "Twenty Minutes with Mysterious Harry Houdini" and also lists Houdini as the Stage Director. "Mlle Marco, Psychometric Artist, Clairvoyant and Exponent of Mental Occultism", who gets second billing below Marco himself, is actually Bess.

[The full story of the Houdinis Maritime misadventure appears in the excellent 2012 book, The Metamorphosis: The Apprenticeship of Harry Houdini, by Bruce MacNab.]

It's pretty uncommon to see original items from so early in Houdini's career at auction, and even rarer to see something from the Marco show, so this was a nice get for someone. At one point this had belonged to Bess's sister, Marie Hinson.

The auction also featured several original stills from The Man From Beyond, some stamped "H.P.C." on the back (for Houdini Picture Corporation). Each sold for between $400-$750.

A surprise in the auction was a pair of original press photos from Houdini's Shelton Pool Test which fetched $1,800 on a $250-$350 estimate. They are not unknown images, so I'm not sure why they went so high.

I had my eye on two letters; one from Hardeen to Houdini written on Film Developing Corp. stationary, and the other written by Edward Saint on "Madame Houdini Speaks" stationary (this was the working title for Religious Racketeers). Both had magnificent content and fetched $570 and $360 respectively.

Related:

• Review: Bruce MacNab mines Houdini gold in the Maritimes
• The Shelton pool test at 90
• When Madame Houdini spoke

Center For Inquiry welcomes Houdini (and I)

On Sunday I had the great pleasure of giving a lecture on "Houdini Among the Spirits" at the Center for Inquiry (CFI), a national skeptical organization committed to fostering a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. I presented the lecture twice that day -- first at the CFI's Los Angeles headquarters in Hollywood and later in Costa Mesa for CFI Orange County.

The lecture in Hollywood was held in the CFI's Steve Allen Theater, and I'm happy to report that it was a full house. I was very pleased to see many of my fellow "Houdini Nuts" in attendance, and also magician and TV star Michael Carbonaro ("The Carbonaro Effect") who was working with TCM that day promoting via Twitter the debut of The Grim Game. It was a happy coincidence that my lecture fell on the same day as the TV premiere of the Houdini movie, and I gave it a nice shout-out during my talk.

This was my first time giving this particular lecture, which covers Houdini's life-long involvement with Spiritualism and his career as debunker. I thought my performance in Hollywood was a little wobbly and the lecture a touch long, so I made some quick cuts and think I found the correct rhythm in Costa Mesa. The audience reaction at both locations was very kind, and we had a lively Q&A session. (Love doing Q&A.)

I'm always interested in what parts of the Houdini story seem to most captivate a crowd. I never really know. It's all interesting to me! But that's one of the reasons I like doing these lectures -- I always learn from the audience. In this case, the ladies seemed to steal the show. The crowd seemed especially fascinated with Margery and her battles with Houdini, and also appeared to really sympathize with Bess and her ordeal in 1929 with Arthur Ford. The Bessie clip from Religious Racketeers -- which I also show in my "Houdini in Hollywood" talk -- really seemed to move the audience as never before. Having felt this reaction so strongly in Hollywood, I almost teared up when I played it again in Costa Mesa.

While I don't have any commitments at the moment to give this particular talk again, tomorrow I will be a guest speaker at Tom Ogden's class on the History of Magic at UCLA Extension. The week's class is on magic in the 20th century, and Tom has kindly invited me to cover Houdini. A real honor. And then it's off to San Fransisco for the Official Houdini Seance 2015, which promises to be a spectacular event. Tickets are still available.

Thanks to everyone who came out on Sunday. Also thanks to James Underdown, Bob Ladendorf and Christine Jones for allowing me to bring Houdini to the CFI.

Related:

• Mama's death and the birth of a myth
• Houdini, the Hillstreet, and the birth of a ghostbuster
• Interview with Anna Thurlow, great granddaughter of "Margery"

The Miracle Factory manifests 'Spirit Frauds on Film'

Here's another new DVD release from Todd Karr's The Miracle Factory that will be of interest to Houdini buffs. Spirit Frauds on Film: Phony Mediums in the Cinema 1933-1948 features three movies about spiritualist fakers, including Religious Racketeers (aka Mystic Circle Murder) which contains a rare sound appearance by Bess Houdini. Here's what's on the disc:

• Sucker Money (1933): A fraudulent spiritualist casts a spell over a rich banker’s daughter to steal his money.

• The Mystic Circle Murder (1938): Featuring scenes with Mrs. Bess Houdini, this film tells the tale of a phony medium who takes advanatge of a berieved woman, but is exposed by a helpful reporter.

• The Amazing Mr. X (1948): A rich woman tries to contact her dead husband through an unscrupulous medium, but the man turns out to still be alive.

Once again, Todd is offering readers of WILD ABOUT HARRY a $10 discount by using the promo code FEB10 at checkout. The offer is good through February 15, 2015.

Purchase Spirit Frauds on Film from The Miracle Factory.

Related:

• When Madame Houdini spoke
• The Miracle Factory releases 3 new Houdini DVDs
• Film of Bess Houdini in 1938

Alpha releases Houdini 3-pack DVD

Alpha Video has released a set of all three of their Houdini silent film DVDs for one price. The set includes Haldane of the Secret Service, The Man From Beyond, and Terror Island.

Judging by the item photo (left), it doesn't appear these three DVDs are contained on a special box or slipcase, so I'm not sure it's a must buy for those of us who bought the films when they came out individually. (Memo to Alpha: Whip up a slipcase with unique artwork and, boom, you have me again.)

While these Alpha releases tend to be nothing special as far as the prints are concerned, Alpha does go the extra mile with nice cover art and menus. Their release of Haldane of the Secret Service is the only stand alone DVD release of Houdini's last film.

You can purchase Alpha Video's Houdini DVD three pack from Amazon.com or Oldies.com.

By the way, Alpha's DVD of Mystic Circle Murder (aka Religious Racketeers -- the 1938 Bessie movie) is currently on sale for $3.99 at Oldies.com. Why not make it a four pack!

Houdini - Hollywood ghost

This is a segment about Houdini from the 1986 documentary Hollywood Ghost Stories. It contains nice footage of Houdini performing card flourishes in a 1926 Pathe short and sound footage of Bess Houdini from Religious Racketeers (a.k.a. Mystic Circle Murder). We also get to see the Laurel Canyon estate at its most overgrown.

But the segment also contains a whopper when Psychic Researcher Gordon Rattray claims Bess, a "devout Christian", was pressured by her church to retract the Arthur Ford Houdini message. Of course, Bess was Catholic, and how devout she was at the time of the Ford seances is debatable. And I've never heard of any church involvement in the matter.

Audio is low so you'll want to boost it all the way up. Enjoy the spooky.

Hollywood Ghost Stores is hosted by John Carradine and is definitely a product of its time. The DVD can still be found on Amazon.com. It can also be rented on Netflix.

You can see more videos like this at the WILD ABOUT HARRY YouTube Channel.

Magicana launches website redesign and guest blogs WAH

Magicana, the powers behind Magicol magazine and the Magic Collectors Weekends, have redesigned their official website and are now sharing select posts from WILD ABOUT HARRY on their Mystery & History blog.

Recently they posted a link to my "Making of The Great Houdinis" story. Today they've linked to my post about the Bess Houdini's movie, Religious Racketeers.

Click on over to magicol.magicana.com and have a browse of their new site, and maybe throw in a comment on my latest guest blog showing your support for Houdini history and WAH on Magicana.

Watch the entire 'Religious Racketeers'

Here is the entire film, Religious Racketeers, the 1938 movie that famously features a cameo by Bess Houdini (she appears at 07:30 and 1:07:18). What's nice is this version contains the original title card and not the Mystic Circle Murder title as seen on the current Alpha Video release. This print is also in much better condition. Unfortunately, as with the Alpha print, the epilogue with Bessie is abruptly cut off at the end.

Speaking of Religious Racketeers, there is a very good article by Mark Gabrish Conlan on Movie Magg which makes a great reference resource on this rare film. You can also read my own history of this movie, When Madame Houdini Spoke.

Original title card (left) and the card from the Alpha Video print (right).

You can enjoy more Houdini video finds link this on the new WILD ABOUT HARRY YouTube Channel.

Related:

• When Madame Houdini spoke
• Mystic Circle Murder released on DVD

Original Houdini portrait photo nabs $887 on eBay

An original Houdini Type I portrait photo has sold on eBay for a surprisingly high $887.00. The auction received 28 bids. Just goes to show that a Houdini photo doesn't need to be signed to be valuable. I expect the real appeal here was the beautiful image and the excellent condition.

This photo, taken in 1915 by the LaPine Studios of Seattle, WA, was a favorite of Houdini's. He used it extensively on advertising material related to his anti-spiritualist lecture tour in the early 1920s. This image can be found on programs, window cards (one of which sold on eBay for $1000), and a beautiful color poster that is currently on display at the Houdini Art and Magic exhibition.

This photo can also be seen inside Bess Houdini's famous "Houdini Shrine" during her cameo in the film Religious Racketeers (although I've also seen the shrine with a portrait of an older Houdini inside).

The know-it-all "exposes" Houdini

Here's a screen capture of yours truly in the 1998 Houdini documentary, Houdini Exposed, which came bundled with Houdini's silent feature Terror Island (Library of Congress print) as a Houdini VHS "Double Feature". I haven't watched it in years. But having run into the director, Kent Hagen, at The Magic Castle recently, I gave it another look.

You know, it's really not a bad little doc! I'm not as awful as I remember, and I like that it spends a lot of time on Houdini's film career, which is usually overlooked and sometimes omitted from documentaries altogether. It also doesn't fall into the familiar narrative traps, such as leaping right from his mother's death to his spiritualist crusade (which were separated by 10 years). The doc also incudes an interview with Patrick Culliton, who tells some stories that have never appeared on screen or in-print before. It also features the sound footage of Bessie from Mystic Circle Murder (a.k.a. Religious Racketeers).

As far as I know, this has never made it to DVD or even onto YouTube. While the VHS can still be purchased on Amazon, my fear is it could vanish altogether one day. Maybe I should digitize my old VHS and post it here on Wild About Harry? Or maybe I can somehow lobby for this to be released on DVD.

When Madame Houdini spoke

In 1937, having successfully set up a Houdini biopic at Paramount, Bess Houdini and Edward Saint turned their attentions to developing a second movie that would be starring vehicle for Bessie herself.

The film was to be called Madame Houdini Speaks. The idea was, having fulfilled her ten year "imposed silence", Bess would finally sound off on her views about spiritualism in a dramatic feature film. Saint claimed the film "will go into immediate production" and promised:

"The sensational picture will be packed with ghostly dynamite that will blast the fakes, frauds and humbugging religious racketeers hiding behind the cloak of spiritualistic superstition. Madame Houdini will play the part of herself on the screen and her long experience in tracking down the miracle mongers will be vividly portrayed in the spooky and mystic-laden production."

This is quintessential Edward Saint -- press agent-cum-carnival barker. However, there was more to this project than bluster. The film had a real producer in Fanchon Royer, "one of Hollywood's outstanding independent women producers", and a director in Frank O'Conner, who was also writing the Paramount Houdini biopic. A friend of the family, O'Conner was said to have performed with Houdini in vaudeville and "knew the great magician well."

Madame Houdini Speaks would eventually be released as Religious Racketeer (sometimes referred to as Religious Racketeers and later retitled Mystic Circle Murder). It was filmed in March of 1938 at The Grand National Studios in Hollywood, which was located on the southwest corner of Poinsettia Street and Santa Monica Blvd. next door to the United Artists Studio. As announced, the film was produced by Fanchon Royer and directed by Frank O'Conner (whose Houdini biopic was never made). However, Bess would only appear at the beginning and end of the film as "Madame Houdini." But she did indeed "speak out" and proclaim her belief that communication with the dead was impossible.

The film was given a special "Magicians Preview" on April 12, 1938, where it received an especially positive (polite?) review from Richard Frohmann in Goldston's Magical Quarterly. Said Frohmann:

"Although Religious Racketeer makes no pretense at being a million dollar production, it tells a good story in an arresting and memorable manner. Mrs. Houdini plays an outstanding part in the story, and it is clear that her stage experience has stood her in good stead. The film is undoubtedly good-class entertainment for discriminating filmgoers, and never once borders on bathos or unreality."

Religious Racketeer premiered at Shea's Century Theater in Buffalo, New York on July 7, 1938. It then played limited engagements, typically as part of a double bill. In 1940 it was reissued as Mystic Circle Murder.

Predictably, the film sparked controversy in spiritualist circles. According to a report in Genii, the film was "hissed down by believers from Lillydale" (a "spirit camp"), who packed the Buffalo theater for its first showing. They later denounced the film in their journal, Psychic Observer, reproducing a letter from Bess "in her own hand" in which she states she had received a genuine message from Houdini (I expect they were talking about this letter).

The only available print of Religious Racketeer -- which was released on DVD in 2006 by Alpha Video as Mystic Circle Murder -- runs only 68 minutes, a far cry from its originally reported 90 minute running time. Unfortunately, in this print, the epilogue with Bess is abruptly cut off. Did she have more to say? It appears so. In fact, she may have delivered a fairly lively last word. Evidence for this exists in a review in The Jinx, which quotes Bess in the epilogue as calling mediums "those leeches."

Hopefully, the cut epilogue will one day be rediscovered and restored so we can hear Madame Houdini speak.

Thanks to Marc Wanamaker of the Bison Archives for the information on the Grand National Studio.

Want more? You can see an opening day "World Premiere" newspaper ad for Religious Racketeer as a member of my Patreon.

Related:

• Watch the entire 'Religious Racketeers'
• Mystic Circle Murder released on DVD
• Film of Bess Houdini in 1938

Mystic Circle Murder released on DVD

Alpha Video has released the rarely seen film Mystic Circle Murder on DVD.

Made in 1938, this low-budget film features a cameo by Bess Houdini playing herself (referred to as "Madame Houdini" in the film). In an opening scene, we get to see (and hear!) Bessie as she, presumably, returns from the Final Houdini Seance to extinguish the candle she kept burning for 10 years on her famous “Houdini shrine”. So the legend goes...

Know that much of the "grieving widow's pilgrimage" was engineered by Dr. Edward Saint, Bess' boyfriend and business partner (and some say secret husband) during the 1930s in Hollywood. In fact, Ed Saint is credited on Mystic Circle Murder as the "technical advisor."

Mystic Circle Murder (also known by the title Religious Racketeers) stars Betty Compson and Robert Friske and was directed by Frank O’Conner. While the film itself is pretty tedious, it's a must-own for Houdini buffs as it offers the only sound film of Bessie in existence.

Mystic Circle Murder coming to DVD

No, this is not an April Fools Day joke. It appears the most obscure Houdini-related film will be the first to see an official release on DVD. According to this listing on Amazon.com, Mystic Circle Murder will be released on DVD May 23, 2006.

This low-budget film made in 1938 famously features a cameo by Beatrice Houdini playing herself (billed as "Madame Houdini" in the credits). Also known by the title Religious Racketeers, the film stars Betty Compson and Robert Friske and was directed by Frank O’Conner. While the film itself is pretty tedious, it's really a must-own for Houdini buffs as it's the only sound film of Bessie in existence (luckily, her cameo is very early in the movie).

My only question is...how the heck do we see this on DVD before Paramount’s HOUDNI with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh?