Deconstructing Houdini '53: The End

CONCLUDING my scene-by-scene dissection of Houdini (1953) on this, the 99th anniversary of Houdini's death. Last time, Harry agreed to cut his Pagoda Torture Cell from his Halloween show. But can he resist giving the audience "more?"

Chapter 24: The End

It's Halloween!

Houdini has returned to the stage and is giving the audience thrills that made him famous. We drop into the full evening show as Houdini escapes from a barrel. Applause greets Harry's appearance from the cabinet. By the way, the Halloween imagery we see on the stage is accurate. Houdini used Halloween-like iconography during his final tours (see this poster).

We then move quickly to the next escape as Otto announces, "Houdini has been challenged to escape from a steel straitjacket." For some reason, Otto is the one who does all the talking onstage. This is certainly not accurate, but I like how it harkens back to the buzzsaw scene at Coney Island.

Two men in the audience come forward with the steel jacket. (If anyone knows the names of these actors, I'd love to hear it.) This scene is a favorite as the steel straitjacket has become iconic in its own right. Dunninger provided the prop and claimed it was used by Houdini himself. But I've found no evidence of this. By the way, "Here goes the coat again," is something the real Houdini would sometimes say onstage.

As always, the magic is performed for real in a single shot. Under the cover of his cape, Houdini/Tony Curtis is free in less than a minute. "Better luck next time," he says to the stunned men. It's great stuff, but I don't love the decision to lay in sound effects during his escape. Also, if you have a keen eye, you will see that part of the gaff is exposed as Houdini hands the jacket back to the men.

Houdini is then brought his traditional magician's cape and top hat, two things the real Houdini never wore onstage, but it neatly evokes his stature as THE Master Magician. He then gives his farewell address:

"You're really a wonderful audience, and I do want to thank you for this heartwarming welcome you've given me on my return to the stage. I do hope I pleased you, and that you'll be coming back to see me again and again. And each time you do come back, I promise you bigger and better thrills. Good night, and thank you very much."

As Houdini leaves the stage, the audience begins to shout for "more." Mixed into the applause are some shouts, "What about the Torture Cell? Why don't you do what you promised?" Houdini hears this as he heads into the wings. "Don't listen to them, they are never satisfied," says Otto. Houdini then steps into a nice close-up and says, "I can't." He tells Otto to, "Get the Torture Cell ready."

Houdini dashes into his dressing room and quickly prepares for the encore. He turns sharply and collides with the blunt handle of a prop sword. Right in the appendix! He collapses in pain. This is our substitute for the famous punch from J. Gordon Whitehead, who was still alive when this movie was made. I've heard it said that this is why the filmmakers decided not to dramatize the punch incident itself.

In the auditorium, the curtains re-opens on the bubbling Pagoda Torture Cell as the orchestra plays an ominous waltz. Bess dashes from her box as Houdini appears on stage in his bathing suit. The men who just challenged Houdini are invited back on stage to assist, but this time there is no levity. The mood is as somber as a funeral.

As Houdini is secured in the stocks and raised above the cell, we intercut with Bess, trying to get to the stage, but the doors are locked. She bangs on the glass, but cannot be heard. Back on stage, Houdini takes several deep breaths, then he goes down into the cell as the clock and Otto begin to count off the seconds.

We have some nice Houdini POV shots of the audience through glass. But how I wish these shots were upside down! (See below). Interestingly, the curtain does not conceal the cell entirely; it only conceals the top. There is some evidence that Houdini did perform a version of the Water Torture Cell that was partially visible to the audience.

Having given up on the stage door, Bess now runs around to the front of the theater and enters through the main doors. Meanwhile, things on the stage are not going as planned. Houdini seems unable to maneuver in the confined space. He grits his teeth and appears to grow frantic. That's when Bess appears in the back of the house, just in time to see her husband fall limp with a stream of bubbles flowing from his mouth. Bess screams.

Otto then uses a fire axe to smash the cell glass in a spectacular shot. It appears actor Torin Thatcher is doing this himself, which seems pretty risky. Houdini's limp body is dragged from the cell as pandemonium erupts and the curtains close.

As Houdini is lying on the stage, Bess appears at his side. Houdini coughs and says weakly, "I'll come back, Bess. If there's a way, I'll come back. I'll come back."

Wait a minute!

Time out. The number one criticism of Houdini (1953) is that it depicts Houdini dying in his Pagoda Torture Cell. But that's not what happens here. If Houdini can talk, he's not drowned. He's alive and, presumably, he will now go to the hospital, where it will be discovered that his appendix has ruptured. So he will die in the hospital due to the results of a ruptured appendix, just as he did in real life. All we saw here was an accident, which is not entirely fictional. Houdini did have an accident in the Water Torture Cell during his last days, although not as dramatic as the one depicted here.

The entire premise of this series is that when you put each scene of this movie under the microscope, it is actually far more accurate than it is given credit for. This biggest "inaccuracy" and is actually the best example of this. And it is the last.

Okay, back to the movie.

"I'll come back, Bess. I'll come back."

Of course, this is a reference to the pact Houdini and Bess made that if it were possible to come back from the dead, he would try to do so. As Houdini repeats his promise, the camera moves away, traveling like a ghost past onlookers who seem frozen in place -- frozen in time. The camera drifts into the backstage area and settles on an old but familiar poster of the young Houdini from "Schultz's Dime Museum," and we understand just how far he has come and how high he has risen in this mysterious world of magic. Over this image appears: "The End."

There are no credits; just a repeat of the Paramount logo. Then fade to black.

Here's a standing ovation for the greatest Houdini biopic of them all. Houdini (1953). May it live forever!

Hope you enjoyed this series.

Remembering

HARRY HOUDINI

on the

99th ANNIVERSARY

OF HIS DEATH

October 31, 1926

Deconstructing Houdini '53: A man in love with death

Continuing my scene-by-scene dissection of Houdini (1953). Last time, Harry and Bess had a falling out over the Pagoda Torture Cell. Now, Houdini is alone with his creation. Or is he?

Chapter 23: A man in love with death

The entire premise of this series is to show how Houdini (1953) is more accurate than it is generally given credit for, and that nearly every scene contains embedded within it some real Houdini history. Now we come to a scene that contains no Houdini history whatsoever. It is entirely fictional. And it's my favorite scene in the film. It's just a beautifully written, directed, and performed piece of peak Hollywood cinema. So let's glory in it!

We open with Houdini walking down the street in front of the theater. He passes the large poster advertising his Pagoda Torture Cell, then heads for the backstage entrance. Dissolve to Houdini walking onto the stage of the empty theater. He approaches the finished Pagoda Torture Cell. He turns on a bubble effect, a perfect way to communicate its completion.

For the record, the real Water Torture Cell had no bubble effect. But maybe it should have! It looks pretty cool. When the real cell was displayed at the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Canada in the 1980s, a fish tank was placed inside to give it this bubble effect. However, the tank leaked, causing damage to the cell.

Houdini stands back, admiring his masterpiece. That's when he hears clapping. It's Bess, sitting far back in the seats. "I didn't want you to be without an audience," she says coolly as she continues to deliver a slow, mocking clap. The scene continues:

Harry: Cut it out.

Bess: Why? It's what you live for, isn't it?

Harry: What do you want me to do? The theater's sold out for tomorrow night.

Bess: Wherever you go, the theater will be sold out.

Harry: You make it sound like it's something terrible.

Bess: It is. People paying a dollar to see a man in love with death.

She resumes clapping.

This beautifully written exchange is shot in two single shots, further separating the characters. After a further exchange, Bess gets up to leave, but Harry calls out for her to wait.

We then get an extraordinary single shot. We're behind Bess as she stands, and can see all the way to the stage where Harry and the Pagoda Torture Cell stand. Harry grabs his coat, dashes off the stage, down the stairs, crosses the front row, and comes up the aisle directly towards Bess. As he nears, he throws his coat into the seats, grabs Bess by the shoulders, and turns her into a perfect profile two-shot, with the Pagoda Torture Cell visible on the stage behind them. They then deliver their dialogue with building emotion. In the end, Harry admits that without Bess, he wouldn't want to go on and agrees to "cut it out of the act."

If this were a modern movie, this would have been done in a series of shots. Heck, some modern directors would have covered it in several dozen quick cuts (you know who you are). But here, it's all done in one perfectly composed and perfectly performed shot. Yet there is no loss of momentum. In fact, the tension only heightens as Houdini nears Bess, and we see the determination on his face. And then for the actors to complete an entire page of dialogue is even more impressive. I'm amazed Tony Curtis isn't out of breath!

For many years, I wondered what theater this was filmed in. But recently, collector Ken Trombly showed me a collection of rare behind-the-scenes set photos, and I can now confirm that this wasn't a real theater at all. It was all built on a Paramount soundstage. In fact, all of Houdini (1953) was shot on the Paramount lot in Hollywood.

The final beat of this sequence is something I think many people forget is even in this movie. In fact, it's unclear whether it belongs to this scene or the following sequence. It seems to sit strangely on its own. But it is critical.

In Houdini's dressing room, we see Otto giving Harry a massage. Harry winces when Otto touches his stomach. Otto questions him about the pain, and Harry assures him, "It's nothing. It comes and goes." Otto suggests it might be his appendix. After first brushing it off, Harry agrees to have it checked out "after the tour."

In 1911, Houdini was diagnosed as having broken a blood vessel in his kidney. He suffered intermittent pain for the rest of his life. On one level, we could see this as a reference to that injury ("comes and goes"). However, the suggestion of it being his appendix is a different matter. Appendicitis is not something that comes and goes, and it's not something that should be delayed.

We are now back in the realm of real Houdini history. Famously, we know Houdini was suffering from appendicitis in the final days of his tour. We know Houdini delayed treatment, believing the pain in his stomach was caused by a punch. Therefore, the phantom pain here is vital to understanding what happens next.

It's the grand finale of Houdini (1953) and our series, but I will save that for Halloween.

Related:

• Houdini's grand finale: 3 Shows In One
• The beginning of the end
• Did a contract clause kill Houdini?

Deconstructing Houdini '53: Pagoda Torture Cell

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TONY CURTIS! Let's celebrate what would have been Tony's 100th by continuing our scene-by-scene dissection of Houdini (1953). Last time we went to a seance. Now Houdini gets back to business...

Chapter 22: Pagoda Torture Cell

We now enter the final act of Houdini (1953). It starts with Bess arriving at a theater advertising Houdini's return. Much to her alarm, she sees a large poster for the "Pagoda Torture Cell." Beside it is a sign reading, "Opening Tomorrow Night, Halloween." Fate is screaming out at Bess (and us) from the theater front. 

It's a shame we don't see the theater name. But we know this is New York, not Detroit, and based on the Variety headline we saw in the preceding montage, this is Halloween 1925, not 1926. So the movie is taking liberties in the buildup to the big climax.

As Bess dashes into the lobby, a janitor tells her Houdini is not at the theater; he's at "Sherman Ironworks on 14th Street." Notice there is a Houdini handcuff case on display in the lobby with a man looking at it. Before high-resolution, I wondered if this could be a cameo by Joseph Dunninger. It resembles him, and what is a great idea, especially as Dunninger knew Houdini in these final years. But I can now see it's just an extra, dang-it.

Bess arrives at Sherman Ironworks, which is not rooted in any real Houdini history. Houdini's workshop was in New Jersey. There, Bess finds Harry and Otto working on the large glass Pagoda Torture Cell. Bess folds her arms and says. "So this is why you kept me in the country all week." Bess spending time in the country while Harry worked in New York is rooted in Houdini history. In fact, I'm pretty sure Bess was in the country when Houdini performed his famous Shelton Pool Test.

Houdini says they just wanted to see if it was "workable." Bess calls him out on this, saying she has been to the theater and it's "plastered all over the front." Houdini shrugs and says he's done water escapes before; this is nothing different.

"Nothing different?" says Bess, "It's an exact copy of Von Schweger's man in the bottle. It's what killed him. Don't you understand, Harry? It's what killed him."

Wait a minute. While this is a copy of the model Harry received as a gift from the late Von Schweger (see Chapter 15), Otto said nothing about it having anything to do with Von Schweger's death. I can only assume that Bess means Von Schweger's obsession with his "man in the bottle" trick isolated him and led to a collapse in health, hence "killing" him?

Notice that Bess does not mention the fact that Harry is planning this for Halloween. Remember her warning before the ice escape in Detroit: "That's not your day." But this would have been redundant, and there is something smart about letting the audience see this red flag without having to articulate it once again.

Harry says he's not worked before an audience in two years (further muddying the timeline as established in the montage), and he has to give them something new. "People aren't going to stand in line to watch me pull rabbits out of a hat," he says. This line reminds us of the poster that stood on Harry's platform at Schultz's Dime Museum. A rabbit from a hat was enough for audiences back then. But now Houdini and the world have lost their innocence. Both have hardened like the iron we see and hear being forged all around them.

Harry and Bess then address the key underlying issue, and we have this excellent exchange:

BESS

Why? Why must every act you do be flirting with death?

HARRY

Because it's the only act that'll hold an audience spellbound. People fall asleep at the opera, but they stay wide awake at the bullfights. Because there's one man defying death down in that arena. You take this out of my act and I'm nothing.

BESS

You keep it in and we're both nothing.

It's a standoff. Notice the X on the glass of the cell between them during this confrontation. A clever visual that separates them and marks the cell as the ultimate object of their core conflict.

Harry chooses death. He tells Otto, "Have this sent to the theater. We'll test it for tomorrow's performance." Even Otto, the enabler, seems upset by this decision. Houdini snaps at him, "Well, what are you standing there for?" Bess turns and leaves. Everyone is at odds as we head into the final show.

By the way, I've always thought Otto looked more like Houdini in his famous workshop photos than Tony Curtis, amiright?

Houdini (1953) presents the "Pagoda Torture Cell" as Houdini's final creation at the end of his career. That is far from the truth. Houdini debuted his Water Torture Cell, later known as The Chinese Water Torture Cell, in 1912, midway through his career, and he performed it hundreds of times. But it was still Houdini's penultimate stage escape, just as it is here.

Contrast this with the Houdini Miniseries of 2014, in which the Water Torture Cell is presented as Houdini's first major stage escape. That movie has nowhere to go (and it doesn't). So, as far as old-fashioned drama is concerned, making the Torture Cell Houdini's final escape is a great way to build up its importance...and menace.

Related:

• The 100 year history of The Water Torture Cell
• Houdini spills the inspiration for his "Chinese" Water Torture Cell
• Houdini in his workshop

Deconstructing Houdini '53: Come in, spirits

Continuing my scene-by-scene dissection of Houdini (1953). Last time, we discovered what Houdini had been doing in seclusion for two whole years. Now, we join him in his strange quest to reach the Beyond...

Chapter 21: Come in, spirits

Most people fault Houdini (1953) for creating the myth of (spoilers!) Houdini dying in the Water Torture Cell. But the far more pernicious myth to come out of the film is the idea that Houdini's mother's death is what led directly to his involvement in spiritualism. The truth is Houdini's interest in spiritualism goes all the way back to the beginning of his magic career, and his crusade against fraud mediums came ten years after his mother's death. As far as I know, he did not attend any seances immediately after her demise.

However, his mother's death provides such a perfect narrative link to spiritualism that screenwriter Philip Yordan fused the two, and later screenwriters and documentarians all followed suit. Thus, the idea is still ingrained in the minds of the public today.

Having got that bit of business out of the way, let's go to a séance!

We drop into the scene mid-séance as Harry, Bess, and reporter Simms sit around a table with an unnamed medium played by Mabel Paige. She intones, "Come in, spirits. Come in, spirits." And they do! Spirit hands, a tambourine, and a spirit trumpet all float through the air. A veiled entity whips past the sitters. Mr. Simms looks ready to bolt, but Bess tells him to remain steady.

Suddenly, the French doors burst open, and the spirit of a woman floats just outside the window. The strains of "The Golden Years," which we first heard when Harry and Mama danced in Germany, mysteriously plays in the room. This manifestation is the grand finale as the medium wavers and then faints, her head falling atop the table with a thunk.

After the lights come on, the attendees discuss what they saw. Bess says the spirit in the garden "did bear a resemblance to Mama," and Houdini notes that the waltz they heard was his mother's favorite song. The medium tells them they are fortunate, as most first sessions produced nothing. "It usually takes several before the receptive vibration is established."

I always found it amusing that they only discuss the music and apparition in the garden and not the far more baffling manifestations that preceded this. Of course, those were done via optical effects in post-production. I would be interested to know if they even appear in the script. They may have been added after the fact to provide the séance with some more spooky thrills.

The French doors burst open again. This time, Otto comes in holding a man, Kit Guard, who has the "Mama" spirit apparition on his head. Houdini then pulls a microphone down from the chandelier. He then fishes under the table with his foot until he finds the trigger that starts the music, which is supplied by a phonograph hidden in a chair. Busted!

A bemused Simms asks Houdini if all mediums are fakes. Houdini quickly answers, "No, I'm sure there are those who are sincere and believe what they're doing. I just haven't found them yet."

This sentiment isn't too far from Houdini's real statements. However, I sense this line is in the movie to head off potential controversy. If so, it worked. As far as I know, Houdini (1953) did not draw any ire from the Spiritualism community.

As they depart, the medium looks to her accomplice and whacks him hard, barking, "Take that thing off!" Funny.

So did this kind of thing happen? Absolutely. However, it happened far less than most people think. While Houdini attended hundreds of séances, he rarely exposed mediums on the spot. He would generally thank the medium but say that he hadn't seen anything "evidentiary" and depart. However, there were a few high-profile exposés that did play out on the spot and drew headlines as a result.

Speaking of headlines, we now get Montage #3, beginning with the "What's become of Houdini?" layout now filled in with his spirit exposures. Notice there are dates visible on these newspaper pages. The first is dated March 2, 1922, which is pretty accurate to the start of Houdini's public activities related to Spiritualism. 

If you look closely, you can see three illustrations from Houdini's Margery pamphlet on the page below. So, technically, the famous Margery does appear in Houdini '53!

We then see a headline touting Houdini's $25,000 challenge for proof of contact with the spirit world. This one is dated August 28, 1924, and is generally accurate, although Houdini's personal bounty was $10,000.

We end with a headline in Billboard dated September 11, 1925: "Houdini Returns to Magic: Goes on Tour." Notice the cigar in the astray and the shadow of the telephone, suggesting this is the desktop of a showbiz bigshot. Martin Beck or E.F. Albee maybe?

While the date here is accurate to the launch of Houdini's first "3 Shows in One" tour, spiritualism remained a big part of his life and act. But as far as Houdini '53 is concerned, his time among the spirits is now over.

Want more? I have a special epilogue to this installment on my Patreon. Click below for a quick trip to the afterlife.

Click to see all chapters of Deconstructing Houdini '53

Related:

• The Cecil M. Cook exposé
• The Pecoraro Files
• Mama's death and the birth of a myth

Deconstructing Houdini '53: Vanishing Act

Continuing my scene-by-scene dissection of Houdini (1953). Last time, Houdini escaped from an icy grave, only to learn that death had claimed his beloved mother. Now, the aftermath...

Chapter 20: Vanishing Act

Houdini (1953) covers Houdini's involvement with spiritualism with great efficiency. It occupies only eight minutes of the movie's 1:46 runtime (starting spookily at 1:26). But I don't think you'll ever hear the complaint that there is too little. I think the mistake later biopics make is spending too much time in this part of his life, even devoting entire films to it (Death Defying Acts). Also, Houdini (1953) is about Houdini's dueling relationships with his wife and magic, and the sooner we get back to that main theme, the better.

However, Houdini's foray into Spiritualism is an important part of his story, so it needs to be here. Therefore, screenwriter Philip Yordan gives it to us in a single entertaining sequence, which we will cover over the next two installments.

We begin in the newspaper offices of The Observer. On an unfinished page, we see the question: "What's become of Houdini?" There's a treat here for Houdini buffs in that the photo of Tony Curtis on this page is a recreation of the famed 1903 photo of Houdini in loincloth and chains. Gotta love it!

Simms (Douglas Spencer), the reporter from the suspended straitjacket scene, enters the office. His editor (Lewis Martin) shows him the page and asks, "Why should a man at the height of his career drop out of sight for two whole years?" Simms explains, "After his mother died, he went into seclusion and wouldn't see anyone, not even me." The editor says, "A man like that can't be doing nothing. Find out what it is."

It's true that Houdini canceled his tour after his mother died. He was booked to play Scandinavia, but news of his mother's death sent him home to New York. It's also true Houdini went into seclusion after his mother's death. But it was only for a month. Tour commitments in France forced him back to Europe. So the movie is taking a pretty big liberty by making it two years. But the extended time also creates a greater mystery. What IS Houdini doing?

We dissolve to Simms standing outside 278, er, I mean, 273, as the filmmakers renumbered Houdini's New York home. He sees Harry, Bess, and Otto exit the house and approaches them. Houdini looks both serious and aged, with his temples very noticeably grey now. He tries to evade the reporter, saying that they have an appointment. But Simms says, "Hey, you owe me. I was the only reporter who covered your straitjacket escape. Remember?" Harry does remember and invites him into the car.

Houdini's car appears to be a circa 1924 Springfield Rolls-Royce Phantom I with a limousine body by Brewster. (Thanks to David Charvet for the identification.) Exactly what kind of car Houdini used in New York at this time isn't known, although it is accurate to show Houdini being chauffeured as he rarely drove in later life. If the filmmakers wanted to be more accurate and provide a nice easter egg, they could have given him a Packard Straight Eight, which is a car Houdini used during his spiritualism lecture tour.

In the car, Houdini explains to Simms that he has spent the last two years trying to communicate with his deceased mother. If there is a hereafter, there must be a way to reach it. "There is. By dying," quips Simms. "That closes the door. I want to open it," says Harry. The idea that Houdini sees death as just another barrier that he can unlock is a nice one. And for Harry Houdini, nothing is "impossible." (As to the truth of all this, I'll tackle that in the next installment, or you can read this.)

For all my admiration of the technical aspects of this film, this is one scene in which a technical flaw causes real distraction. The back projection through the car window shows a New York that appears to be from the 1890s instead of the 1920s. You see horse-drawn carriages and women in turn-of-the-century dress. But what is worse is the back projection loops, visibly jump-cutting back to the start. I didn't notice this the first time I watched the movie, but now I can't stop seeing it. And you won't be able to either. Sorry!

Houdini explains that tonight they "are going to try again" and invites Simms to come along. Simms looks a little nervous and starts to make excuses. Bess prods him with, "You're not afraid, are you, Mr. Simms?" Simms clearly is afraid, but he reluctantly agrees to go along and experience Houdini's strange new world.

Click to see all chapters of Deconstructing Houdini '53

Related:

• The Scandinavian tour that wasn't
• A Houdini photo you've never seen
• Houdini and his Packard Eight