Here's a pleasant surprise. BSX Records is offering Lee Holdridge's soundtrack music for the 1987 Disney movie Young Harry Houdini starring Wil Wheaton. It's available as a digital download and includes a PDF booklet. Purchase by clicking the image below.
BSX Digital presents the premiere release of YOUNG HARRY HOUDINI, featuring music composed and conducted by Lee Holdridge. The music has been remastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland.
This certainly wasn't on my bingo card of possible Houdini releases, but I'm excited to see it. In fact, I would love to see BSX Records release the soundtracks to Houdini (1953) and The Great Houdinis (1976).
UPDATE: I didn't realize when I posted this that today is Wil Wheaton's 54th birthday. Happy birthday, Wil!
Disney's Young Harry Houdini (1987) is one of the harder Houdini movies to see. But here it is in its entirety on YouTube. The quality could be better, but if you've never seen it, this gets the job done!
Young Harry Houdini first aired on March 15, 1987, as part of the Disney Sunday Movie on ABC.
It was 35 years ago today that Young Harry Houdini starring Wil Wheaton aired on ABC as The Disney Sunday Movie. On this anniversary, why not take a look back at my 2010 overview of this little-known biopic by clicking the image below.
Click for overview
Hey Disney, how about bringing this to Disney+?
If you have memories of seeing Young Harry Houdini, please share in the Comments below.
Escape artist Dorothy Dietrich and the 1987 movie Young Harry Houdini provide inspiration for the young protagonist in The Art of Escaping, a new novel by Erin Callahan. Here's a description.
Seventeen-year-old Mattie has a hidden obsession: escapology. Emphasis on hidden. If anyone from school finds out, she’ll be abandoned to her haters. Facing a long and lonely summer, Mattie finally seeks out Miyu, the reclusive daughter of a world-renowned escape artist. Following in Houdini’s footsteps, Miyu helps Mattie secretly transform herself into an escapologist and performance artist.
When Will, a popular athlete from school, discovers Mattie’s act at an underground venue, Mattie fears her secret persona will be exposed. Instead of outing her, though, Will tells Mattie a secret not even his girlfriend knows. Through a blossoming friendship, the two must find a way to express their authentic selves.
Told through the perspectives of the witty main characters, this funny and fresh debut explores the power of stage personas and secret spaces, and speaks to the uncanny ways in which friendships transform us.
Author Erin Callahan will be appearing tomorrow (June 28) at Gibson's bookstore in Concord, New Hampshire, for the official book launch. There will also be a reading by Erin at the Houdini Museum of Scranton on July 14 at 5:00pm. You'll be able to get the book signed by Erin and Dorothy Dietrich herself!
For more information on Erin Callahan's work and upcoming appearances check out her official website. The Art of Escaping can be purchased on Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).
Back in May, Steve Valentine screened my copy of Young Harry Houdini at the Magic Castle with star Wil Wheaton in attendance. It was a fun night and rare chance to see a film that's never been released on VHS or DVD in the U.S. The screening was on the eve of my trip to the Midwest Magic Weekend, so I was never able to properly cover it here on the blog.
Happily, the event and film was covered in the June 2015 issue of the online newsletter, The Chainletter (Vol 6. No. 57). The Chainletter is devoted to the art of escapology and put out monthly by Cliff Gerstman of T.I.E.S. (The International Escapologist Society).
So if you want to read about Young Harry Houdini, CLICK HERE and download the June issue from the T.I.E.S. website. And while you're there, catch up on other issues of The Chainletter, which regularly features Houdini news and reviews.
The Magic Castle in Hollywood will screen the 1987 movie Young Harry Houdini as a "Castle Perk" for members on Tuesday, May 26 at 8:00pm. Star Wil Wheaton will be in attendance for a Q&A with Steve Valentine. Here's a description of the event:
INNER CIRCLE: Join us for a screening of Young Harry Houdini, the 1987 "Disney Sunday Movie" starring Wil Wheaton. See the movie and then enjoy an exclusive Q&A with Mr. Wheaton after the screening. He will chat about his memories of the shoot and his lifelong relationship with magic. If you haven't seen the movie, Billy McComb plays a character called Merlin. ALL MEMBERS WELCOME!
This is probably the hardest of all the Houdini biopics to see, so this will be a real treat. You can read more about Young Harry HoudiniHERE.
Here's an item from the April 17, 1976 issue of The High Point Enterprise announcing the signing of Paul Michael Glaser as Houdini in the ABC biopic, The Great Houdinis. Why is this interesting? Because look who made the announcement: Michael D. Eisner.
Click to enlarge.
As Vice President, Program Planning and Development for ABC, Eisner would have been one of the key decision makers responsible for making The Great Houdinis happen. Until I found this clipping, I had no idea he was involved.
Of course, Eisner went on to run the Walt Disney Company from 1984 to 2005 and became one of the most powerful men in show business. Interestingly, it was during Eisner's tenure that Disney produced Young Harry Houdini with Wil Wheaton. Eisner even personally introduced the movie on March 15, 1987 (view clip here).
It appears the mighty Mr. Eisner understood the appeal and power of Houdini throughout his career.
Here's a better look at the Water Torture Cell as it was featured in an episode of ABC's Castle on Monday night. It was only onscreen for an eye-blink, which is too bad because it's a good looking prop.
Click to enlarge
I don't know this for certain, but I think this might be the cell that was constructed by John Gaughan in 1982 for an unknown movie called Torture Escape. I have a clipping from the Los Angeles Times with a photo that matches this cell right down to the rivets. This also looks a lot like the cell that was used in Young Harry Houdini.
The episode itself, Proof! You're Dead, was...decent. You can watch it on Hulu.
On March 15, 1987, the Walt Disney Company aired Young Harry Houdini as part of their recently relaunched Disney Sunday Movie on ABC. The two-hour made for TV film starred Wil Wheaton and José Ferrer and was introduced by the relatively new Disney CEO, Michael Eisner (along with a special performance by “Mickey The Great”).
Young Harry Houdini tells the story of the “lost years” of Ehrich Weiss. It is actually rooted in fact. The young Houdini did run away from home in 1886 and little is known about his year-long adventures on the road. Screenwriters James Cruickshank and Jim Orr (who also directed) fill in the gaps with a colorful story in which Ehrich finds a mentor in traveling show carney Dr. Tybalt Grimaldi (José Ferrer), a love interest in the pretty Calpernia (Kerri Green), and experiences true mysticism via an indian medicine man (J. Reuben Silverbird).
"Getting this role was like a dream come true for me," said 14-year-old star Wil Wheaton, who performed card and coin magic at the time. "I've idolized, you could almost say worshipped, Houdini all my life!"
The film begins with the adult Houdini (played by Jeffrey DeMunn who also played the magician in the film version of Ragtime) performing the Water Torture Cell in England. It’s a pretty good recreation of the USD with a fairly authentic looking cell, although the conclusion owes more to Doug Henning’s interpretation than Houdini. Later in his dressing room, Houdini relates the story of his runaway days to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Roy Dotrice). “It is the most fantastic story you will ever hear,” says Houdini.
Flashback to Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1886, where we meet “Ehrich Prince of the Air” honing his performance skills while also apprenticing to a local locksmith. An encounter with “The Great Merlin” leads to Ehrich losing his locksmith job and after a dressing down by his stern father (Byrne Piven), Ehrich runs away to prove himself as a magician.
Here the story travels into wholly fictional territory, nevertheless it still has nods to established Houdini lore. Ehrich hops the wrong box car and ends up in Kanas City, as did the real Ehrich Weiss. There is a clever variation on the “convict in cuffs” story when Ehrich frees a fellow traveler from handcuffs. When Ehrich first sees Dr. Grimaldi, he is performing a (Disney-friendly) version of Paligenesia, the effect associated with Ehrich’s real-life influence, Dr. Lynn.
The second half of the film gets a little lost in sometimes bizarre “chosen one” mythology, but along the way we get to see Ehrich reading The Memories of Robert-Houdin and perform his first packing crate escape. And the movie does have a satisfying twist that I won’t reveal.
One point of interest is where exactly Young Harry Houdini was shot. Much of the action is set on what appears to be a western backlot. This could be the Disney Studios in Burbank or Disney's Golden Oaks Ranch near Newhall. Jim Steinmeyer was the technical advisor on the film. Jim worked with Doug Henning at the time, so the technical advisor credit reads just "Doug Henning Magic." The Water Torture Cell was supplied by John Gaughan and went on to make many more television appearances.
As far as I know, Young Harry Houdini aired only once. The new Disney Sunday Night movie would go the way of the old and cease broadcast by 1989.
Young Harry Houdini did find it’s way onto videocassette in Great Britain, but it has never been released on any home entertainment format in the U.S. That’s a shame because Young Harry Houdini is a well-made, entertaining family film that deserves to brought up from the Disney vaults.
TV Land’s Myths & Legends investigates whether or not Houdini really died from a punch in the stomach in an episode titled “Super Stares and Super Deaths” which airs this month.
Experts interviewed include Penn & Teller, Harry Anderson, and Wil Wheaton (remember, Wil played Houdini in the Disney TV movie Young Harry Houdini). The segment includes some nice photos and a generous use of clips from The Man From Beyond.
The same episode also includes investigations into the deaths of Mama Cass (by Ham Sandwich?), and George Reeves (did he really try and fly like Superman?).
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