Paperback edition of Fleischman’s ESCAPE! shoots down spy theory

A trade paperback edition of Sid Fleischman's carefully researched 2006 book ESCAPE! The Story of the Great Houdini is released today.

The paperback contains a new chapter, "The Restless Ghost", in which Sid addresses the notion that Houdini was a spy and/or murdered. His conclusion: "It's nonsense, of course."

You can purchase the updated ESCAPE! The Story of the Great Houdini on Amazon.com.

Related:

• Sid Fleischman’s ESCAPE! released today
• Experts weigh-in on 'Secret Life' spy revelation

Houdini musical headed to Broadway in 2010

Danny Elfman

Tony Award-winning producer Scott Sanders and Tony nominated architect/set designer David Rockwell announced plans today to present HOUDINI, An Original Musical on Broadway in the spring of 2010.

The creative team includes Danny Elfman (music), David Yazbek (lyrics), Kurt Andersen (book), and Jack O'Brien (direction). HOUDINI, An Original Musical marks the Broadway debuts of Mr. Elfman and Mr. Andersen, and first-time producing debut for Mr. Rockwell, who will also design the sets.

"When David Rockwell asked me to join him as a co-lead producer, I didn't hesitate for a moment. Houdini is an amazing, iconic figure who continues to captivate our imagination more than 80 years after his death. His colorful world defines the theatrical and, combined with this remarkable creative team, will make for a fascinating and entertaining musical," says Scott Sanders.

"The musical theater has always been a passion of mine, and I can't imagine a more thrilling opportunity than the creation of a new musical, especially with this team" adds David Rockwell.

Broadway theater, casting and full design team will be announced at a later date.

Source: Broadwayworld.com

Stone Temple Pilots rock the Houdini Estate

The fabled "Houdini Estate" in Laurel Canyon was the site last night for a reunion concert by Stone Temple Pilots. I can personally attest to this. I live on the same street and I had to show my address to police, who had cordoned off the street, in order to get home. I figured it was a party...or the most rockin' Houdini séance the house ever saw!

According to Billboard, the group's 30-minute set was the first since disbanding in 2002. Frontman Scott Weiland said the concert's setting at the "Harry Houdini Estate" had special meaning to the band.

"We shot our video for 'Creep' here in the early '90s -- yeah, we're old," the singer joked, noting that the Gus Van Sant-produced clip never saw the light of day. "It looked like an Obsession commercial, which is cool, but it wasn't what we wanted to portray."

The 3.5 acre property, which was recently purchased and is undergoing restoration, includes a 2bed 2bath guest house, stone walkways, staircases, fountains, caves, and a natural spring.

A video of the appearance can be viewed on YouTube. For the history of the Houdini Laurel Canyon property, click here.

Houdini The Movie Star DVD collection released today

Kino International's new DVD box set collection of Houdini’s silent films, Houdini The Movie Star, is released today.

"Houdini The Movie Star" includes The Master Mystery, Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, Haldane of the Secret Service, a 5 minute fragment from The Grim Game, and filmed records of Houdini escapes from 1907 to 1923.

The most significant film here is Haldane of the Secret Service which has never before appeared on any retail format (and is a much better film than its reputation would suggest, IMHO). It shows as being licensed by Cinema Arts. I'm wondering if it's the print that screened in Los Angeles last year.

I'm currently working my way through the set. The films looks great and the archival footage is amazing, especially the 1907 bridge jump in Rochester NY. I also found the footnotes very very good. There's more info about Houdini's movie career on this DVD than you find in many biographies. There's even some stuff I've never heard before, like the battle with the censor board over the asylum sequence in The Man From Beyond.

There is also a lengthy chunk of Houdini's very first narrative film, The Adventures of Houdini in Paris (1909), although Kino does not credit it as such and simply includes it in the archival footage.

What a gift this set is to Houdini buffs! Now if we can only get a copy of The Grim Game...

Paramount’s Houdini (finally!) coming to DVD

Great news! The 1953 Paramount movie HOUDINI starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh is finally coming to DVD. Movies Unlimited shows the DVD available on June 3, 2008.

It’s not clear what company is releasing the DVD. A tipster tells us the movie is being released by an independent label under license from Paramount.

Hey, I don’t care how we get it, I’m just happy we finally have it! This combined with the April release of Houdini The Movie Star is making this a very good year for Houdini on DVD.

UPDATE: The company releasing this DVD is Legend Films. The disc will include the original trailer.

Houdini props sell in Vegas auction

Several rare Houdini’s props and posters were sold at The Pugliese Pop Culture Collection auction (advertised as the finest collection focusing on 20th Century pop culture ever privately assembled) held this weekend in Las Vegas.

Among the rarities where a full color billboard advertising Houdni’s straight-jacket escape ($27,500.00), an untypical milk can ($13,000), a travailing show truck ($20,000), a mailbag ($8,000), and a burlap full body straight jacket ($22,000).

Surprisingly, one item that didn’t sell was a packing crate said be the one Houdini used in his "Overboard Box" escapes. This is certainly a historic piece of Houdiniana, and considering the opening price of $20,000 was below some of the above realized prices, it’s surprising no one bid. The auction estimate was $40,000 to $60,000.

Many of the items in auction were once on display at the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Canada. Several items were first sold at a Butterfield & Butterfield auction in Los Angeles in 1999.

So when do we start digging?

It was a year ago that a frenzy of media announced that the body of Houdini would be exhumed and tested to see if he was, yes, poisoned!

While the press seemed to have forgotten about this, fans have not, and I’ve received no shortage of enquires about when the old boy is going to be dug up.

I’m sorry to say I haven’t been able to get any straight answers, but the Daily News recently resurrected the story and added one telling new fact; the parties involved never even filed legal papers to preform an exhumation.

This, combined with the dead silence of a year, gives credence to a 2007 Washington Post report that the entire escapade was simply a book promotional stunt.

It looks like Houdini -- and the rest of us -- can rest in peace.

UPDATE: Time to bury the Houdini exhumation.

Death Defying Acts premiers down under

The new film Death Defying Acts, starring Guy Pearce as Houdini and Catherine Zeta-Jones as a Scottish psychic, had its world premiere at the State Theater in Sydney Australia last week.The premiere was attended by the stars and the film’s director, Gillian Armstrong. A VIP after-party was held at the Zeta Bar at the Sydney Hilton.

No word yet on when the film will be released in the U.S.

Kid Houdini graphic novel in June

Fantastic news for fans of the excellent online comic, Kid Houdini and the Silver Dollar Misfits. Chemistry Set has announced that an in-print edition will be published in June.

Furthermore, a special print copy of Kid Houdini and the Silver Dollar Misfits will be available as part of Viper Comics’ Free Comic Book Day Book on May 3 (cover art left).

Chemistry Set urges everyone to let your comic shops know about the Free Comic Book Day edition of Kid Houdini and the Silver Dollar Misfits and ask them to order it for you. A show of demand might be the only way to ensure you get a copy. Then watch out for the June edition in the next issue of Previews!

The Houdini exhumation is back in the news

After a year of silence, the Houdini exhumation is suddenly back in the "news." Hmmm... Here's the report in full from the Daily News:

Houdini exhumation to test for poison
BY ANNMARIE COSTELLA
TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2008, 2:10 AM

Harry Houdini escaped from handcuffs, straitjackets and water-filled oversized milk cans - but the one thing he could never get away from was publicity.

Larry Sloman and William Kalush, authors of The Secret Life of Houdini, theorize that the magician was fatally poisoned by a vengeful clairvoyant on Halloween of 1926, and not felled by a ruptured appendix as long believed.

They want Houdini unearthed from his grave at Machpelah Cemetery in Ridgewood so tests can be performed.

"Houdini's memory would be honored so much more if we knew how he died," Sloman said. 

Since their book came out last March, Sloman and Kalush said they have been assembling a team of forensic specialists and exploring legal strategies, though they have yet to file court papers to have Houdini's body exhumed.

"We want to do this the right way," said Sloman. "We don't want to offend anyone."

But their controversial campaign has divided the Houdini family, angered magicians and sparked some nasty accusations.

Sloman and Kalush teamed with Houdini's great-nephew, George Hardeen, who initially told reporters: "Maybe it's time to take a second look."

However, Hardeen now appears to be indifferent. "It's all speculation," he said. "I am not intimately involved in this."

Jeffrey Blood, the grandnephew of Houdini's wife, Bess, is against exhumation.

"Bess Houdini's family feels strongly that there was nothing improper resulting in Houdini's death," he said. "It would be disgraceful to disturb his body based on a theory."

George Schindler, a spokesman for the Society of American Magicians, of which Houdini was president from 1917 to 1926, accused Hardeen of getting involved with the authors for "publicity purposes."

Dick Brooks and Dorothy Dietrich, directors of the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pa., would love to learn more about Houdini's death, but they do not believe he was poisoned.

"In my opinion, it is a ploy to sell books," Brooks said.

Sloman, Kalush and Hardeen deny the accusations. "It's absolutely reprehensible," Sloman said.

Houdini, born Ehrich Weiss, relished publicity. His death-defying stunts and showmanship made him one of the biggest celebrities of the early 20th century. He was still a top performer when he died at age 52.

Renowned forensics expert Dr. Michael Baden noted there were common poisons available in the 1920s, such as arsenic and strychnine, which can remain in bones and teeth long after death.

Sloman and Kalush plan to keep pushing for exhumation - and hope to put the name Houdini back in the headlines soon.

"I think Houdini would have been delighted with all this attention," Kalush said.

One thing that really jumps out at me in this report is the fact that Sloman and Kalush "have yet to file court papers to have Houdini's body exhumed." Again, hmmm...

UPDATE: Time to bury the Houdini exhumation.

Death Defying Acts photos hit the net

A wave of photos of Catherine Zeta-Jones in Death Defying Acts have hit the net. Under headlines proclaiming “Zeta-Jones Strips for Houdini” and “Zeta-Jones turns belly-dancing psychic,” the pics show the Oscar winning actress performing her mind-reading act in the film.

It’s all great; trouble is, not one of these articles give us a release date!

Starring Guy Pearce as Houdini, Death Defying Acts was due to be released by the Weinstein Company on Christmas Day. The film never materialized and emails to Myriad Pictures and The Weinstein Company went unanswered.

The Age reports that the film will be released in March in Australia and IMDb shows a Russian release on February 28. But for the rest of us, well...here’s Catherine!

Houdini musical in Montreal, Feb 10

A new musical entitled Houdini opens at the The Leonor and Alvin Segal Theatre in Montreal, February 10 through March 2, 2008. The play is directed by the Segal's Artistic and Executive Director, Bryna Wasserman, written by playwright Ben Gonsher, set to music and lyrics by Cote- St. Luc resident Elan Kunin, and performed by a six-member band of local musicians.

Wasserman had directed The Great Houdini, a Yiddish musical in 2000, but the goal was to always adapt it for a wider audience.

“I'm having a massive theatre production performed on the same stage where I grew up performing in Yiddish productions,” says Gonshor. “West End residents should be proud of the fact that quality local theatre is being produced in their own backyards; this isn't a Toronto production or a Broadway show touring the country; it's a locally written, directed, produced and performed show. People should support it and come out.”

“At the end of it all however, Houdini is a musical and is meant as entertainment and everyone involved in the production hopes that people embrace it because they leave the show having gotten their money's worth.”

The Leonor and Alvin Segal Theatre, The Montreal Highlights Festival and Ernst & Young present Houdini from February 10 - March 2. For tickets and/or information, you can call the Box Office at 514-739-7944 or Admission at 514-790-1245. You can also log on to: www.segalcentre.org. The Segal Centre for Performing Arts at the Saidye is located at 5170 Cote Ste. Catherine Rd.

Source: The Chronicle.

HOUDINI'S MOVIES COMING TO DVD!

Great news for fans of Houdini’s silent movie career (like myself)! On April 8, 2008, Kino International will release ALL of Houdini’s surviving silent films in a single DVD box set.

Houdini The Movie Star will include The Master Mystery (Episodes 1-15), Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, and, for the first time ever on any home video format, Haldane of the Secret Service.

And there’s more. The set will also include a 5 minute fragment from The Grim Game (at the moment, the last “lost” Houdini film), filmed records of Houdini escapes from 1907 to 1923, audio recording of Houdini speaking, excerpts from the NY Censor Board files (not sure what this is), Slippery Jim, a 1910 Houdini-inspired comedy, footage of Metamorphosis being performed by Houdini s brother Hardeen, photo galleries, and film notes.

Houdini The Movie Star can be pre-ordered now on Amazon.com.

The Houdini Chronicles

Houdini certainly seems to be popular with poets these days. Last year we got two Houdini inspired books of poetry (Sleeping With Houdini and The Anatomy of Keys). Now only a few weeks into 2008 we get another.

According to the description on Amazon.com, The Houdini Chronicles by Hope Maxwell-Snyder is a volume of poetry written in three voices and “depicts a love affair between Harry Houdini and his muse, who falls in love with him after seeing his picture on the Internet. Their relationship questions traditional roles and explores boundaries with humor and melancholy.”

The Houdini Chronicles is published by Somondoco Press and can be purchased on Amazon.