Revealing Bess photo from 1929

Click to enlarge

This photo, recently offered for auction on eBay, shows a convalescing Bessie Houdini in January 1929 during the time of the infamous Arthur Ford seances.

Now, I love Bessie. I wish there was a book written just about her. And while I realize this isn’t the most flattering picture, it does capture an intriguing moment in time.

First off, we see her head is wrapped due to her “nasty fall.” In the 1976 TV movie The Great Houdinis, we see Bessie fall down the stairs at 278 after being startled by mysterious happenings on Halloween night. A less romantic version claims that the fall took place while she was out drinking with Arthur Ford.

We also see Bessie’s right wrist is wrapped. The Secret Life of Houdini claims Bessie tried to kill herself on the night of January 4, 1929, but it doesn’t specify how. Pills seems likely, but could the wrist wrap offer another possibility?

Finally, and this is what I really like about this photo, and why I’m posting it here, this is the only photo I can recall that gives us a very nice look at her famous wedding band which contains the message from Houdini; "Rosabelle, sweet Rosabelle."

Unmasking The Secret Life of Houdini

When The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero by William Kalush and Larry Sloman was first released in 2006, I gave it a positive review. With its oodles of rare pictures and some intriguing new information, I still consider it a worthy addition to my Houdini library.

However, I did point out in my review that I was surprised to see so many apocryphal stories included in the text, like the tale in which young Harry frees a convict from a pair of handcuffs while working for a locksmith in Appleton. But the authors promised a full volume of source notes to be published at a later date that would prove the validity of all their findings.

Those notes have now been published in a beautiful two-book set (The Secrets of Houdini Laid Bare) that I would highly recommend. However, to my eye, these notes reveal the authors took a very loose and, IMO, somewhat flawed approach to their research which now forces me to seriously reconsider my opinion of this book.

What troubles me is just how much the authors used the 1928 biography Houdini His Life Story by Harold Kellock as a primary source (particularly for Houdini's early life - the book is sourced 38 times in the first 83 pages), and how much they relied on material put out by Houdini himself during his career (via interviews, articles, and publicity material). Houdini was a chronic myth-maker and the last person that should be trusted with providing the facts of his own life. Life Story, written in collaboration with his wife, is really just a consolidation of his greatest myths. Everyone who has studied Houdini knows this. It’s an entertaining book, but one that should never be used as a primary source. I believe Silverman said the first thing he did when researching his own Houdini biography (Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss) was to throw out all that had been written before because it was just too unreliable.

The Laid Bare notes also reveal that, too often, the authors have taken the approach that if they could find something written down, even if it's a dubious news-story or self-aggrandizing publicity material, then it could be "sourced" and hence presented as "fact" along with all associations. But just because they found evidence that Houdini did in fact work for a locksmith as a boy does not automatically mean we can or should accept his "convict in handcuffs" tale with all its dramatic embellishments (many added by the authors).

While there IS some good groundbreaking research here to be sure (I’m thinking of the fascinating new Margery material), it is maddeningly mixed with Houdini generated fictions, and the authors decision to write the book in a narrative style continually blurs the lines. In fact, the very first notation in Laid Bare admits that the Santa Ana buried alive stunt -- as told in great riveting detail in the first chapter of the book -- is considered by some to be “apocryphal.” So they opened the book with a story sourced only to Houdini that they couldn’t corroborate? As responsible biographers, shouldn’t they have tried to find the truth behind the stunt or, failing that, left it out entirely (as Silverman did)? What is the point of a new biography if not to present a truer picture of the man?

To be fair, the authors do cite some credible and groundbreaking source material, such as Manny Weltman’s Houdini Escape into Legend. But they do not seem to be working from any kind of reliable bibliography. As noted above, they seem to go with whatever source provides the most dramatic scenario. Bottom line, seeing their research methodology, I just don't know what to believe, and that makes The Secret Life of Houdini a heartbreaker for a Houdini scholar.

And while it’s maybe unfair to bring this up, the authors now aborted plan to exhume Houdini’s body to investigate the possibility that he was poisoned (one of the sensational "findings" of the book) has also left a taint. While the truth of this event is still elusive, most have concluded it was just a publicity stunt. Fine. But if the exhumation was just a publicity stunt, then how committed are the authors to their poisoning theory? What else is in the book solely for publicity value? Let’s not forget the book was initially sold on new-found "evidence" that Houdini was a spy, which has never been followed up in any way.

Unlike Ken Silverman's authoritative and well-researched Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss, it's now hard to view The Secret Life of Houdini as a sincere attempt to strip away the myths and find the real story of Houdini. Instead, it seems to be a collection of EVERYTHING that has ever been written or told about Houdini, true or not, with a generous helping of provocative new myth-making. Entertaining? Absolutely. But as a definitive, trustworthy biography -- I’m just not sure anymore.

Your comments are welcome...

Time to bury the Houdini exhumation

Back in March 2007 the AP broke the news that the family of Houdini (reportedly represented by George Hardeen) was going to exhume the body of the great magician to investigate the possibility that he was poisoned. This was an old murder conspiracy theory championed as credible in the 2006 biography The Secret Life of Houdini by William Kalush and Larry Sloman.

So what happened? It’s been two years and Houdini still rests in his grave. Unfortunately, the truth of this event is now as murky as the poisoning theory it was meant to dispel.

The authors assured me as of last year that it was sincere and was in the hands of the lawyers. I’ve no reason to doubt them. The popular media, on the other hand, has largely concluded that it was just a publicity stunt.

The Washington Post was the first to suggest something was rotten in their coverage of the March 24 news conference. Held at the American Jewish Historical Society, the paper noted "it was impossible to take a photo of the event without including a blown-up copy of the cover of The Secret Life of Houdini hanging being the news conference principals." A little digging by the paper revealed the media spectacle was not orchestrated by the family of Houdini, but was organized and paid for by the authors in conjunction with the PR firm Dan Klores Communications.

As time wore on, the authors said legal issues were delaying the exhumation, which seemed credible after the Hinson-Blood family and members of the magic community raised objections. “We want to do this the right way,” Sloman told the Daily News. “We don't want to offend anyone.”

But that same article revealed that the parties involved never filed legal papers to preform an exhumation, and that George Hardeen had pulled out, saying, “I am not intimately involved in this.”

Now, two years later, all the parties have gone quiet.

So what happened here? Was this a sincere attempt to investigate a controversial theory as the authors claim? Was it a crass publicity stunt as the press claim? Or was it some combination of both (which is what I’m now prone to believe). And was it harmless?

Personally, I wouldn’t have minded seeing Houdini exhumed. I freely admit I have a morbid curiosity to see the famous bronze casket and what remains of the old boy (not to mention the letters from mama buried under his head). Granted, if I were family, I might feel differently, but certainly Houdini wasn’t above prying the lid off deceased family members. He did exactly this with both his father and half-brother Herman when he had their bodies moved to the Machpelah family plot. I also would have loved all the publicity it would have generated (Will Houdini be inside?) and the Discovery Channel documentary that was vying to cover the event.

But to have gone this far would have required joining a collective conspiracy of belief in the poisoning theory, which most Houdini historians, including myself, find highly dubious. In the end, there was just no sincere reason to do this, and maybe that’s why it never happened.

For better or worse, the proposed exhumation of Houdini is now a part of the Houdini story. One day it would be nice to exhume the full truth.

Exhumation timeline:

• March 22, 2007: AP: Houdini kin wants body exhumed.
• March 23, 2007: Houdini dig conjures stir.
• March 24, 2007: Why not just hold a seance?
• March 27, 2007: Blood family speaks out against exhumation.
• December 12, 2007: "Death Expert" Bill Bass to examine Houdini's corpse.
• March 4, 2008: The Houdini exhumation is back in the news.
• March 16, 2008: So when do we start digging?
• February 28, 2009: Time to bury the Houdini exhumation.

Evidence of an unmade 1936 Houdini movie

Two recent eBay auctions offered evidence of a Houdini biopic in development at Paramount some 17 years before their HOUDINI with Tony Curtis would hit the screens.

Click to enlarge.

Two trade ads, both from 1936, show the film was to be called Houdini The Great and would be produced by the legendary Dore Schary for Paramount Pictures. Writer Pierre Collings is credited with an adaption (presumably of the Kellock book) on the first ad. Collins wrote the acclaimed The Story of Louis Pasteur for Paramount. He died in 1937.

Dore Schary

The second ad shows Schary working on Houdini The Great with writer Frank O’Conner. There is no mention of it being an adaptation this time. O’Conner and Schary are credited with an “original story and screenplay.”

The year is significant. Nineteen thirty-six was the 10th anniversary of the death of Houdini and the year of the final Houdini seance atop the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. That event marked the zenith of Edward Saint's postmortem Houdini publicity blitz, and certainly helped the studio see the potential in a film about the great escape artist. In fact, I’ve seen documents that show Saint and Bessie Houdini were the driving force behind this early Houdini movie.

At the late great Aladdin Bookstore in Fullerton, I got a peek at what I believe was an original script for Houdini The Great (I don’t recall if it was by Collings or O’Conner). Interestingly, the story ends with Houdini being assassinated by a spiritualist gunman in a crowd. As Bessie was involved in this version, it’s maybe telling that she was okay with pinning the direct cause of Houdini’s death on the spiritualist community. Did she consider J. Gordon Whitehead an “assassin”?

It would take more than a decade for Paramount to finally make the Houdini movie, and when they did both Bessie and Edward Saint were dead and Dore Schary had moved onto MGM. That film was, of course, the classic HOUDINI starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.

One wonders who the studio might have had in mind to play Houdini in their 1936 version?

Related:

• Bessie visits Paramount (and so do I)
• Pierre Collings and Houdini The Great (update)
• Gone With The Handcuff King: David O. Selznick's Houdini (update)
  

Holly Houdini

Here’s one for fun. Hugh Hefner’s former #1 girlfriend, Holly Madison, recently posed for a layout in Playboy with an escape theme. The pictorial, which was showcased on last night’s The Girls Next Door, features “escape artist” Holly wrapped in chains at the bottom of the Playboy Mansion swimming pool. And she’s nude...but you probably already guessed that.

“Just like Houdini,” cackled Hef when he stumbled on the photo-shoot in progress.

Holly’s sudden interest in escapology may have something to do with the fact that she’s now dating illusionist and askew hat wearing enthusiast, Criss Angel.

The pictorial featured in the February edition of Playboy.

Murdoch Mysteries investigates Houdini

The popular Canadian TV series Murdoch Mysteries will air an episode this season featuring Houdini.

Based on the award-winning novels by Maureen Jennings, the show features shrewd and forward-thinking detective, William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson), who battles crime in late 19th century Toronto with a cunning mixture of intuitive deduction and forensic techniques.

The final episode of February sees a young Harry Houdini (Joe Dinicol) bring his already world-famous stage show to Toronto. While Houdini is giving one of his star escapologist performances, the bank next door is robbed and the security guard murdered in the process. Could it possibly have been the world famous illusionist?

Series 2 of Murdoch Mysteries starts on Tuesday February 10 at 9pm on Alibi. Click here for more information.

Unused Death Defying Acts poster

While trolling the net, I discovered this unused poster for Death Defying Acts, the 2008 film starring Guy Pearce as Houdini and Catherine Zeta-Jones as a Scottish psychic.

Not a bad poster. In fact, I much prefer this to the final one-sheet, which did everything it could to hide the fact that this was a movie about Houdini.

Escape artist has close call in Water Torture Cell

Escape artist Kristen Johnson had a very close call when she performed her version of Houdini’s Water Torture Cell during an NBA halftime show last month. After three minutes, Johnson lost consciousness and had to be pulled from the tank.

Kristen’s husband and performing partner Kevin Ridgeway told the Magic Newswire, “Kristen suffered an hypoxic seizure after freeing herself from one of the restrains. She wasn’t feeling well earlier in the day, but that seems to have been low blood sugar. We’ve staged that escape 599 times and had only one other incident which is a very good track record.” 

The entire incident was caught on video (which is pretty disturbing, so I’ll leave it to you to watch it or not).

Interestingly, one the very first imitators of Houdini’s most famous escape was a woman. Miss Undina performed a copy of Houdini’s act not long after he first introduced the escape in Germany in 1912. Houdini filed an injunction against Undina, who quickly vanished into obscurity, her only legacy being the poster (below) that Houdini used in court as evidence against her.

Houdini dabbles in ‘Electric Flesh’

Houdini never dies in the mind of novelists. While browsing Amazon this morning, I stumbled on this piece of Houdini fiction I overlooked when it was first released in 2006.

Electric Flesh by Claro finds Harry Houdini infatuated with Szuszu, a magician's assistant, whom he pursues through a sideshow of carnival freaks. In a modern story set in 1996, an unemployed executioner, Howard Hordinary, hopes to prove that he, like Gary Gilmore, is the unacknowledged grandson of the great escape artist, the fruit of Houdini's liaison with Szuszu.

Electric Flesh can be purchased now on Amazon.com.

A solid Houdini biography and learning tool

There are no shortage of Houdini biographies aimed at young readers. My bookshelf currently holds 50 different titles. But this is not surprising as the life of Harry Houdini is a joy for youngsters to discover, and a great way to get kids to read.

The most recent release is Harry Houdini, part of the “History Makers Bios” series from Lerner Publishing. This 48 page book is aimed at a 4th grade reading level and is a VERY fine biography in all respects.

First off, the book is well illustrated with a mix of photos (most credited to the Library of Congress) and nice original color illustrations by Tad Butler. While there are no new photos here for the hardcore Houdini aficionado, the book does contain a rarely seen pic of Houdini controlling Margery in the Margery Box on page 38, which may be new to some. I also appreciated the photo of New York neck tie cutters in 1889, which gives a feel for the workspace Ehrich Weiss occupied as a teen.

The text is clearly written in simple fact-based sentences that appear to be tailored for reading out loud. The book handles the facts of Houdini’s life responsibly and thoroughly. With the exception of saying the Brothers Houdini charmed snakes as part of their act (and maybe they did -- I’ve just never heard this before), I spotted no inaccuracies or, worse, Houdini mythology stated as fact, which is the scourge of so many Houdini biographies.

In fact, by putting in a sidebar the tale of Houdini’s boyhood encounter with a convict while working for a locksmith, and clearly staying that it is “a story that is told,” this little bio demonstrates greater responsibility than the newest adult Houdini biography (which plays very fast and loose with this tale). While the many apocryphal tales of Houdini are tempting -- especially when we’re talking about tantalizing young readers -- Janet Piehl sticks with the facts. Bravo.

The book also includes a timeline and bibliography of books, websites, and further reading recommendations.

All in all, this is an excellent biography of Houdini and a first rate learning tool for young magic and reading enthusiasts.

This review first appeared on Houdini Lives.

Being Harry Houdini in Northampton

Three performers take the stage at Northampton's Academy of Music this Sunday, reviving the spirit of Houdini in a special program entitled “Being Harry Houdini.”

Todd Robbins will perform sideshow feats, old-school magic will be represented by Hartford-based David Garrity, and Springfield's Michael Paul will perform mentalism.

“Being Harry Houdini” happens Sunday, Feb. 8th at 2 p.m. at the Academy of Music, 274 Main St., Northampton. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Call (413) 587-1269 or visit Northampton Art Council for more info.

Houdini Obamiconed

Here's a Houdini poster that I created on Obamicon.me, my new favorite time-waster on the net.

At Obamicon you can use any image to create your own customized poster based on the now iconic Shepard Fairey Obama/Hope poster from the 2008 election. Of course, I had to do Houdini!

Below are a few more of my Houdini creations. All images created can be turned into t-shirts, coffee cups, etc.

Harry Houdini For Kids

Harry Houdini For Kids: His Life and Adventures with 21 Magic Tricks and Illusions is now shipping from Amazon.com.

The book is a combination biography and magic guide, teaching young readers how to stick a needle into a balloon without popping it, how to step through a note card, and how to make a coin vanish.

Written by Western Oregon University professor Laurie Carlson, this entertaining biography also features a time line, curriculum links for educators, and books and websites for further exploration.

This article first appeared on Houdini Lives.

A magical weekend with Tony Curtis

Houdini himself, Mr. Tony Curtis, was a very special guest at The Magic Castle in Hollywood this weekend, and being a AMA member, I had the great pleasure of attending the two-day event.

Day 1 started with a sell out crowd packing the Palace of Mystery on Saturday night. On stage were reproduction Houdini props (two handcuff cases and a Milk Can) belonging to magician Jim Bentley, who helped host the event. At around 6:30, Mr. Curtis appeared -- literally! -- via a flash screen illusion set up on the stage. Good fun.

I was relieved to see Mr. Curtis, sporting a white cowboy hat, bound from the illusion with such vigor. When I last saw him at the Hollywood Collectors Show in October 2007 he was confined to a wheelchair. I figured age had caught up to him. But Mr. Curtis explained that he had been recovering from pneumonia and had temporarily lost use of his legs. But his legs were better and tonight he was in top from, telling amazing stories about the making of Houdini (“Dunninger was a blowhard.”) as well as sharing candid stories about Marilyn Monroe, Walter Matthau, Frank Sinatra, Jack Lemon, Cary Grant, Jack Warner, and so on. His tales of old Hollywood were both hysterical and moving. It was also interesting to learn that Tony (who, like Houdini, is Hungarian) helped renovated a synagogue in Budapest.

The interview, conducted by fellow AMA Life Member Joe Bauer, stretched well over an hour, and Tony happily took questions from the audience who delivered no less than two standing ovations.

After the show, we all found our way down into the Inner Circle (aka the W.C. Fields Bar) where Mr. Curtis signed photos, posters, and copies of his autobiography, American Prince. He gladly posed for pics with fans, as the Castle relaxed their no photography policy for this event. Also on view were several pieces of artwork done by Mr. Curtis, including a few Houdini-themed pieces (see right).

As the signing continued, I lingered in the Circle talking shop with the many notables who had come for the event, including the always friendly Mark and Sheila Cannon (Cannons Great Escapes) and handcuff expert Joe Fox. I was pleased to discover so many people had seen my article about the LIFE magazine photoshoot which revealed several cut scenes from Houdini. These pics proved to be a revelation to everyone!

After the signing, Mr. Curtis and his company retired to the Houdini Seance Room for a private dinner and show. One wonders if he knew that the Milk Can in the seance room -- which is pointed out as being a “Houdini Milk Can” (it isn’t) -- is actually the Can he escaped from in a cut scene from Houdini.

In the Houdini Seance Room at The Magic Castle

Day 2

The normal Castle crowd was thinner on Sunday as we again gathered at the Palace of Mystery, this time for a screening of George Pal’s 1953 film Houdini. It was a blast to watch the movie with an audience. Every magic effect got a round of applause, as did the uncredited appearance of William Larsen Jr. (co-founder of the Magic Castle) doing a head chop routine during the scene at the magicians convention. I never knew that was Bill Larsen! He looked so different without his trademark white hair.

Houdini was the movie that got me interesting in magic, but I hadn’t watched it beginning to end in many years. It struck me what a fine film this is. Bright and breezy with beautiful stars, I never realized just how much magic features in the movie. The effects are staged start to finish without a camera edit. It also hit me just how tragic the ending is, and how the specter of death (in the form of Halloween) stalks the stars though-out the movie. It’s really a terrific example of a classic studio era film. And you gotta love that old school brighter-than-life Technicolor!

After the movie, Mr. Curtis again appeared (but not via magic this time) for a Q&A with the audience. It was a more casual affair this time, even playful, with a lot of familiar faces back for this second day. A standout moment was when Mr. Curtis mentioned, with great affection, his co-star and ex-wife Janet Leigh “who’s gone now.” It was also interesting when the woman sitting beside me revealed that she had watched Mr. Curtis film a scene for Houdini when she visited the set as part of a USO tour.

After the Q&A, we again traveled down into the Inner Circle where Tony singed books and photos, including a still from his animated appearance on The Flintstones as “Stoney Curtis.” He also posed for many photos with the official Castle photographer, so I’m expecting we’ll see a gallery on the official Magic Castle website soon.

As I left The Castle and stood waiting for my car, I was lucky to catch one last glimpse of Tony and his family getting into their own car parked outside the service entrance.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend of magical memories for all who attended.