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It's "The Saga of Ray Stark and Houdini" co-starring Tom Cruise, James Caan, Robert Zemeckis, Paul Verhoeven, and a cast of thousands (of writers). Learn all about the big-budget Houdini movie that wasn't.

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Film of Bess Houdini in 1938

One of the gifts I received at my 50th birthday Houdini Seance last week was the Miracle Factory's compilation DVD, Vintage Magic Films. This remarkable DVD had over 3 hours of ultra-rare footage of famous magicians from the 1920s, '30s and '40s. I was most excited that this DVDs contains the nearly complete footage of Houdini doing card flourishes, which we've now come to know as Velvet Fingers. This footage is, unsurprisingly, the first selection on the disc.

But it was something buried in the section labeled simply "Japanese magicians" that made my jaw hit the floor. Here is footage shot during a gathering of the "Southern California Japanese Amateur Magicians Society" in Los Angeles in 1938, and among the attendees is Edward Saint and Bess Houdini! Bess is sitting in the front row and at one point she's showered with applause and gifts. Someone even hands her an orange. (Hmmm.) Bess is smiling and seems to having a great time. There's even a moment when we see her cough. (Bessie coughing!) Apart from her appearance in Religious Racketeers, I don't recall seeing film of Bess in her later years, and I always enjoy seeing candid footage like this.

The DVD also includes other hidden gems such as Blackstone doing a packing crate escape with a committee that includes Thurston and T. Nelson Downs, and footage of Nicola doing a suspended straitjacket and underwater handcuff escapes. 

Vintage Magic Films is available from Amazon or the Miracle Factory.

Thanks to my good friends Ron and Asbed for this Bessie surprise!

Related:

• Bess Houdini in color
• Rousing the spirits
• Houdini in "VELVET FINGERS"

Houdini discoveries past and present

Mega collector Arthur Moses sends over news of a few recent discoveries. First up, Arthur has found a hitherto unknown 1913 edition of Houdini's popular pitchbook. Says Arthur:

"I recently bought a 1913 edition of Handcuff Tricks Exposed which is the same 32 pages as the known 1910 edition, only difference is the obvious on first page. Also on bottom of last page number 32, in small font, the 1913 shows "WILLSONS', PRINTERS, LEICESTER" (where-as the 1910 does not). I checked with the pitchbook pro, John Bushey, and he did not know of this 1913 edition!"

Handcuff Tricks Exposed: 1913 edition (left) and 1910 edition (right).

A slightly newer find (by 101 years) is Tied Up in Knots - The Story Of Houdini in both English and Spanish editions. This is a 16 pages educational primer by Emiliano Bermejo Black and is unavailable to the public. Arthur has made a few copies available on eBay.

Thank you, Arthur!

Related:

• The pitchbook project
• Arthur Moses showcases his Houdini foreign editions
• Arthur Moses on Extreme Collectors

Extreme Escapes escapes reality

The second episode of REELZ Extreme Escapes aired last week. During the show, magician and escape artist Spencer Horsman, who did a pretty thrilling underwater box escape, said something utterly perplexing.

Spencer appears to have said there was "debate" whether Houdini ever actually performed his Water Torture Cell -- that he might have only ever had a poster made because the escape itself was "too dangerous."

Now, there's no way Spencer doesn't know that Houdini performed his Water Torture Cell for half his career. What I think happened is that Spencer was talking about Houdini's Buried Alive, and the show editors cut together his words to make it seem as if the Water Torture Cell was the subject. This is the danger of "reality" shows. They create whatever reality they require.

In other segments, our friend David Merlini performed a spectacular frozen-in-ice escape. This was an escape Houdini wanted to do but could never work out with the technology of his day. David's version seemed to be everything Houdini could have imagined, and I truly have no idea how he survived.

Michael Turco did a cleverly staged mine shaft escape. Escape artist Jan Rouven performed an inventive "Jaws of Death" suspended straitjacket, although I'm afraid it gets a thumbs down from me as Jan employed a blatant straitjacket fail.

Extreme Escapes airs every Friday on REELZ TV.

Related:

• Extreme Escapes debuts on REELZ
• The Chinese Water Torture Cell at 100
• Straitjacket fail

Adrien Brody nominated for SAG Award for 'Houdini'

The Houdini miniseries continues to collect honors. Today it was announced that star Adrien Brody has been nominated by the Screen Actors Guild for "Best Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries."

Brody's competition is Benedict Cumberbatch in Sherlock: His Last Vow (PBS), Richard Jenkins in Olive Kitteridge (HBO), Billy Bob Thornton in Fargo (FX), and Mark Ruffalo in The Normal Heart (HBO).

Brody posted his thanks and appreciation on Instagram along with a great mock-up Houdini poster.

HISTORY has tweeted their congratulations to Brody with this image:

Click to enlarge.

Winners will be announced on January 25, 2015 at a ceremony in Los Angeles.

UPDATE: Hardeen beats Houdini

Related:

• 'Houdini' nominated for WGA award
• HISTORY's Houdini poster mock-ups
  

How Houdini ended the Depression

Is there no end to the accolades that we can heap upon Harry Houdini? Apparently not. Here's an item from the New York Post (reproduced in the January 1937 Jinx) which cites the Final Houdini Seance as evidence the Great Depression of the 1930s must surely be at an end.

Click to enlarge.

Thanks to Lisa Cousins of the William Larsen Sr. Memorial Library at the Magic Castle for finding this gem and sharing it with me.

Related:

• Halloween 1936: The Final Houdini Seance
• Original Final Houdini Seance record
• The Final Houdini Seance redux 1986

"My old friend and worthy opponent."

Paul Davies over at the very active "Musings on the Mirror Handcuff" thread at Handcuffs.org has uncovered this photo of Will A. Bennet at the NYPL Digital Collections. Bennet was the representative of the London Daily Mirror who in 1904 challenged Houdini with the famous Mirror handcuff.

This image is from nine years later and Bennet has inscribed it: "To my old friend & worthy opponent from his great admirer & well wisher. Will A. Bennet. Feb. 26 /13".

Is Bennet signing this to Houdini himself? It certainly sounds like it, and Houdini was touring the UK at this time. On the back of the photo is written: "London Mirror Challenger."

Thanks to Paul Davies and all the gang at Handcuffs.org.

Related:

• LINK: Identity of the "Mirror representative" revealed
• A fresh new Mirror Handcuff mystery
• NYPL Digital Gallery invites us into Houdini's backyard

Rousing the spirits

Last Wednesday I had the great pleasure of having my 50th birthday dinner in the Magic Castle's Houdini Seance Room. The magnificent Misty Lee conducted our seance, and I'm happy to report that contact was made! Was it Houdini? Well, something returned, because that room went nuts!

Below is some of the latest Houdini Seance swag that comes with the evening, including a very nice new Houdini Seance coin. Between the menus you can see the current Houdini Seance button.

Thanks to Misty Lee, the Magic Castle, and all my friends and family. A magical evening indeed. (Photo by Hocus Pocus Focus.)

Related:

• Houdini Seance Room (and the Castle around it) turns 50
• Reagan in the seance room
• Ovation explores The Art Of: Magic (Misty Lee)

Boxing Hardeen

This photo of Hardeen is from the infamous "It's Fun To Be Fooled" Camel Cigarettes ad campaign of the 1930s. The ads exposed magic secrets and were condemned by the Society of American Magicians. This is a panel from a comic-book style ad that ran in The Macon Chronicle Herald on April 17, 1933. I thought it was worth the share because I've never seen this image of Hardeen before.

As for the rest of the ad that exposes the secret... Sorry, Camel, not on my watch!

Related:

• Houdini's secrets brought to you by Camel cigarettes
• The Challenge Packing Case escape

'Houdini' nominated for WGA award

Nicholas Meyer's screenplay for the Houdini miniseries has been nominated by The Writers Guild of America for outstanding achievement in television in the "Long Form Adapted" category. The miniseries is credited as being based on Houdini: A Mind in Chains by Bernard C. Meyer, M.D (although to my eye it's largely adapted from the uncredited work of William Kalush and Larry Sloman's The Secret Life of Houdini).

The competition is Klondike by Paul T. Scheuring (Discovery Channel); The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer (HBO); Olive Kitteridge by Jane Anderson (HBO); and “Pilot” by Damon Lindelof & Tom Perrotta (HBO).

Winners will be announced at the 2015 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 14, 2015, at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City.

UPDATE: Houdini lost to Jane Anderson and Olive Kitteridge (HBO).

The myth of the giant clock? (UPDATE)

When reading modern descriptions of Houdini's act, it's often noted that a gigantic clock sat on the side of the stage counting off the seconds of his confinement. This is most typically associated with his Milk Can and Water Torture Cell. It's a dramatic idea, and the giant clock has appeared in nearly every cinematic recreation of Houdini's feats. But is it true?

There's a detailed description of Houdini's Water Torture Cell performance at the New Cross Empire in London on May 14, 1913. This can be read in The Original Houdini Scrapbook by Walter B. Gibson (page 108). It describes all the apparatus Houdini used, right down to the "ornamental cauldrons" filled with heated water. It doesn't mention a giant clock.

In fact, I'm not sure there is any mention of a clock in any description of Houdini's act from the time (although I admit I've not mounted a very aggressive search). Also, if this major prop existed, what happened to it? A fair amount of Houdini's apparatuses survives and have traded hands over the years. But no clock. And if there was a giant clock, why is it not present in Houdini stage photos such as THIS? We also have a nice photo of Hardeen performing the Milk Can late in his career on a decidedly clockless stage.

Again, I haven't dug too deeply into this, but I expect this giant clock idea originated in the Tony Curtis Houdini movie of 1953. In that film we see a giant clock on stage counting down Harry's last moments as he fails to free himself from his "Pagoda Torture Cell." It certainly wouldn't be the only enduring myth generated by that film.

So have we all been lulled into believing the myth of the giant clock? Is it time to retire this timepiece? Clock in with your thoughts below.

UPDATE: Forget everything I wrote above. Our friend Joe Notaro has found solid evidence that this giant clock/stop-watch existed, or at least Houdini conceived of it. In his book Houdini's Magicial Rope Ties and Escapes (1920), Houdini writes:

"My assistant is always supplied with a stop-watch; in fact for my under-water tests, I had specially made by a watchmaker in Glasgow, the largest stop-watch in the world, by means of which persons in the gallery who did not possess such watches themselves could see the second hand as it jumped around the dial, and thus share in the interest, for you should know that not every theatre-goer carried a stop-watch."

So if there was indeed a giant clock, as appears to be the case, the question remains; what happened to it?

UPDATE 2: And now here's evidence of the clock in action, here referred to as "a huge chronometer." 

The Guardian, July 20, 1909.

Houdini Challenged at the Anderson

Deborah Oropallo's painting "Houdini Challenged" is on display at the newly opened Anderson Collection at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. The painting is from 1990 and uses the popular image of Houdini tied to a ladder.

Click here to view at the Anderson Collection.

Related:

• Unpublished Houdini: The ladder tie

Houdini's movie career flickers to life at the Magic Castle, Jan. 6

I'm excited to be giving my "Houdini in Hollywood" talk at the world famous Magic Castle on January 6, 2015 at 8pm. This will be a somewhat expanded version of the talk I gave at Hollywood Heritage in October with some new photos and film clips. The perk got a nice ad and mention in the AMA's December newsletter (below).

This "Castle Perk" is open to all AMA members (Magician and Associate) and should be good fun. What better way to kick off 2015 than by spending an evening with Houdini in Hollywood...in Hollywood!

Thanks to Arthur Moses for the use of this great image of Houdini, Harry Kellar, and director Irvin Williat on the set of The Grim Game.

Related:

• When Houdini returned to Hollywood
• The star of the show

LINK: The Hungarian Handcuff

Our friend Joe Notaro of Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence has posted to his blog a nice examination of what Houdini called "The Hungarian Cuff." These are better known today the "Seance Cuffs" because of their use during the Official Houdini Seances. Were these Houdini-made manacles an early version of the Mirror Handcuffs? Click the headline to have a read at Joe's site.