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.

Presto! First new Houdini book of 08 appears

The first new Houdini book of 2008 is now shipping from Amazon. Saddelback Education Publishers HOUDINI is the latest release in their Graphic Biography series. These fully illustrated 32-page softcovers teach students about historical figures in a comic book format.

This is actually not a new book. It’s a reprint of a 1984 “pocket biography” released by Academic Industries. However, in that edition the illustrations were pen and ink, while here they are in full color. The book is also in a larger format.

This article first appeared on Houdini Lives.

Houdini book conjured for Amazon's new Kindle

The first Houdini book made for download to Amazon’s new Kindle electronic reader device is Houdini on the Secrets of Magic.

But don’t get too excited. This isn’t a new book, just good old Miracle Mongers and Their Methods repackaged for a digital age.

Still, being on the cusp of technology...Houdini would love it!

Crown buys Houdini vs. Margery book

The New York Observer reports that Crown has acquired rights to a major new book about Houdini and Margery called The Witch of Lime Street. The book will be released in 2010. Click to read the original story below.

Click to enlarge.

This will be the first book devoted solely to Houdini's battles with the celebrated Boston medium.

"Death expert" Bill Bass to examine Houdini's corpse

If the controversial plans to exhume Houdini's body come to fruition, one of the men on the case will be Bill Bass, one of the top "death experts" in the United States. Bass spoke to Wired about his involvement in the Houdini case.

Wired: For the moment, you have another goal -- digging up Harry Houdini. What's the status of that case?

Bass: There are descendants, and they have agreed to the exhumation to settle some of these theories that are out there.

I'm a member of the committee that is supposed to exhume him, once they get all of the legal things taken care of.

A book suggests that instead of dying from a ruptured appendix, he was poisoned. The committee consists of toxicologists, dentists and anthropologists. The toxicologists will take samples to see if there are any chemicals that shouldn't be there.

I'm the one that's supposed to make the positive identification. When he was living, he apparently fractured one of his ankles. Along with other data, we want to make sure there's a healed fracture to the ankle.

Wired: Is there a question about whether the body is really his?

Bass: I don’t think so, but you want to make sure that the person is the person you're supposed to have dug up. You want to make sure that if you're looking for Houdini, that it is Houdini. You don’t want to do all that and then a year from now hear from someone who says they dug up the wrong body.

Houdini's grave in Queens, NY

UPDATE: The Houdini exhumation is back in the news.

Rare Water Torture Cell presentation piece up for auction

A unique Houdini Water Torture Cell related item has gone up for auction via eBay Live Auctions. Rather than me trying to explain, I’ll let the auction description speak for itself. I think this is something very special.

1912 Harry Houdini "Water Torture Cell" Presentation Piece from Circus Busch Containing the Original Concept Art for the Performance's Famous Poster

Offered is the unique Chinese Water Torture Cell Presentation. A solid brass testimonial given to Houdini to commemorate the escape's first public performance. ... The first public performance of the Water Torture Cell was at Circus Busch in Berlin, Germany, on September 21, 1912. The Busch owners, grateful for being selected as the venue for this impressive stunt's debu presented this very heavy, solid brass frame as a testimonial (measuring 11-1/4"-wide by 13-1/4"-tall by 1" in thickness). The front is beautifully engraved, complete with an oval door that displays the circus' name and the performance date in raised letters on its facing, and when opened reveals the original artist's water color concept that was used in preparation of the finished form seen on Houdini's famous 1912 poster for this act. The obverse has been inscribed with the year "1912" above and the words "UPSIDE DOWN IN THE WATER TORTURE CELL" below a large oval window of heavy glass. The glass protects what initially appears to be a plain black and white lithograph of Houdini, both entering the cell and being fully immersed in that same device, while a Teutonic giant secures the lid. This image morphs into full color when the brass handle-fitted divider insert is raised, creating an illusion of its own! (This wooden divider's brass handle section is engraved with the performer's name, as well.)

UPDATE: SOLD for $37,500.

Norman Mailer dies

Pulitzer Prize winning author, actor, director and personality Normal Mailer has died at age 84 from kidney failure.

Mailer’s many works and accomplishments are well known, but less known is the fact that Mailer played Harry Houdini in the avant guard film Cremaster 2 (1999).

Mailer also wrote the bestseller The Executioners Song, the story of murderer Gary Gilmore who claimed he was an illegitimate descendant of Harry Houdini. Much was made of the Gilmore-Houdini connection when the book was first released in 1979.

Official Houdini Seance held at Fantasma Magic

The Official Houdini Seance was held this year at Fantasma Magic in New York City. The annual seance is organized by Sidney Radner and is a sincere attempt to make contact with Houdini.

No word yet on what happened, but I'm guessing Houdini was a no-show. Here's to next year!

Meanwhile, Joe Nickell, paranormal investigator and CSI senior research fellow, and D.J. Grothe, conducted their own 11th Annual Houdini Seance on their show, Point of Inquiry. You can listen to that HERE.

Unlocking the truth of the Mirror Handcuff challenge

Master Locksmith and Houdini historian Mick Hanzlik has published a terrific booklet, Houdini’s Mirror Handcuff Challenge, Getting Closer to the Truth, which lays out his investigation of the 1904 Mirror Handcuff Challenge, one of Houdini’s most famous and celebrated challenge escapes.

Hanzlik helped authors William Kalush and Larry Sloman research the Mirror Challenge for their book, The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of Americas First Superhero. The authors concluded that the escape was a set-up, citing evidence that the cuff was made a full year before the escape and appeared to be custom-made for Houdini’s wrists.

Hanzlik has now gone on to discover the man he believes actually manufactured the Mirror cuff, Thomas Froggatt, and has found evidence that Froggatt was indeed a friend of Houdini.

It’s all terrific stuff, but the full truth is still elusive. Mick says he’ll continue his investigation and will publish an updated book with new findings.

UPDATE: Mick has released a new book about the making of his Mirror replica: Looking into the Mirror.

Metamorphosis poster conjures $50,000 at auction

What is said to be the only known copy of The Houdini's Metamorphosis poster sold today for $50,000 at Swann Galleries Christian Fechner Collection of English and American Magic, Part III.

The poster beat its auction estimate of $30,000/$40,000.

Metamorphosis is one of Houdini's earliest posters. It was printed by the National Printing & Engraving Co. in Chicago around 1897-8.

An original King of Cards poster grabbed $11,000.

The Arcanum gets a director

Looks like we’re one step closer to getting another (fictional) movie featuring Harry Houdini. Cinematical reports that writer/director Randall Wallace (The Man in the Iron Mask) has signed aboard Gold Circle’s The Arcanum.

Based on Thomas Wheeler's fantasy-adventure novel, The Arcanum finds Houdini, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.P. Lovecraft and Marie Laveau teaming up to fight demons in 1919 New York.

Wheeler penned the screenplay which was first purchased by Miramax in 1999. Gold Circle acquired the property in 2004. Wallace will now polish the script before sending it out to casting.