WILD ABOUT HARRY

Monday, March 4, 2019

Hardeen's new job

Today is the birthday of Houdini's brother Theo. Hardeen, born on March 4, 1876 in Budapest, Hungary. For the occasion, I thought I'd share this untypical profile of Hardeen from the February 14, 1920 issue of Motion Picture News. It is not about him as an escape artist, but as Vice President of Houdini's Film Developing Corporation, a role he played from 1917 to 1925. The photo is also one I've not seen before.

Click to enlarge.

Stay tuned for a deep dive into the FDC, including some unique trade advertisements and a description of the working plant itself. In the meantime...

Happy birthday Dash!

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Sunday, March 3, 2019

LINK: Franz and friends

Reader Perry Reed alerts me to a website called Lost Vaudeville that features the postcard collection of costume designer Blanche Townsend. Among the cards is one that shows Houdini's assistant Franz Kukol. It's an image I've never seen. The card is from March 1907 when Houdini was playing two weeks the Valentine Theater in Toledo, Ohio.

Click the headline to see the full Franz and friends at Lost Vaudeville.

Thank you Perry.

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Blogcast #5: Wild About Harry Houdini Since 1975

I'm very excited and honored that the talented Tom Interval has made me the subject of his Blogcast #5. This is from an interview Tom originally shared on his Houdini Museum blog in 2013.

I encourage you to visit Tom's websites at Interval Magic and Houdini Museum and listen to his other Blogcasts (a trailblazing idea). Also check out his Patreon page for special videos and content.

Thanks Tom!

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Saturday, March 2, 2019

It's true!

Woo hoo, @HoudiniWild soon will be showing the first look at the cover of “The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini.” It’s spectacular. And, oh, yeah, I should mention in case I haven’t that I’m writing a book on the remarkable impact of Harry Houdini.
— Joe Posnanski (@JPosnanski) March 2, 2019

The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini will be released on October 22 and can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

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When Franz kept the faith

Today marks the anniversary of Houdini's hiring of Franz Kukol on March 2, 1903. So what better day for a Franz-themed post! But this story has a story behind it.

When I was a young "Houdini Enthusiast" [a moniker I should really start using again], I corresponded with various magicians, and even wrote a column for a small magic magazine called The Magician Again. Recently I discovered some letters from that time, and one from Magician/Mentalist Ron Oliver from New Lowell, Ontario, contained a curious story about Houdini and Franz Kukol that I had completely forgotten about.

The story concerns a gold watch that Houdini presented to Franz on the stage of the Finsbury Park Empire in London on March 2, 1913, as a gift for 10 years of service. But Ron's story suggests there might have been more to this gift.

Below is an excerpt from the letter Ron wrote me on December 16, 1980.

The story of the Kukol watch was told to me by a man whose father worked at the Finsbury theater in London from 1910 to 1915. He was a stage manager for the various acts that came in and, several times, saw Houdini. The full story is like this:

"One afternoon, after the matinee performance, Kukol received a telegram from his Mother, saying that she was very ill and wanted to see him. He conferred with Harry, who allowed him to go. Kukol left the theater, headed for the train. No one saw him again for about eight days.

When he finally returned, Harry was somewhat incensed at the fact that Franz had been gone so long. They retired to Harry's dressing room and a rather loud quarrel ensued. Apparently, Kukol wouldn't reveal where he had been, but did say that his mother was well. That was a week before the anniversary. The next day, Harry received a telegram from the Austrian army, from some high ranking official, asking for military help. The Austrians had heard that war was in the air, but in the future. They wanted Harry to give some of his secrets so they could be prepared....ie: handcuff slipping, cell escapes, etc.

As to whether or not Harry divulged the secrets, no body knows. But Franz and Harry had a long talk behind closed doors and emerged very good friends again. Everyone assumed the argument was over, but the guy I spoke to said that his father always felt that Franz had been asked to reveal the secrets of his boss to his old employers, the Austrian army, and refused. The would explain his being missing for almost a week. It would also explain the inscription, in Austrian, on the back of Kukol's gift watch...roughly translated, it supposedly says "To Franz Kukol...for keeping faith....Houdini."

How much of this is true, I really don't know. The guy says that his father used to tell the story whenever someone would bring up the name Houdini. He delivered all the telegrams and kept tabs on who came and went in the theater, so it seems logical that he would know.

Franz Kukol was, as you know, an ex-army officer. And the Austrian army was correct in its assumption that a war was coming soon. About 17 months after the little thing with Kukol, Franz was called back into active duty with the army. War had begun.

Of course, we now believe Kukol never returned to Austria and instead continued to work with Houdini under the name of Frank Williamson, but that is another story.

Thank you Ron Oliver for this story and memory from the past.

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Friday, March 1, 2019

Harry's WILD February 2019 in review

Here's a rundown of posts by category that appeared here on WILD ABOUT HARRY in February 2019.

Most Viewed Post
This is Houdini on October 14, 1926

Houdini History

Adolphe Menjou was almost the first Houdini
Whoa! Was there a Water Torture Cell movie?
Houdini's claim that he was building a "health house"
The widows deaths
New photos reveal Houdini's Voisin
Remembering Harry Houdini Hinson
Houdini gives the all clear to his imitators???
The Houdinis at Inceville
Baker beats Houdini (sorta)
The Great Houdini will mop up for you! (or not)

Books
Houdini, Tarzan, and the Perfect Man
New French edition of The Right Way to Do Wrong
Harry Houdini Legend & Legacy available on Lulu
Two new comic books spy Houdini this week

Television & streaming

'Houdini Unlocking His Secrets' on Amazon Prime
'The Great Houdinis' on Talking Pictures, Thursday
Houdini miniseries leaves Netflix March 2
Jeopardy! offers up an easy one for $1600

Plays
Houdini's in Pasadena

Auctions
Houdini portrait sells in Jim Rawlins Auction Part 1

Mystifier File
Mystifier, Second Quarter 1996
Mystifier, Third Quarter 1996

Links
Houdini's last lecture
That pesky Parson's Theater program
Tom Interval introduces Blogcasts

Podcast: The Last Days of Harry Houdini

New Houdini Chronology
Those tricky Houdini imitators
Now sharing the touchstone years

Website
January 2019 in review
New page: Sources & acknowledgements
Revisit my visit to the Copperfield Collection

Thursday, February 28, 2019

Jeopardy! offers up an easy one

Houdini made an appearance on Jeopardy! yesterday. Under the category "Dates" was this $1600 question, answered correctly by Team Austin. I'm assuming everyone here can get it? But don't forget the answer in the form of a question.

To see the full board, check out the J! Archive website where you can also see all mentions of Houdini on the show going back to 1986.

Thanks to Michael Mode for the image.

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Wednesday, February 27, 2019

The Great Houdini will mop up for you! (or not)

Here are two terrific full page trade ads for Houdini's Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). Unlike The Man From Beyond, Houdini turned distribution and promotion of this final Houdini Picture Corporation production over to F.B.O. (Film Booking Office) who ballyhooed the feature to theater owners with ads like these.

F.B.O. appears to have overpromised what exhibitors were getting in regards to "extraordinary posters--extraordinary exploitation." Several theater owners complained that the 3-sheet poster, which depicts an assortment of Houdini escapes, was misleading as none of the escapes appear in the film. Below is a typical reaction from a theater owner in Middleport, New York.

Now you are probably dying to see that 3-sheet poster, right!? Unfortunately, it's never been reproduced in any book to my knowledge. The only place I've been lucky enough to see it is in the ultra-rare original Haldane of the Secret Service pressbook owned by Kevin Connolly. And even there you can't see the entire poster.

But if one of these Haldane 3-sheets ever showed up at auction, you can bet it would MOP up!

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Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Two new comic books spy Houdini this week

Two new comic books released this week take Houdini into the realm of master detective and international spy, because we've apparently not had enough of that! The first is a graphic novel called Houdini: International Spy by Philip Landa with art by Marco Cosentino. Here's a taste.

Houdini is enlisted by the US Ambassador to Great Britain to locate a missing American doctor and discovers a plot by a fanatical scientist hell-bent on unleashing a modern-day Black Plague on Vienna.

The book runs 64 (pen and ink) pages. At $12.99 it's a bit pricey for you get, but if you're so inclined, it can be purchased now at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

The next book is called Houdini: Master Detective by Jonathan Kendrick, Jamie Allan Nicklin and Simon Mark Wheeler, with artwork by Rafael Broseta and David Belmonte. Sounds like it could be a sequel to the above (or visa versa).

A mystery criminal is committing a rash of diabolical crimes plaguing the city, so Scotland Yard reaches out to Harry Houdini and his wife, Bess Houdini, are called upon by Scotland Yard to help figure out who the evil perpetrator is. But no sooner are they on the case then the villain kidnaps Bess!

I'm not sure how to buy Houdini: Master Detective online, but according to Previews, it will be in stores on February 27.

While I normally enjoy flights of Houdini fiction like this, I'm starting to wonder if books like these are actually doing harm. By consistently presenting Houdini as some sort of crime fighter, are they slowly undermining the facts of his real life and obscuring his true legacy? Or are they just harmless fun that only enhances his legend?

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Monday, February 25, 2019

PODCAST: The Last Days of Harry Houdini

The Detroit History Podcast has an episode today devoted to Houdini and his Detroit connections. It's well done! Click the headline to have a listen.

Before radio, TV, and the internet magician Harry Houdini was described as the world's first rock star. So when he died in Detroit after a performance here in 1926, people around the world took note. We unspool Houdini's death, and his various Detroit connections. That includes his 1906 leap off the Belle Isle Bridge. Veteran newsman Joe Donovan, a serious student of history, recreates that jump in classic CKLW 20/20 new style. We also talk with magicians Ming Louie, Michael Belitsos, and Ron Carnell, pop culture expert Tim Caldwell, and reporter Steve Neavling.

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Sunday, February 24, 2019

Houdini portrait sells in Jim Rawlins Auction Part 1

Yesterday saw Potter & Potter's auction of The Jim Rawlins Collection, Part I. The auction included several nice Houdini lots, including this terrific original framed portrait of Houdini that sold for $2,640 (including buyers premium).

It's credited as being Russia in 1903. Intriguingly, the auction description says, "Not examined out of frame." Really? Could there be a message from Houdini on the back!? Let's crack it open!

Potter's next magic auction will be The Magic Collection of Ray Goulet on April 27. The next Jim Rawlins auction (there will be four total) is not yet listed.

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Saturday, February 23, 2019

Baker beats Houdini (sorta)

It was on this day in 1967 that Steve Baker recreated Houdini's suspended straitjacket escape from the Tribune Tower in Oakland, California. Baker's boast was that he "beat" Houdini by doing the escape one floor higher. Houdini performed his escape on March 27, 1923 from the tower as it was still under construction.

The above AP image comes from the Minnesota Post Bulletin website and shows the respectable crowd that Baker gathered (reported at 10,000). Today a photo of Houdini doing the escape hangs inside the Tribune Tower's restaurant.

Steve Baker, a.k.a. "Mr. Escape", died in 2017.

UPDATE: Looks like I got the date wrong. Baker actually did the escape yesterday, February 22, 1967.

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Friday, February 22, 2019

The Houdinis at Inceville

The following item appeared in the January 8, 1916 issue of Motography, an early film magazine. It features a fantastic image of Harry and Bess at a historic location as far as early cinema is concerned.

Inceville was the studio ranch of pioneering silent film producer Thomas Ince. It was located in Santa Ynez Canyon in the Santa Monica mountains and stretched all the way to Pacific Coast Highway. Here's a description of Inceville from wikimapia:

The studio was the first of its kind in that it featured stages, offices, labs, commissaries (large enough to serve lunch to hundreds of workers), dressing rooms, props houses, elaborate sets, and other necessities in one location. While the site was under construction, Ince hired the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wildwest Show, including many cowboys, horses, cattle, and a whole Sioux Indian tribe, who set up their teepees on the property. When construction was completed, the streets were lined with many types of structures, from humble cottages to mansions, mimicking the style and architecture of different countries. Extensive outdoor western sets were built and used on the site for several years.

Despite the January date of the magazine, the Houdinis would have made their visit in December 1915 when Houdini was appearing at the Orpheum in Los Angeles (for context, this was when he had his famous encounter with Jess Willard). Around this same time they also visited Universal Studios and were photographed with Charlie Chaplin, possibly at the Majestic Studios in what is today Los Feliz.

Below is a photo of Harry and Bess from the collection of John Hinson. I shared this as part of my Unpublished Houdini series in 2015. At that time, I was thought this might have been taken somewhere in the American Southwest during this 1915 tour. But the clothing the Houdinis are wearing, coupled with the description of the studio ("a whole Sioux Indian tribe"), now leads me to believe this photo was taken on the same day. So this too is Inceville!