The Houdini card manipulation movie mystery deepens

Following up on my 4th of July post about the famous footage of Houdini doing card manipulations -- which we discovered was shown in 1926 as a short called, Velvet Fingers -- Tom Interval of Houdini Museum has turned up an intriguing new discovery.

Tom has found this advertisement with suggests this footage might have first appeared as part of a short called Marvel of Motion by Red Seal Pictures. [EDIT: It was actually a series of shorts called Marvels of Motion.] The short featured "startling photographic inventions" including "very remarkable slow-motion pictures of Houdini and his card tricks." It played at New York's Rivoli Theatre in June 1925, a year before Velvet Fingers.

It's very likely this is the same footage, especially as the description of Velvet Fingers also mentions slow motion. It's possible this footage was first created for this Red Seal short and then later extracted on its own as Velvet Fingers. Or maybe Houdini himself shot this footage and licensed it to various film companies for use in their shorts, which means it might have appeared in several different films.

Another tantalizing possibility is that what's contained in Marvel of Motion is footage of Houdini that we have not yet seen.

Another day, another Houdini mystery!

Thank you Tom.

UPDATE: Recently NEW footage of Houdini doing coin and card manipulations has come to light, which throws a wrinkle into the Marvel of Motion/Velvet Fingers saga. This new footage shows Houdini in a suit and tie, so it was not made at the same time. So is the suit and tie footage from Marvel of Motion and the tux footage from Velvet Fingers? Or visa versa? Or was it all one film? The mystery deepens!

Related:

• Houdini in "VELVET FINGERS"
• The King of Cards in 1926

Houdini in "VELVET FINGERS"

We are all familiar with the famous film footage of Houdini doing card manipulations late in his career. Little is known about this footage, except that it was made by Pathe in 1926. But while doing some unrelated research, I stumbled on two newspaper advertisements that appear to show exactly when and where this short film played and, most excitingly, the title: "Velvet Fingers."

These ads appeared in The Hutchinson News on April 1st and 2nd, 1926, and advertised the line-up of movies at the Royal Theater in Kansas City. The main feature was the Ralph Lewis newspaper drama, The Last Edition. But look below and you'll see among the short subjects on the bill is HOUDINI in "VELVET FINGERS." The second ad has the more descriptive "HOUDINI in an array of tricks." It seems almost certain that "Velvet Fingers" and the famous Houdini card flourishes footage are one in the same.

Unfortunately, I can't find any other record of a short called "Velvet Fingers" (there was a serial with this title in 1920). Might the theater have invented the title? Hard to know. But the Our Gang short that is billed above the Houdini movie was indeed called "Better Movies."

Royal in Kanas City where "Velvet Fingers" played in 1926.

It's intriguing to wonder just how many tricks in the "array of tricks" existed in the full short. In the surviving film, we see Houdini demonstrate a 32 card forward and back palm, an armspread turnover, a waterfall, and an amazing armspread toss and catch. Houdini was featuring these flourishes in his 3 Shows In 1 at this time, so this is really the only footage that exists of Houdini doing his stage act. Pretty cool.

As far as I know, this short no longer survives complete. Some footage appeared in 1950 feature documentary, The Golden Twenties. The most complete selection of footage can be found on the 3-DVD set "Vintage Magic Films" produced by The Miracle Factory. I once had the fantasy that this could have been a sound short, but certainly that would have been advertised, so I have to put that wish to bed.

And now here's a short clip from "Velvet Fingers."

Related:

• The King of Cards in 1926
• Houdini's grand finale: 3 Shows In 1

UPDATE: Readers Bill Mullins and Joe Notaro have uncovered some clippings that confirm the title and give us even more details about the full footage:

Motion Picture News, March 20, 1926:
Pathe Review No. 12 brings Houdini to the screen as a master manipulator of playing cards in a novelty called "Velvet Fingers."

Greensboro NC Record, March 21 1926:
HOUDINI'S VELVET FINGERS
Houdini, master magician, brings to the screen his grace and form in handling playing cards in a current issue of the Pathe Review. He also presents an expose of some of the card tricks by means of which card sharps have mulcted the public of millions of dollars. Slow motion analyses "the gambler's cut," in which the middle and bottom of the deck are transposed, leaving the top as it was; the "forearm rifle" in which Houdini makes a whole deck of cards obey his orders and the "forearm toss," in which every card stays in its place as if under hypnotic control, and other stunts that make the cards almost sit up and talk. [typos as in original]

UPDATE 2: Was this footage originally part of a 1925 short produced by Red Seal Pictures? Click to read: The Houdini card manipulation movie mystery deepens.

Here is that remarkable Houdini mystery footage

Earlier this year our friend Leo Hevia discovered 30 minutes of largely unseen Houdini footage buried in a YouTube video of random magic clips. It was an exciting find! A few weeks ago the clip and channel disappeared. It's still not clear who ran this channel, nor where this footage originated.

But this footage was just too remarkable to let vanish, so I've taken the liberty of uploading four of the most complete and interesting clips to my own YouTube channel. (Hopefully I'm not stepping on any toes by doing this.) I have also embedded the clips below along with a description of what they show. As you can see, the quality is poor, but the content is incredible. Enjoy!

1. Visiting sister Gladys: This appears to be unedited home movies of Houdini visiting his sister Carrie Gladys on a snowy day. After several shots outside of Houdini leaving the house (the footage is not in sequence), we cut inside the house to find Gladys playing the piano as Harry and Bess enter. Gladys then greets Houdini's assistants one by one: Franz Kukol, James Vickery, Jim Collins, and an unidentified assistant. Two more men are greeted by Gladys and Houdini, but I don't know who they are. After everyone leaves, Houdini returns to pick up and kiss a photo of his mother. We then see Houdini hugging and kissing Bess outside in the snow. Incredible.

2. Houdini Coin and Card handling: A real mystery is this one minute of footage showing Houdini doing coin sleights and card manipulations in slow motion. It's tempting to think this is a lost fragment from Velvet Fingers, but Houdini is dressed in a suit instead of a tuxedo, so this appears to be something entirely different. Whatever it is, it's a remarkable minute of film and breathtaking to watch Houdini's hand movements.

3. Monk Table Tie Escape: This footage shows Houdini doing an escape on the set of Haldane of the Secret Service. But this is not from the movie itself. The scenario here appears to be that he's being challenged by monks (played by actors and his assistants). This footage has appeared in documentaries, but it always cuts off as Houdini is being tied. Here the footage is complete and uncut, showing the full escape and Houdini being raised up on the shoulders of the ecstatic monks.

4. The Man From Beyond cliff stunt: While maybe not as spectacular as the above clips, this is every bit as interesting. This shows Houdini filming his cliff fight and his stunt of hanging off the edge. Shot from a distance, we can see the cameraman and also the geography of the stunt, showing Houdini was not as high off the ground as it appears in the movie. A rare piece of behind the scenes.

Also part of the original clip was the first few minutes of Houdini's 1909 movie, Les merveilleux exploits de Houdini à Paris. But this is something I'm going to save for a later time as part of a larger restoration project.

Related:

• Mysterious Houdini footage now mysteriously gone
• Holy smokes! Thirty minutes of largely unseen Houdini film surfaces
• The Houdini card manipulation movie mystery deepens

Holy smokes! Thirty minutes of largely unseen Houdini film surfaces

We may only be three days into the new year, but our friend Leonard Hevia has made what might be the find of 2019! While browsing the Sleight of Direction YouTube channel, Leo found 30 minutes of Houdini film footage, much of it unknown! It's contained in a video clip posted on New Years Eve titled "Various TV Magic Clips from the US - 1970s to before." Curiously, the video description doesn't even mention Houdini. But oh baby!

The quality is very poor, but the content is incredible. Below is the embedded clip set to begin at the Houdini footage at 59:48 (you might want to mute the sound).

UPDATE: As you can see, the original video has been removed, but
selected clips can be viewed HERE.

Here's a breakdown of what I consider the most remarkable footage seen here. Timecodes show where the clip is located in the above video.

Houdini Visits Gladys (01:21:14): The most mind blowing footage for me is what appears to be unedited home movies of Houdini visiting his sister Gladys during a snowy day. After several shots outside of Houdini leaving (the footage is not in sequence), we cut inside the house to find Gladys playing the piano as Harry and Bess enter. Gladys then greets Houdini's assistants one by one: Franz Kukol, James Vickery, Jim Collins, and an unidentified assistant. Two more men are greeted by Gladys and Houdini, but I don't know who they are. As everyone leaves, Houdini takes a moment to pick up and kiss a photo of his mother. We then see Houdini hugging and kissing Bess outside in the snow. Incredible.

Houdini's Paris Movie (01:23:52): This next clip is of huge significance to Houdini movie history. It's the first three minutes of Houdini's 1909 movie Les merveilleux exploits de Houdini à Paris, complete with the original French title cards. The key here is that includes the opening incident in which Harry and Bess help a drunk man on the street and are arrested. With this footage, a restoration is now doable (although we are still missing the very opening in which we see the Alhambra decked out in Houdini posters).

Houdini Coin and Cards (01:14:48): A real mystery is this one minute of footage showing Houdini doing coin sleights and card manipulations in slow motion. It's tempting to think this is a lost fragment from his 1925 Marvels in Motion appearance (later released as Velvet Fingers). But Houdini is dressed here in a suit instead of a tuxedo, so this could be something entirely different. Whatever it is, it's a remarkable minute of film and breathtaking to watch Houdini's hand movements.

Monk Table Tie Escape (01:27:10): This is footage of Houdini doing an escape on the set of Haldane of the Secret Service. This is not from the movie itself. The scenario here appears to be that he's being challenged by monks (played by actors and his assistants). This footage has appeared in documentaries, but it always cuts off as Houdini is being tied. Here the footage is complete and uncut, showing the full escape and Houdini being raised up on the shoulders of the ecstatic monks.

This compilation also includes several unfamiliar clips of suspended straitjacket escapes; behind the scenes filming of The Man From Beyond; the familiar footage of Houdini outside a Kansas City theater and the Rochester bridge jump; Harry Kellar visiting Houdini, Dash and Bess at Hardeen's Flatbush home (where Houdini was living at the time); and several clips from The Mastery Mystery with original title cards and some footage not seen in the Kino DVD.

So where the heck did this film come from? I'm afraid I don't have any answers, and I don't know who runs this YouTube Channel (it appears they may be outside the U.S.). But this channel includes a treasure trove of rare magic clips, and I can't help but wonder if we are somehow seeing part of the recently auctioned Bill McIlhany collection? But wherever it came from, what a way to start the new year!

Thank you Leo for sharing this fantastic find.

Related:

• Magicana acquires the McIlhany film archive
• The mystery of Carrie Gladys Weiss
• The Houdini card manipulation movie mystery deepens

The untold story of Hardeen Jr.

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with the nephew of Douglas Geoffrey aka "Hardeen Jr." Despite the fact that Geoffrey was the official successor to the Houdini-Hardeen show, precious little is known about him. Most think he only performed for a couple of years, but this is incorrect. Douglas Geoffrey performed as Hardeen Jr. well into the 1950s, and then under his own name until 1988! But let's start his story at the beginning.

Born on May 19, 1907, Douglas Geoffrey Mackintosh fell in love with magic at the age of 8 when he received a Gilbert's Mysto Magic set from his Aunt Lucie. At the age of 12 he saw Thurston perform, and was even invited onstage to assist in a trick. He later took magic lessons from magician Fred Estelle of Brooklyn. One bit of information that the nephew shared with me -- something I've never seen printed anywhere -- is that Geoffrey actually worked briefly with Houdini! At age 19 he got a job in Houdini's full evening roadshow. Unfortunately, his tenure was brief as Houdini died that same year.

Geoffrey assisting Hardeen in 1943

Geoffrey performed his own magic act until he met Houdini's brother, Theo. Hardeen, in Atlantic City in 1932. Hardeen had revived his own career after inheriting the Houdini show. Geoffrey became one of Hardeen's assistants, working alongside Jim Collins, James Vickery, and Dolly Spence. He eventually become Hardeen's Chief Assistant, and may have been the man who rescued Hardeen when he had his mishap in the Milk Can.

Geoffrey was initiated into the Society of American Magicians on May 19, 1944. Then on May 29, 1945, during his final show at the RKO Madison Theater in Ridgewood, New York, Hardeen named "Doug" his official successor. Hardeen would die a short time later -- it was Geoffrey who broke the wand over his casket in the S.A.M. ceremony -- and Geoffrey went on to perform as "Hardeen Jr", the professional name bestowed on him by Hardeen.

Along with the "Heir to the Throne of Magic" title, Douglas Geoffrey inherited the Houdini-Hardeen show props. Thankfully, Hardeen did not stipulate in his own Will Houdini's instructions to "burn and destroy" all his props following his death. The props Geoffrey decided not to use -- including most of the escape apparatus -- he sold off in the July 1945 issue of The New Conjurer's Magazine on behalf of Elsie Hardeen. Among the items listed was Hardeen's original Milk Can with an asking price of $500. (I believe this is the can currently on display as part of the Houdini Art and Magic exhibition.) One personal memento Geoffrey held onto was the monogramed pocket from the pajamas Houdini was wearing when he died. (Today it's in the collection of Arthur Moses.) He also wore Hardeen's masonic pin during performances.

The Hardeen Jr. show, first billed as Houdini Lives Again! and co-starring magician Bob Sherman aka "Sherms", toured vaudeville and with the USO starting in 1945. Featured in his act was The Flight of Time (advertised as "the last illusion invented by Houdini"); Mummy Case; Houdini Card Star; Nest of Boxes; and the Book of Life (the last effect invented by Hardeen). Even though his newspaper adverts sometimes featured escape imagery, the only "escape" he did was the substitution truck with handcuffs. At one point he was (unintentionally?) billed as "Houdini's nephew."

Two Hardeen Jr. ads: One for his show and the other for a "magic battle".

Hardeen Jr. specialized in "challenge" magic contests, at one time holding his own in a card manipulation contest with Cardini. He also succeeded Hardeen in the Olson and Johnson Broadway show Hellzapoppin, playing a remarkable 80 weeks. Hardeen Jr. took his show international, performing in such far off locations as India and Saudi Arabia. While performing at Union City's Capital Theater, he was assisted by Hardeen's daughter, Gladys Hardeen.

Reviews where good. The Richmond News Leader noted that "the Hardeen act has all the flair of 'big time'. He moves with a clocklike precision, and an evenness that is so often missing in these performances that hit the road."

Hardeen Jr. in 1980

However, when it came to publicity, Geoffrey was modest, a trait he certainly didn't share with Houdini and Hardeen. This is probably why so little is known of his career today. He even turned down an invitation to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. Instead he enjoyed performing smaller venues, and in a home theater which he built behind his house in Queens that he called the "109th Street Playhouse." Here he would perform magic during parties, which he threw often.

Geoffrey continued performing until he physically couldn't manage the coin and cards manipulations. He gave up the stage in 1988 and died on January 14, 1990 at age 82. The S.A.M. performed a Wand Breaking ceremony and buried him with his magician's baton. His close friend, William Rauscher, who penned the book The Houdini Code Mystery, conducted the funeral. Rauscher would carry on performing many of the Houdini-Hardeen magic effects he received from Geoffrey, including The Flight of Time.

Douglas Geoffrey did not formally pass on the Houdini-Hardeen-Hardeen Jr. show to any successor. But he carried the torch admirably for many years, and his life and name should definitely be celebrated as part of the larger legacy of Harry Houdini.

My thanks to the nephew of Hardeen Jr. for the information and the use of his photos.