The story of Houdini trapped under the ice of a frozen river is a powerful part of Houdini lore. It was memorably dramatized in the 1953 film Houdini, and there is evidence that this year's Houdini miniseries with Adrien Brody will also feature the famous incident.
Even though Houdini himself told this story, it's now considered to be a fiction. There is no supporting evidence for it ever having happened, such as a newspaper account, and Houdini tended to change the location and details, as if to misdirect. The location most often cited is the Belle Isle Bridge in Detroit on November 27, 1906. But newspaper accounts of Houdini's bridge jump that day makes no mention of a frozen river (although it was cold enough for snow flurries). Furthermore, Houdini wore a 113 ft. safety line for that particular escape.
Recently I discovered a telling of this story in Houdini's own words in a biographical article he wrote for Hearst's in 1919 called "Nearly Dying for a Living." Here the location is Pittsburgh and, interestingly, it's not a handcuffed bridge jump, but an overboard box escape, just like in the Tony Curtis movie. It's fascinating to hear the version as told by Houdini himself:
My Battery predicament, however, wasn't quite as terrifying as a situation in which I found myself in Pittsburgh several years ago. During and engagement there it had been advertised that on a certain day I should be handcuffed and chained and placed in a box and dropped into the river from a bridge.
Nature was unkind, however, and when the day came the river had been frozen over to a depth of seven inches, which, as a matter of fact, wasn't surprising, as it was midwinter. But ice-water never has had any terrors for me, and a hole was cut in the ice just below the bridge and everybody, including a crowd of several thousand of persons, arrived on time.
With the handcuffs and chains in place, I was put into the trunk, with in turn was bound with ropes and chains. Then the trunk was dropped into the river through the hole in the ice. The handcuffs and chains about my arms and legs and the bound trunk offered no more than the usual difficulties, but when I found myself free of them all I discovered that I had drifted with the current and when I attempted to rise my head bumped against the seven inches of ice. Fully conscious of the seriousness of the situation I looked about in the hope that a greater light might come through where the hole was and give me my directions. But there was no guiding light.
Then I knew that I must breathe. I was under the water longer than the allotted time. And breathing meant that I should drown and go on drifting for weeks and months. But as I had never before given up, I didn't give up then. Instead, I found and "air pocket," a space in which the ice seemed to curve upward, leaving and inch or more of room between the surface of the water and the ice above. I lay flat on my back, tight up against the ice, and breathed. Then I found that the water came in little intermittent waves and that by keeping my face close against the ice I could move about and get and occasional breath. I still held in my hands the handcuffs that I had removed from my wrists, and with these pressed against the ice I began a circular movement. And suddenly I bobbed up through the hole, and the men reached down and lifted me out onto the ice, wrapped me up and hurried me to my hotel.
The crowd that had come to see me and my assistants believed that I had been drowned and, although I didn't hear it, they say that a mighty cheer went up when I appeared.
One point of interest is that Houdini says he couldn't hear the cheers of the crowd when he surfaced. This strikes me as a very believable detail that you wouldn't find in purely fictionalized account. No, I'm not about to argue that this really happened; but wouldn't it be nice to discover that there is some measure of truth to this story someday?
But the most revealing difference between the Houdini and Hollywood versions is how the harrowing predicament resolves. In the Curtis movie and, possibly, the Brody film, Houdini is saved from his ice-bound grave by the spirit of his dead mother. In the Curtis film her voice calls out to him and leads him to the hole. Behind the scenes photos from the Brody film show actress Eszter Ónodi suspended under the ice in her nightgown -- a ghostly vision of Mama? The movies turn this event into an affirmation of the world beyond. Divine intervention saves Houdini -- a power greater than himself.
But Houdini's version has none of this. In fact, I find it interesting that he goes out of his way to say that he searched and found no "greater" or "guiding light" to rescue him. A very deliberate choice of wording there. Because, if you think about it, a version of this story that affirms the existence of the supernatural would be an anathema to Houdini. In his version of the "true" events, Houdini saves himself.
UPDATE: I recently found what might be the genesis of this myth in a 1912 interview with Houdini. Check out: Houdini freezes the Detroit river.
By the way, Google or search eBay for "Belle Isle Bridge" and take a look at old postcards of it. The bridge is different from what I imagined. Not really an urban setting.
ReplyDeleteAnyone whom says Houdini didn't die during the Belle isle bridge caper then pronounced dead at receiving Hospital in Detroit is mis informed. A guy from Pittsburgh wanted it to be about Pittsburgh. Sorry, it was DETROIT!. I Personally asked Moe Howard, yes Moe Howard before Moe pasted about the true deal. Why Moe? Houdini was Moe's Cousin or Uncle, I can't remember now. Moe's wife was Houdini blood.. So shut up Pittsburgh
DeleteYeah, take that Pittsburgh! Youse knuckle heads.
DeleteI let this story go quietly into the night after I read Gresham's book. As Gresham noted, Houdini would not have been foolish enough to attempt a stunt like this. But as long as Houdini repeated this story, he didn't really have to risk his life. Better to let the imagination of the public do the heavy lifting.
ReplyDeleteThe last photo, Houdini emerging from the water, is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThat's from my "Hinson Endowment" and is unpublished. I think it might be from Haldane of the Secret Service. Need to fire up the movie to check. But, yeah, I love it too. Thought it offered a nice punctuation to this story. :)
DeleteFantastic discovery and share! It would be nice to find a record of Houdini doing an overboard box escape in Pittsburgh during the middle of Winter, but that might be wishful thinking. BTW: Nice image of Houdini in the water; Haldane would be my guess.
ReplyDeleteJust confirmed that the John Hinson Image is from Haldane. You can find it in the “Coldcocked” scene on Kino or Chapter 3 on Alpha Video.
DeleteGood story. Interesting point about the temporary deafness. Does it bother you that the supposedly factual HIstory film is putting this in?
ReplyDeleteI'm not all that bothered by fictionalizations in Houdini movies. Just because it's being made by History doesn't mean it's required to be a documentary, and people should know Hollywood biopics are only ever "based" on the truth. It's only requirement is to be entertaining. If it gets people interested in Houdini, they can then turn to a book (or this blog) for the real story. That's how it worked with me and the Curtis film. That film did it's job beautifully.
DeleteThe only thing that I think will bother me is the inclusion of the spy malarky. That's worse than fiction.
Absolutely agree “based” is so very different. They actual also mention that it’s enhanced for viewer’s entertainment. Love To y Curtis and his movie. Saw it when I was 12 and loved Houdini ever since.
DeleteI don't know if it's too late to add my comment to this story or not. When I was a kid (1950's) my dad told me this story as if it really happened, and he said it was under Lake Erie. He was born in Buffalo in 1910, so he couldn't have been alive in 1906. Could it be Houdini did this stunt at a later date? I wonder if a search of the Buffalo News or Courier Express would turn anything up? Anyway, my dad told the story as if it were a real event. So he was a convinced member of Houdini's public.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. Thank you for sharing. I do have this fantasy that we will one day discover this all actually happened. Maybe in Buffalo?
DeleteThe notion of finding lifesaving pockets if air beneath the surface of the ice, like the temporary deafness resulting from prolonged exposure to icy waters, might further serve to instill at least a modicum of truth to this story. It's certainly possible that Houdini read of someone else's experience when trapped under ice, but it's not something the average individual would likely know without, some point of legitimate reference.
ReplyDeleteGood points.
DeleteA while back a gentleman got in touch who told me his grandmother witnessed this and swore it was all true. One interesting detail he added was that she claimed Houdini was found washed up downstream where the ice broke up. He told me she had newspaper clippings and photos that proved the whole story and he'd send them to me. But there was always some delay, his scanner was working, etc. Eventually he drifted away.
I'm fairly new to Houdini history, so please forgive if this is a silly question. Given all the effort Houdini put into debunking Houdin, why would he make up stories about his feats? Did he do that often?
ReplyDeleteHi Erin. Not a silly question at all. In fact, it's an excellent question. The irony is Houdini was guilty of almost all the charges he leveled again Robert-Houdin. If he ever recognized the hypocrisy of this, he never acknowledged it. My guess is he didn't see it.
DeleteAs for his own fictionalizations, you have to take them one by one and explore the motives of each. In this case, Houdini was commissioned to write a magazine article about some of his close calls. Thing was, he didn't really have many close calls. He was a professional. He was not reckless. And what close calls he did have probably would have exposed a secret to discuss it openly. So he took the idea of bridge jump and worked up a good story around it. A great story in fact! He was an entertainer, and when tasked to tell a certain type to story, he made it as good as possible. But he didn't invent things whole cloth. They would be rooted in some real feat that he had actually performed.