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.

Sleeping With Houdini

A Houdini inspired book of prose poetry, Sleeping With Houdini by Nin Andrews, has been released by BOA Editions. Here is a description of the book from Amazon:

Nin Andrews is arguably the leading female voice in American prose poetry. In Sleeping with Houdini, Andrews speaks as a little girl who wishes she could vanish at will, just as Houdini did. As she grows, Houdini becomes a personal icon, a magical being, a muse, an ultimate lover, and a metaphor for longing.

Purchase Sleeping With Houdini from Amazon.com.

Houdini Speaks Out

A new book Houdini Speaks Out by Arthur Moses (who last year released Houdini A Periodical Bibliography) is released today.

Revealing new insights, Houdini Speaks Out vividly recreates Houdini's solitarian lectures which he presented from 1922 until his untimely death in 1926. The reader becomes involved in understanding his struggles to reach into the afterlife to contact his deceased mother during an era filled with deceptive spirit mediums. Each of the fifty glass lantern slides that Houdini used to highlight his lectures are painstakingly recreated and matched to his original lecture text.

Houdini Speaks Out is available in hardcover ($79.99) and softcover ($45.99). For free shipping (U.S. mail only) contact the author directly at Houdini.magic@gmail.com.

There is also a deluxe leather bound limited edition ($185.00) only available from the author.

UPDATE: You can now purchase Houdini Speaks Out on Amazon.

Kid Houdini comes to life this Halloween

Internet publisher Chemistry Set has announced the launch of online comic Kid Houdini and the Silver Dollar Misfits, slated to start on the 81st anniversary of the magician's death.

The series follows a young Houdini after his running away from his family in Appleton, Wis., in 1886. He joins the circus, and he and the other circus youths will take on any task, no matter the danger, for the price of a silver dollar.

“I have wanted to do this series for quite some time,” says creator Dwight L. MacPherson. “Imagine Scooby Doo meets HBO’s Carnivale, and that gives you an idea as to the feel of the story. There are supernatural aspects to the stories, but they are also grounded in good old-fashioned Sherlock Holmes-styled detective work. Regardless of age, I’m certain that readers will find something to enjoy in these new detective stories.”

The first page of Kid Houdini and the Silver Dollar Misfits will go live on October 31, with a new page posted each Wednesday thereafter.

Tony Curtis at Hollywood Collector's Show

Houdini himself, Tony Curtis, appeared at the Hollywood Collector’s Show in Burbank this past weekend. It was Mr. Curtis’ first appearance at the show and he proved to be incredibly popular; signing autographs and greeting a never ending line of fans.

If you are visiting this site, I doubt I need to remind you that Tony was the first actor to play Houdini on screen. He starred along with his then wife, Janet Leigh, in Paramount’s 1953 biopic HOUDINI.

Houdini art exhibition in Los Angeles

A new exhibition of life-size Harry Houdini portraits by artist Whitney Bedford is now appearing at the Cherry and Martin gallery in Venice, California. The exhibition opened on September 12 and runs through October 27, 2007.

According to the gallery’s website, “these life-size works, based on iconic photographs, compliment the “adventure of death” found in Bedford’s previous shipwreck series. Here, however, the possibility of death is condensed into this enigmatic persona who enraptured audiences with dangerous feats and uncompromising artistry during a tumultuous time in our country’s history.”

Cherry and Martin is located on the west side of Los Angeles at 12611 Venice Boulevard, four blocks west of Centinela Avenue. Phone: (310) 398-7404.