Somehow I completely missed this when it was released in 2002, but I just caught Grand Illusions: The Story of Magic on Netflix, and was thoroughly impressed with the Houdini episode. It's actually one of the better Houdini documentaries out there.
My biggest surprise is that it contains the rare footage of Houdini performing the "Thumb Racket," which I had only just learned about in Pat Culliton's Houdini The Key. But it's been right here all these years! The other episodes are first rate as well, although some are now dated.
There is also a Grand Illusions: The Story of Magic Part Two, which you can bet I'll be checking out soon.
- Home
- Life
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- Houdini's Movies
- Les merveilleux exploits de Houdini à Paris (1909)
- The Master Mystery (1918)
- The Grim Game (1919)
- Terror Island (1920)
- The Man From Beyond (1922)
- Haldane of the Secret Service (1923)
- Velvet Fingers (1925-26)
- Medium Well Done (1937)
- Religious Racketeers (1938)
- Houdini Picture Corp.
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- Deconstructing Houdini '53
- Spiritualism
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- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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- Media
- Full Bibliography
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- Wild About Harry Bookshelf
- Houdini His Life Story (1928)
- Houdini The Man Who Walked Through Walls (1959)
- Houdini The Untold Story (1969)
- The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini (1993)
- Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss (1996)
- The Secret Life of Houdini (2006)
- The Metamorphosis: The Apprenticeship of Harry Houdini (2012)
- The Witch of Lime Street (2015)
- The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini (2019)
You know, I think what happened was there were a whole slew of magic docs that hit at the same time. PBS did The Art of Magic, A&E did The Story of Magic. I bought them all and they were all okay. This came after those and I just put it off...until now.
ReplyDeleteYou obviously have a lot of love for magic and Harry Houdini himself to put together such a quality blog site.
ReplyDeleteI too am a fan of magic but possibly more so with ventriloquism.
Growing up, the two always went hand in hand.
There is a documentary coming out soon called Dumbstruck about ventriloquist and there culture.
I'm not sure if this is up your ally but...wouldn't hurt to check out the Facebook site below...you can find trailers, city infor where the film will be shown, and also try and win an Axtell Bird Puppet.
http://on.fb.me/gX25Dg
Thanks. I'll definitely give that documentary as look. :)
ReplyDelete