Sunday, April 22, 2012

In Search Of... Houdini's Secrets

From 1976 to 1982 Leonard Nimoy hosted the popular series In Search Of... Each week the show investigated some fresh mystery, such as Bigfoot, UFOs, or the Loch Ness Monster. I loved it! That's why I was delighted when on November 21, 1981, the show went In Search Of... Houdini's Secrets.


Okay, they really didn't go "in search of" anything, it's just a standard biography. But it's a decent one that uses much of the Houdini stock footage from the BBC's The Truth About Houdini. Standout moments include a new interview with Walter B. Gibson (his last?), nice footage of handcuffs from the Sid Radner collection, and Leonard Nimoy (in a cape!) standing in the Magic Castle's Houdini Seance Room in front of a display case that is no longer there. Also, near the end, there is footage of the Water Torture Cell in the Houdini Museum in Niagara Falls when it had its full fish tank "water effect" in operation. This, of course, caused horrible damage to the historic artifact.

As far as I know, In Search Of... Houdini's Secrets has never been released on any commercial format, but now you can watch the entire half-hour episode thanks to the magic of YouTube.


You can enjoy more Houdini video finds like this on the WILD ABOUT HARRY YouTube Channel.
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6 comments:

  1. CarnegieApril 22, 2012 at 10:51 AM

    This was one of my favorite Houdini shows of all time. Originally I recorded it on a beta tape and then transferred it to VHS and then to DVD. I have seen it aired on SciFi Channel in recent years.

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  2. melboApril 22, 2012 at 11:17 AM

    Thanks! I was addicted to this show but I can't believe I didn't see this one.

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  3. AnonymousApril 22, 2012 at 3:30 PM

    Thanks very much. I am copying it for my archives.

    Pete

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  4. John HINSONApril 22, 2012 at 4:44 PM

    thanks that brings back memorys

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  5. John CoxApril 22, 2012 at 4:48 PM

    My pleasure. I was happy that I could find this on YouTube. This is one of the only HH docs that I don't have on tape. Just wish it had the original In Search Of titles and credits. That music was great.

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  6. AnonymousApril 23, 2012 at 3:06 PM

    Wow....great some missing footage that I did not see on the kino discs. Many thanks

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