Sunday, July 27, 2014

Brody among the spirits in 'Houdini'

Today we get our first look at Adrien Brody as an older Houdini in the second night of HISTORY's upcoming two part biopic of the famous magician. This one shows Brody/Houdini addressing the press during his later career crusade against fraudulent mediums.

Photo by Egon Endreyi © 2014 History (click to enlarge).

There are a few aspects to this photo that are worth examining a little closer. Notice that Brody is holding a copy of a book titled, "Harry Houdini: Fake Mediums and Their Methods." This is a mix of Houdini's own Miracle Mongers and Their Methods and A Magician Among The Spirits. Apart from a brief mention of the Robert-Houdin book in TNT's 1998 Houdini, this marks the first biopic to show Houdini as an author. Another box ticked!

You'll also notice actor Máté Haumann in the crowd looking rather intently at Houdini. As I reported back in December, Hautman is credited as playing "Kelly" in the film, a name I don't recognize from Houdini's life. Could "Kelly" be a renamed J. Gordon Whitehead? Might we be seeing Kelly/Whitehead stalking Houdini during his anti-spiritualism crusade? Hmmm.

Once again, kudos to the costume design. Houdini's pinstriped suit is right out of real life. His hair is grayer than Houdini ever let his get, but it does the job of aging Brody nicely.

Now, what is it everyone is looking at here? Guess that will have to wait until September.

Houdini co-stars Kristen Connolly as Bess and Evan Jones as Jim Collins. The 4-hour biopic is is directed by Uli Edel from a script by Nicholas Meyer and airs in two parts on September 1 & 2 at 9pm ET/PT and 8pm/C on HISTORY.

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6 comments:

  1. Leo HeviaJuly 27, 2014 at 10:04 PM

    Brody's hair is white but his face looks smooth with no signs of aging.

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    1. John CoxJuly 27, 2014 at 10:08 PM

      I'm fine with that. I never buy old man makeup. It's distracting. A good actor can show age with performance.

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  2. MantooJuly 28, 2014 at 11:14 AM

    Another cool pic. Where is he? Did he ever give press briefings outside the city? The grass suggests a private home, or maybe a cemetery? He looks ticked off at whomever is interrupting his speech.

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    1. John CoxJuly 28, 2014 at 1:11 PM

      Good questions. Afraid I don't have any answers. The setting does have a private home vibe, but I'm not sure what that would be. Maybe it is some kind of a fancy social gathering and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is there and stepping out to meet the press beside HH? That would make a nice scene.

      Or maybe Bess is loaded and interrupting. "I... I... I... That's all he ever says. I... I... I..." (Real Bess quote.)

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  3. AnonymousJuly 29, 2014 at 8:45 AM

    Two videos on youtube just posted. They are certainly going with a phycological theme. Perry from NJ.

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    1. John CoxJuly 29, 2014 at 1:01 PM

      Cool. One of those is new. I'll be posting it along with a new pic on Friday.

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