Houdini returns to 'Mysteries at the Museum' Oct. 3

The Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum will once again feature a segment about Houdini as host Don Wildman travels to the Houdini Museum in Scranton, PA to uncover the story of Houdini's feud with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The show will highlight the museum's original portrait of Cecelia Weiss, which hung inside Houdini's New York home. Owners Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz acquired the portrait (along with another of Houdini's father) at a 1980 auction of Houdini memorabilia in New Jersey.

This marks the fourth Houdini-themed segment on the Travel Channel series. Other episodes uncovered the Mirror Handcuffs, Margery, and Robert-Houdin. The series has also featured several other magic related segments.

This latest Houdini episode (Season 7, Episode 4: "Doyle & Houdini, The Poison Squad, The Great Imposter") airs this Friday, October 3, 2014. Check out The Travel Channel for more details.

Related:

• The Houdini family portraits
• The greatest Houdini auction ever
• 'Mysteries at the Museum' rings Margery's bell box

LINKS: Terror Island - Not a Serial!

Our friend Joe Notaro over at Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence is running a special 7-day series featuring original full page ads from Motion Picture News for Houdini's 1920 feature Terror Island - "Not a Serial!" Below are links to each installment:

Terror Island – Not a Serial! (Ad 1 of 7)
Terror Island – Not a Serial! (Ad 2 of 7)
Terror Island – Not a Serial! (Ad 3 of 7)
Terror Island – Not a Serial! (Ad 4 of 7)
Terror Island – Not a Serial! (Ad 5 of 7)
Terror Island – Not a Serial! (Ad 6 of 7)
Terror Island – Not a Serial! (Ad 7 of 7)

And, remember, if you'd like to see Terror Island on the (biggish) screen, know that we will be playing the film during my special "Houdini in Hollywood" event at Hollywood Heritage next Wednesday, October 8th at 7:30pm. Tickets are still available and can be purchased via brownpapertickets.

Lionsgate vs. History: Nicholas Meyer on the two versions of 'Houdini'

Looks like screenwriter Nicholas Meyer is stepping out to promote the upcoming release of the Houdini miniseries on DVD and Blu-ray (Oct. 7). And that could be because this extended edition -- or what he calls the "Lionsgate version" -- is the version he feels better represents his work. The official Star Trek website recently posted an exclusive interview with the writer-director, which includes this revealing exchange:

Let’s start in the present tense, before we dip into the past. You wrote Houdini, which just aired. How pleased were you with how that came together?

MEYER: Well, there are two versions of it. One is the international version, which is Lionsgate, and the other is the History Channel version. And I much prefer the Lionsgate version.

Really? How come?

MEYER: Well, they – you know, sort of re-cut the movie, and tore a lot of it out, and put in a lot of voiceovers and stuff that I just wasn’t crazy about. And wasn't our intention. It hadn't been written.

Having now seen the extended "Lionsgate version" myself, I must say, I'm in complete agreement with Meyer. The cuts HISTORY made to the series really hurt, and had I seen this complete version, I might have written a different review. In fact, I'm planning on giving the movie a re-review of sorts in the coming weeks (although with my Houdini talk at Hollywood Heritage looming, I'm up against the wall time-wise, so this may not happen in time for the DVD release).

Meyer also recently attended a Houdini Seance at the Magic Castle with Houdini star Evan Jones who played Jim Collins (photo above). You can read about that at Home Media Magazine.

Pre-order the Lionsgate version of Houdini on DVD and Blu-ray at Amazon.

Thanks to Neil S. Bulk.

Related:

• Houdini DVD and Blu-ray will include extra footage
• Channel 4 shows extended 'Houdini' in UK
• 'Houdini' editors reveal their secrets

'Houdini' review in October MAGIC

I'm proud to report that the October 2014 issue of MAGIC Magazine features a review of the Houdini miniseries written by yours truly. This is a condensed version of my full review published here on WILD ABOUT HARRY. Even though I had to drastically reduce this review (from 2400 words to 500), I was thrilled to see it still received a full page.

The magazine also features a report on the recent Potter & Potter Houdini auction in Chicago; Mike Caveney's always must read Classic Correspondence column (this time "Neil Foster to Jane Thurston"); and a terrific look at the magical effects inside Disneyland's classic Haunted Mansion ("Revisiting the Haunted Mansion: Disney’s Magic Show"). The cover features magician Yu Ho-Jin.

Thanks to Stan Allen for allowing me to share my Houdini thoughts with the readers of MAGIC. Visit the MAGIC Magazine website to buy this issue and to subscribe.

Houdini the unhappy commuter

On Wednesday I had the great pleasure of seeing Teller's Tempest at the South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, thanks to the generosity of magician and Magic Castle librarian Lisa Cousins and Tim Quinlan of Inside Magic. The play was as amazing as the rave reviews promised, and it was great to see it with a group of magicians from the Castle. ("What do the magicians think?" someone eagerly asked me at intermission.)

But what I want to share today was a discovery we made after the play. Our group returned to the Magic Castle to ring in the birthday of "Princess Irene" Larsen at midnight. But before the clock struck 12, Lisa and I stole down to the closed library where she wanted to show me a recent discovery in their special "locked case" collection.

It was a copy of the book The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism by A. Leah Underhill of the Fox Family, which had belonged to Houdini. Tipped inside were two remarkable letters. The first was from Houdini to his friend and research assistant Oscar Teale. What I love about this letter is it's a great slice of life, and it reveals a different side of Houdini. And have we ever heard about this Long Island rental before?

Click to enlarge.

Now, not to get all Bernard Meyer on us, but it seems to me that this letter comes from a Houdini who is a little depressed. There's also a strong sense of abandonment here, both by Bess and Teale. Houdini was almost certainly a workaholic, and I do think he was prone to slipping into funks when he wasn't working. It's not the first time this depressed Houdini shows himself while on vacation. It's also worth noting that this letter was written the day before the 12th anniversary of his mother's death. That could be the real explanation for his mood here, even if Houdini wasn't aware of it himself.

The second letter is Teale's response, and it's just as personal and revealing. Teale seems to be going out of his way to cheer up Houdini and reassure him that he isn't alone (I unfortunately didn't photograph page 1 in which Teale explains why he wasn't able to make it to the S.A.M. meeting). Teale was an older man, and as a past National President of the S.A.M. (1908-09), he might have been somewhat of a father figure to Houdini. This unique exchange hints at that kind of a relationship.

Click to enlarge.

Teale tipped these letters into the book and it remained part of his collection until his death. Today many of Teale's books, several of which had come direct from Houdini, are housed at the William Larsen Sr. Memorial Library at the Magic Castle.

Thanks again to Lisa and Tim for the invite to the play, and permission to share this treasure here on WILD ABOUT HARRY.

Related:

• Houdini's hurt feelings
• Haversat & Ewing Galleries auction starts January 25 (Teale/Houdini photo)

Houdini haunts Sarah Winchester #1

Back in 2009 a graphic novel was announced that would feature Houdini as a devilish spirit haunting the famous Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA. I was never able to track down a copy of "Winchester," and I assumed it never came out. But now a helpful reader tells me the first issue did indeed come out under the new title The Secrets of Sarah Winchester. The back even featured an image of zombie Harry.

The Secrets of Sarah Winchester was planned as a series, but a Cease & Desist from the Winchester estate resulted in the series being cancelled. However, issue #1 can still be found on Amazon.

Thanks to Shannon Kane.

Related:

• Houdini haunts ‘Winchester’
• Houdini at the Winchester Mystery House
• Winchester Mystery House movie in the works

History Latinoamérica recruits the real Houdini

The History Channel Latinoamérica is promoting their upcoming airing of the Houdini miniseries on September 28/29 with a campaign that in some ways is superior to the U.S. promotion. Have a look art their official website. What I like is how they're mixing stories and images of the real Houdini with the Brody movie. It's what one might expect from a channel called History.

Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Night One

Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Night Two

REVIEW: History gets a C- in Houdini

'Houdini' behind the scenes

Lionsgate Unlocked has released this Behind The Scenes look at the Houdini miniseries as promotion for their upcoming DVD and Blu-ray release on October 7. Regardless of issues with the script, I think all can agree that the behind the scenes work by the talented crew and craftsmen was superb. This clip gives a nice look at that work. Enjoy.

Pre-order HOUDINI Extended Edition DVD on Amazon

Pre-order HOUDINI Extended Edition Blu-ray on Amazon

Houdini haunt returns to Knott's

The Houdini themed Black Magic haunted maze attraction returns in this year's annual Knott's Berry Farm Halloween scarefest, "Knott's Scary Farm."

The veil between the living and the dead is severed when Houdini’s ghost materializes during a séance and ushers a host of demonic illusions to play tricks on anyone who intrudes on his theatre. From the prop room to the main stage this dilapidated theatre will make visitors skin crawl. Will you be part of the disappearing act?

Black Magic was designed by Daniel Miller and made its debut last year. According to the Knott's website, there will be some scary new additions this year, including "more places for monsters to hide" and a "mind-boggling hall of mirrors."

Knott's 42nd Halloween Haunt opens today and runs through November 1. For more information and to buy advance tickets visit their website.

LINK: Houdini's Hollywood hijinx revealed @ the Barn

My upcoming Houdini talk at the Hollywood Heritage Museum on October 8 got a nice mention on the excellent Arts*Meme website. Click the headline to have a read.

Tickets to Evening @ the Barn: Houdini in Hollywood can be purchased via brownpapertickets. You can read more details about the event HERE.

S.A.M. planning "huge restoration" of Houdini's grave

Can 2014 get any better for Houdini? Apparently, it can!

Newly elected National President of the Society of American Magicians, ICE McDonald, along with S.A.M.'s National Dean, George Schindler and one of the Society’s Senior Officers David Bowers, will visit Houdini's grave at Machpelah Cemetery in Queens on October 2 as the first step in what's being described as "planning for the huge restoration process."

"It brings me joy to visit the great city of New York, and an honor to attend the gravesite of one of magic's greatest treasures, the Honorable Past National President of The Society of American Magicians, Harry Houdini," say McDonald, who on July 3, 2014 made history by becoming the first African-American National President of the S.A.M. in the organization's 112 year history. Houdini was national president of the S.A.M. from 1917 until his death in 1926.

This is exciting news, although I'm curious what exactly these "huge" plans could be. Houdini's gravesite is actually in pretty good shape these days, thanks in no small part of the efforts of our friends Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum in Scranton. What I'm hoping is this means the missing headstones for Leopold and Gladys will finally be returned to their proper places in the Weiss family plot. That would indeed be huge.

You can read more about the new S.A.M. National President ICE McDonald HERE.

Related posts:

• S.A.M. to resume upkeep of Houdini's grave
• Here are the missing headstones for Gladys and Leopold Weiss
• A grave matter

Houdini two volume CD soundtrack released today

The soundtrack to HISTORY's Houdini miniseries is released today on CD. The soundtrack by John Debney comes on two separate volumes (one for each night) and can be purchased on Amazon.com (links below). This CD release is limited to 1000 copies.

Purchase Houdini soundtrack CD Volume 1

Purchase Houdini soundtrack CD Volume 2

The Houdini soundtrack is also available as a digital MP3 download Volume 1 and Volume 2. The movie itself will be released on DVD and Blu-ray October 7.

This is only the third Houdini movie to receive a soundtrack release, the others being FairyTale: A True Story (1997) and Death Defying Acts (2008).

Antiques Roadshow finds Houdini in Knoxville

A set of signed Houdini books and a letter appeared on the popular PBS series Antiques Roadshow today. The collection was discovered in the attic of a home in Knoxville, Tennessee by a woman whose grandfather was friends with Houdini. Ken Gloss appraised the collection at $7,600 - $11,600. While the segment just aired today, the appraisal was made on July 13, 2013.

You can see photos, read a transcript, and watch a video of the Houdini segment at the Antiques Roadshow webpage at PBS.org.

French animated Houdini TV series in the works

Variety reports that a French animated Houdini TV series is being pitched at Cartoon Forum, a Toulouse-based co-production mini-mart that runs Sept. 23-26. "Houdini" is one of 84 projects being shopped at the event. Here's the full report by Elsa Keslassy:

Master illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini will get a youthful treatment in “Houdini,” a French animated series set to be pitched at Cartoon Forum, the Toulouse-based co-production mini-mart.

Toon series – comprising 26 half-hours – is produced by Jean-Baptiste Wery and 
Emmanuèle Pétry-Sirvin at France’s Dandelooo, which is competing for a Cartoon Tribute.

Set in 1887, the series follows the adventures of Houdini, a gifted 11-year-old illusionist driven by an urge to analyse the many mysteries of New York, which tend to get him embroiled in dubious situations.

Cédric Babouche, the co-author of the novels that served as source material for the series, is directing.

Although the series is not based on a major franchise, it still holds a large potential due to the near-cult status of Harry Houdini, explained Petry-Sirvinn who will be pitching the show at Cartoon Forum.

“Houdini was one of the first illusionist to become internationally acclaimed while alive, thanks to his talent and although kids probably don’t know him as yet, adults do and are intrigued about his mysterious and amazing innate gifts for magic.

The source for this series is "Little Houdini", a multi-platform concept by Cédric Babouche (not yet books as far as I can find). You can read more at the author's website, Cedric's little adventures.

UPDATE: This has now been released in English on DVD and can be purchased at Amazon.

New German Houdini documentary

A new German Houdini documentary, Spiel mit dem Tod – Harry Houdini der Meistermagier, will air today on arte TV in Germany and also on French station TV8. Produced by ifage Filmproduktion and directed by Jens Monath, the documentary features reenactments of Houdini's escapes by German illusionist Jan Rouven. The documentary will repeat October 19th on ZDF.

The doc also features actors in the roles of Harry and Bess. Above are Paul Cimpoieru and Delia Nartea in a shot very reminiscent of this publicity photo from the recent Houdini miniseries. Below is the description of the documentary from the TV8 website (translated by Google).

Click to enlarge.

You can read more about this documentary, and read an interview with Jan Rouven, at the ARTE website.

UPDATE: This documentary is now available to view on YouTube dubbed in French.

Magic Castle members 20% discount to 'Houdini in Hollywood'

Looks like Houdini has brought two great Hollywood-based institutions together. Hollywood Heritage and The Magic Castle have teamed to offer special 20% discount tickets for AMA members to my "Houdini in Hollywood" event on Wednesday, October 8 at 7:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the event or via brownpapertickets (bring your AMA membership card to show at the door).

CLICK TO PURCHASE TICKETS

The Hollywood Heritage Museum is located at 2100 North Highland Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90068, directly across from the Hollywood Bowl (enter on Odin St.). Parking is plentiful and free. Phone is (323)-874-2276. For more visit hollywoodheritage.org.

Houdini's last suspended straitjacket escape?

Here's a clipping from The Indianapolis News showing Houdini performing a suspended straitjacket escape above a crowd of 12,000 on April 2, 1925. This is pretty late in Houdini's career, and I'm thinking this could be his last suspended straitjacket escape. In fact, before I discovered this clipping, I would have said he didn't do a suspended jacket escape beyond 1923.

Click to enlarge.

In a follow-up article published on April 6 (Houdini's 51st birthday), the magician praised the paper for helping draw the record crowd that day:

"It is a wonderful tribute to The Indianapolis News for, with only one day's publicity exploiting my performance, The News drew between 12,000 and 15,000 people in front of its building last Thursday at noon. I have performed similar feats in cities all over the world, usually with a week's heralding. The News announced my intended public appearance in last Wednesday's issues alone. On Thursday we had the show. The pictures tell the story."

Speaking of pictures, Houdini awarded photographer Robert A. Twente $10 for the best photograph taken that day. Houdini presented Twente his prize from the stage of B.F. Keith's Theatre on the Saturday following the stunt. Runner-up prizes of $5 and $2.50 where award to Turner D. Bottome and the Coburn Photo Company respectively.

Robert Twente's prize winning photo.

I admit I haven't tried all that hard to confirm or deny whether this really was Houdini's final suspended straitjacket escape. So if someone wants to drill down deeper and find evidence for or against...Houdini may award you a $10 prize!

UPDATE: New candidate for Houdini's last suspended straitjacket escape

Related:

• Suspended straitjacket escape in 1913, but it's not Houdini
• Joe Notaro finds evidence of Houdini's first suspended straitjacket escape
• Never-before-shown film of Houdini

Penn & Teller & Houdini's Needles

Penn & Teller are great heroes of mine, both as magicians and as thinkers (I'm excited to be seeing Teller's Tempest next week). Now The Commercial Appeal in Memphis has a nice profile of the duo -- Magicians Penn & Teller on Houdini, Graceland and their first Memphis show in 17 years -- with some great Houdini content, including this gem from Penn:

Once, after a show about 25 years ago, Teller received a compliment he's never forgotten, his partner said. This came after Teller performed "Needles," one of Houdini's most famous tricks. In the trick, the magician appears to swallow 100 needles followed by thread, then pulls them back out threaded together.

"Even when Houdini did his biggest tricks, that was his closer," Jillette said. "Teller wouldn't tell you this, but I'll tell you this. Twenty-five years ago, an elderly woman came to our show. She had seen Houdini do the needles and she'd seen Teller do the needles that night, and she said Teller was better. That's all that matters."

Teller with Houdini's original Needles at Houdini Art and Magic.

Read the full article at The Commercial Appeal, which also includes a nice newspaper clipping of Houdini doing a suspend straitjacket escape from the Commercial Appeal building on September 1, 1923.

Related:

• Teller on Houdini: "He's one of the few magicians who mattered."
• Penn & Teller join Houdini (and Copperfield) on the Walk of Fame
• Houdini's big mouth

NYPL shows us "America's Sensation" in color

Here is another amazing original Houdini poster from The New York Public Library's Digital Collections. While this is not an unknown poster like I shared yesterday, this is not one that you typically see reproduced in color. Gorgeous.

This poster was printed by the St. Paul's Printing Co. The NYPL dates it as 1900-1906, but according to collector Gale Molovinsky, who owns one of these rare sheets, Houdini commissioned it right after he arrived in London in 1900. This poster was part of selling the then only modestly successful Houdini to Europe as "America's Sensation," just as the "Europe's Eclipsing Sensation" posters were created to sell Houdini back to America. The size of this poster is another clue to how early it is. It's about the same size as the King of Cards poster. And the photo used to illustrate this image we now know was taken in July 1899 (see: Ebay auction dates first Houdini 'nude').

This could be the first real poster to advertise Houdini solely as an escape artist, which makes this an especially important piece of Houdini history. It also might be the only Houdini poster (or at least the only one that's currently known) to spell out his name as "Harry Handcuff Houdini." You also gotta love the red white and blue shorts. Eat your heart out, Rocky Balboa.

The NYPL did extensive restoration on this poster, which was found in a scrapbook. You can read the story of that restoration by Renée Wolcott and Grace Owen on the blog Refried Bean.

You can also purchase this poster as a high resolution digital image for publication, or as 8x10 or larger decorative print. Details can be found at the NYPL Digital Collections website.

Thanks again to Andrea Felder, Permissions & Reproduction Services NYPL, for allowing me to share this image here on WILD ABOUT HARRY.

Related:

• Neon Orange Baptism (Refried Bean)
• NYPL reveals unseen Houdini poster
• Latest on the lost posters of Harry Houdini

NYPL reveals unseen Houdini poster

The New York Public Library has posted several vintage magic posters to their Digital Collections, including this incredible Houdini poster that I've never seen!

There's a lot to love about this poster. It was created by the U.S. Lithographic Co. Russell-Morgan Print and celebrates Houdini as a European superstar. It is part of a commonly themed set of posters, the most famous of which is this one. (I actually think these posters were created expressly for Houdini's return to America in 1905-06, but I don't know that for a fact.) The typeface that spells out Houdini's name is today called "Houdini." And how cool is the mention of daily matinees "to seat the crowds" and the invitation to bring your own cuffs? Magnificent.

You know, there's just something about seeing a new Houdini poster. It's like cracking open a fresh time portal into Houdini's world, even more so than a new photo. It's also just an incredibly rare occurrence. Houdini must have used hundreds of different posters in his career, yet we've only seen a handful.

The great news is you can purchase this poster as a high resolution digital image for publication, or as 8x10 or larger decorative print. Details can be found at the NYPL Digital Collections website.

Thanks to Andrea Felder, Permissions & Reproduction Services NYPL, for allowing me to share this image here on WILD ABOUT HARRY.

Related:

• NYPL Digital Gallery invites us into Houdini's backyard
• The lost posters of Harry Houdini
• Latest on the "lost" posters of Houdini

Houdini aviation manual lands in the Copperfield collection

Back in July The Daily Press had a story about how music store owner, Gordy Price, uncovered a 1909 aviation manual twice signed by Houdini. The inscription was to "M.M. Wood", almost certainly Montraville M. Wood, who not only helped Houdini devise his Milk Can escape, but also worked closely with the magician on his aviation exploits.

Now Gordy tells us that the aviation manual has found a new home in David Copperfield's "International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts" in Las Vegas. Says Gordy:

"It was a great adventure researching the Houdini aeromanual. I found out a lot of things I never knew about Houdini and his aviation cohorts. Before I started researching the book, I didn't even know he was an early aviator. I had never heard of Montraville M. Wood. I met a lot of Houdini enthusiasts via the internet while doing my research and want to thank you guys for helping me piece together clues on the book. It's really been a honor finding this book some 40 plus years ago at my great aunt's house and rediscovering it a few months ago, and playing history detective on the origins of it for a couple of months, and then selling it to David Copperfield. I'm sure David will appreciate the historical value of the book.

I hope in some way I have contributed in shining a light on an aspect of Houdini's life that many people never knew. That Houdini was a member of a small group of aviators who pioneered air flight and changed the world. I think Harry was very proud of it. Cheers."

Congratulations to Gordy and to David Copperfield. There are precious few mementos of Houdini's brief aviation career, so this is pretty special. I think it flew into good hands.

Related:

• Signed Houdini aviation manual looks to land a sky high price
• Houdini was the 25th person to fly
• 100 years ago Houdini showed Australia that a man can fly

New 'What Rough Beast' paperback

After the Houdini miniseries, I'm not sure there's much appetite for Houdini fiction at the moment. Nevertheless, I thought I'd share news of a new paperback edition of the 2001 book What Rough Beast by H.R. Knight.

Harry Houdini asks Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to help him expose Maximillian Cairo—a spiritualist medium. But the two men underestimate Cairo. He's a master of the occult and the most debauched man in London. When they interrupt a magic ritual, a force for ecstasy and chaos explodes on an unsuspecting 1903 London. One by one, each of the people who attended the ritual are tainted by the touch of the monster. Each feels an ecstatic burst of creativity, only to succumb later to an act of uncontrollable madness. When the temporary insanity passes, each is left drained and broken. Soon Conan Doyle and Houdini face a locked room murder mystery that baffles even Houdini. And clues they find convince them that the thing they set loose has completely taken possession of one the people who attended the ritual with them. Even worse, the unearthly beast is determined to hunt them down, before they can figure out how to stop it. The proper Victorian gentleman and the exuberant New Yorker must team up to solve the murder and stop the thing they unleashed before it completely unravels their ordered world. In the end, Conan Doyle must face the monster alone and find the courage to literally embrace that which he fears most in order to defeat it.

Unfortunately, the new cover doesn't feature Houdini or any type of Houdini-themed image. Here's a tip to all you publishers of Houdini fiction; put the old boy on the cover for crying out loud! Don't make it this easy for me to pass up.

Purchase What Rough Beast on Amazon.com (U.S.)
Purchase What Rough Beast on Amazon.co.uk (UK)

A tip of the hat from Robert-Houdin and J. Eduardo Caamaño

J. Eduardo Caamaño, who is writing what will be the first Houdini biography in spanish, is currenty on vacation in France where he visited Blois and La Maison de la Magie Robert-Houdin, a museum devoted to the French master magician and Houdini's namesake. Here's a photo he just sent from his travels.

Says Eduardo, "Your blog is an important source of information and this is the way I found to say thank you."

Thank YOU, Eduardo. Je l'adore!

'Houdini' concludes tonight in the UK

Channel 4 in the UK will show the second and final part of Houdini tonight at 9pm. Channel 4 is showing the full extended version of the miniseries from A+E Studios/Lionsgate, which will be released here in the U.S. on DVD October 7.

Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Night One

Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Night Two

MY REVIEW

The UK DVD is now available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk. Release date is October 6.

New thoughts on the firing of Rabbi Weiss

It's part of the established Houdini story that his father, Mayer Samuel Weiss, lost his job as the Rabbi in Appleton, Wisconsin because he was  too "old world" for the progressive American town. The fact that he didn't speak English is often cited as evidence of this. All this was recently dramatized in the Houdini miniseries.

But now, Appleton resident and major Houdini collector and expert Tom Boldt (his construction company built the new Houdini Plaza), shares his "2 cents" on why Rabbi Weiss might have really lost his job. Now, 2 cents from a guy like Tom is a little bit of gold, so I thought I'd share his thoughts here:

"I did want to add my 2 cents worth on the reason Rabbi Weiss left Appleton. While his inability to speak English well might be a reason, I think the real reason he lost his job is that the growing congregation wanted their own person. If you look at the places where many of the immigrants to Appleton came from you'd find that they came from Germany and a lot from the Mecklenburg area. That's where my ancestors came from. Take a look at the Outagamie County census record and you'll see this. I think Rabbi Weiss and his supporters were outnumbered by the Germans. They simply wanted to get their man, Rabbi Salomon, to come to Appleton and lead them. I doubt that Salomon was able to speak English any better than Rabbi Weiss. The English problems wouldn't have been that big of a deal in Appleton since German was so common at the time."

On a related note; for all the talk of Houdini coming from "poverty," it appears the Weiss family was doing pretty well in life until this firing forced the family to move to Milwaukee. Only then did they fall into a trap of poverty that took a Houdini to escape.

Thank you Tom.

Tom Boldt and I in the Moses Temple in 2012.

Related:

• LINK: Who was Houdini's father? New insights
• Houdini's Bibles
• New Houdini Plaza opens in Appleton

Houdini: Magic Mediums & Murder

Houdini: Magic Mediums & Murder by Craig Fraley is a 51-page doubled spaced Houdini biography with an extra chapter about the "murder theory." The chapter parrots the speculative and sensationalistic theories we saw in Brad Meltzer's Decoded last year, suggesting that Bess murdered her husband and/or committed insurance fraud. Silly stuff.

I do like how Fraley gives context for what was happening elsewhere in the world at the start of each short chapter, but, overall, Houdini Magic Mediums & Murder is a self-published quickie that offers nothing new and contains quite a few errors. Still, it's print book, so worth adding to your Houdini bookshelf if you're a completest.

Purchase Houdini Magic Mediums & Murder on Amazon.com (U.S.)
Purchase Houdini Magic Mediums & Murder on Amazon.co.uk (UK)

St. Louis catches 'Houdini' fact check fever

Looks like that "dare" to tell fact from fiction in the Houdini miniseries is being taken up by more than just us Houdini bloggers. Check out this this report from NBC affiliate KSDK Channel 5 in St. Louis. This is pretty awesome.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH ON KSDK.COM

To be fair to the embattled HISTORY/Lionsgate (and I still think the real offenders here are producer Gearld W. Abrams and screenwriter Nicholas Meyer), they obviously chose the Eads Bridge for maximum visual impact. But a jump from a bridge this high would obviously be suicide. And, of course, the whole frozen river episode is well established malarky.

This just speaks to the fact that cites are proud of their associations to Houdini and his stunts. In Boston there is and plaque commemorating Houdini's jump from the Harvard Bridge. People care about Houdini history because it's also their own history, and messing with that is messing with civic pride. This news story is a nice example of that, and I certainly hope the makers of the Houdini miniseries see this.

One thing that's surprising here is that the Missouri History Museum discovered a Houdini Eads Bridge jump announcement in 1899. That's extremely early for Houdini to be talking about a bridge jump of any kind. I wonder if this might actually be the first mention of a bridge jump, even thought it ultimately didn't happen.

Related:

• Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Night One
• Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Night Two
• Trapped under the ice with Houdini

Preview Sherlock Holmes vs. Houdini

Bleeding Cool has posted several preview pages from Dynamite's upcoming Sherlock Holmes Vs. Harry Houdini graphic novel. Written by Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery with artwork by Carlos Furuzono, issue #1 is slated for release on October 1st.

The world’s most famous detective meets the world’s most famous magician… and death ensues! Famed detective Sherlock Holmes and brash showman Harry Houdini must combine forces to defeat a mysterious mystic dedicated to destroying Houdini’s career and killing anyone who gets in his way.

Check out the preview pages at Bleeding Cool. You can also get a sneak peek at the cover art for issue #2 at Comic Art Community.

Sherlock Holmes Vs. Harry Houdini can be pre-ordered from Dynamite HERE.

Dynamite also recently released The Shadow #0, which teams Houdini with the legendary pulp crime fighter, The Shadow.

Tickets now available for "Houdini in Hollywood"

Online tickets are now available for my "Evening @ the Barn: Houdini in Hollywood" event at the Hollywood Heritage Museum on Wednesday, October 8 at 7:30 pm. Here are full details:

Evening @ the Barn: Houdini in Hollywood

Hollywood Heritage will kick off the 2014-2015 season with a special "Evening @ The Barn" hosted by screenwriter and blogger John Cox of WILD ABOUT HARRY (www.wildabouthoudini.com). Learn about Harry Houdini's amazing life and career with a special emphasis on his life-long involvement in cinema. It's not generally known that Houdini produced and starred in several silent films, including two features for Famous Players-Lasky Paramount. But Houdini's film career began even earlier than that! In many ways, Harry Houdini was a film pioneer, and that is the story that we will unlock. John's talk will feature dozens of rare photos, as well as film clips of the real Houdini in action. The evening will include a screening of Terror Island (1920), one of Houdini's legendary films produced by Jesse Lasky.

Also in person: Jim Steinmeyer, who is an internationally respected designer of magical illusions and theatrical special effects. His best known illusions include Origami, Interlude, and Walking Through a Mirror. In addition, he is a best-selling author, consultant and producer. Jim will be signing two of his Houdini-related books, Hiding the Elephant and The Last Greatest Magician in the World, in our museum shop.

Plus! Refreshments courtesy of Grub Restaurant. Displays of Houdini memorabilia in our revolving gallery and our famous raffle where you can win a chance to visit the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood! This promises to be magical, memorable evening for everyone!

You can buy advance tickets NOW via brownpapertickets. Tickets are also available at the door, but know that The Hollywood Heritage Muesum has a capacity of 110 and I've seen events sell out before.

Hope to see you there!

The Hollywood Heritage Museum is located at 2100 North Highland Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90068, directly across from the Hollywood Bowl (enter on Odin St.). Parking is free. Phone is (323)-874-2276. For more visit hollywoodheritage.org.

UPDATE: Magic Castle members 20% discount to 'Houdini in Hollywood'.

UPDATE 2: When Houdini returned to Hollywood.

"The critics agree"

So it looks like we've been all wrong about the Houdini miniseries. Apparently, "the critics agree," Houdini is some kind of masterpiece. I know this is true because I saw it on the HISTORY Channel.

Okay, all kidding aside, I like this TV spot. Even though it's just marketing spin at this point, it's fun to see any Houdini project given the "blockbuster" treatment. This "encore presentation" aired September 6.

Related:

• 'Houdini' conjures 3.7 million viewers
• History, Houdini, and the blogosphere
• REVIEW: History gets a C- in Houdini

'Houdini Speaks Out' in new 2014 edition

A newly revised 2014 edition of Houdini Speaks Out ("I am Houdini! And you are a fraud!") by Arthur Moses is now available on Amazon. This book recreates Houdini's spiritualism lecture with exclsuive material from the Moses collection, including Houdini's full slide show. Here's part of the Amazon description:

NEWLY REVISED 2014 EDITION - Revealing new insights, this ground-breaking updated edition vividly recreates Houdini's debunking 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 late 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 reveals that Houdini was more than magic and escapes. Houdini´s passion to fight fraudulent spiritualists consumed his final years." -David Copperfield 

"Houdini Speaks Out is a very strongly recommended addition to personal, professional, academic, and community library collections -- and should be considered mandatory reading by anyone with an interest in spiritualism, magic, and the occult." -Midwest Book Review

This revised edition has several updates and corrections to the slide presentations. Also, thanks to CreateSpace/Amazon, it can now be offered at half the price of the original 2007 edition.

Purchase the newly revised Houdini Speaks Out at Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

Related posts:

• Arthur Moses shares his Houdini Room
• Houdini, the Hillstreet, and the birth of a ghostbuster
• "It affords me pleasure to address you for a few moments on the subject of Spiritualism"

Q reclaims his title as the first movie robot (kinda)

While we're on the subject of Houdini's movies, back in 2012 I ran a post with the unfortunate news that "Q The Automaton" from Houdini's 1918 serial, The Mastery Mystery, was not the first movie robot as often credited. That's because I found a blog about an Italian film with a robot called The Mechanical Man, said to have been made in 1913.

But now reader Janne Wass has corrected my correction! I'll let the clearly knowledgeable Mr. Wass deliver the news himself:

"Hold your horses! L'uomo meccanico, or The Mechanical Man wasn't made in 1913 (don't know why that date keeps popping up). It was made in 1921 in Italy by French acrobat-comedian-actor-writer-director André Deed as a planned trilogy of full length feature films. Only 26 minutes of it remains.

Q the Automaton still is the first robot in a lengthy production - the Houdini series was over 230 minutes long all in all.

Gugusse et l'Automate by Georges Méliès was, indeed the first robot on screen, but as most films back then, it was only about a minute long. The Mechanical Man, on the other hand, is the first robot in a full length feature film."

Robot from The Mechanical Man (1913) (1921).

Thank you Janne!

I'll be discussing this and more about Houdini's life-long involvement in cinema during my talk at the Hollywood Heritage Museum on Wednesday, October 8 at 7:30 pm. Click here for more details.

Related:

• The Automaton loses his title as first movie robot
• Houdini Vs. The Automaton!
• The Master Mystery posters

Houdini returns to Hollywood, Oct. 8

Now that we are on the other side of the Potter & Potter auction and the Houdini miniseries, what's the next big Houdini event in 2014? Well, for me, it will be this.

On Wednesday, October 8 at 7:30 pm, I will be giving a Houdini talk at Hollywood Heritage as part of their "Evening @ The Barn" series. I'll be covering Houdini's life and career with a special emphasis on his life-long involvement in cinema. My talk will include photos and film clips, and I hope to have on display some rare Houdini movie memorabilia. The evening will also include a screening of one of Houdini's movies.

I'm working hard with Hollywood Heritage to make this a true Houdini event, so I hope to see you there. I'll share more details when I know them myself.

Houdini @ the Barn -- Wednesday, October 8 at 7:30 pm. Visit Hollywood Heritage and click the link for "Evenings @ The Barn" for more details.

The Hollywood Heritage Museum is located at 2100 North Highland Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90068, directly across from the Hollywood Bowl (enter on Odin St.). Parking is free. Phone is (323)-874-2276. Tickets are $5.00 for members and $15.00 for non-members. Seated in limited so arrive early.

UPDATE: I've now created a Facebook Event page for Houdini @ The Barn.

UPDATE 2: Tickets now available for "Houdini in Hollywood".

'Houdini' editors reveal their secrets

Editing software company AVID has put out a press release highlighting the work of the editors of the Houdini miniseries ("Avid Everywhere Brings Houdini Back to Life"). It offers some insights into how the editing team approached the miniseries and worked with director Uli Edel, and also what to expect in the extended edition. (I'm interested to lean that Houdini was edited just blocks from where I live.) Here are a few excerpts:

Faced with a tight editing schedule, editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE expanded the editorial team to include co-editor David Beatty, and assistant editors Jared Zalman and Paul Alderman. By establishing a collaborative editorial environment based on Avid Artist Suite and Avid shared storage solutions at EPS-Cineworks in Studio City, California, the team was able to collaborate effectively both among themselves and with director Uli Edel, who was on location in Houdini's birthplace, Budapest, during the 45-day shoot.

While Houdini is a periodpiece, the network, producers and director wanted a contemporary feel to attract younger audiences. Edel gave the editors freedom to experiment with different cutting patterns. "This Houdini is more of a psychological thriller, so we used jump cutting, freeze frames, and contemporary sound and music to give an edginess to a classic story," explained Plisco.

Plisco and her team had to create a longer version of the miniseries for the international market. Relying on the speed and flexibility of Media Composer, they changed the sound, music and cutting style, and added an additional 16 minutes of footage and visual effects that were then scored, mixed and conformed.

The extended edition of Houdini is now airing in the UK. It will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in the U.S. on October 7.