Among the finds is that the company stayed at the historic Elm Tree Inn (above) and filmed scenes at the Winchell Smith dam on the Farmington river. This is fantastic stuff (and gold for my 1921 chronology), so click the headline and have a read at Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence. You can also check out Sean Doran's recent discoveries below.
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Joe's articles raises questions about the Winchell Smith dam escape HH may have filmed in TMFB. Was it an aborted scene or just fluff for the reporters?
ReplyDeleteI don't think the reporter fully understood what they were doing and I don't think they shared the plot details with him. I don't think this was an unused scene. I think this was HH swimming the rapids as we see in the movie. The dam creates an area of controlled rapids, probably more of a spill way. And the reference to Houdini being bound is likely the safety line (or lines) he was attached to.
DeleteYou know, it's interesting there is no mention of canoes or dummies or even Jane Connolly. Could it be ALL they shot here were those few shots of HH going through the heaviest rapids. That would explain how they finished in just a matter of hours. And then the other more involved scenes with the canoes and HH entering the water, etc., was shot on the Hudson in the area Sean discovered. Remember the bridge? If there's no bridge in this area, then there was definitely a second rapids location.
ReplyDeleteYour conjecture makes perfect sense. The fast flowing water from the WS dam is the perfect spot to create the illusion of the fast river to the Falls. That would make it three locations for the river rapids scene.
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