The 1953 Paramount biopic Houdini with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh is what ignited my interest in Houdini. While beloved by many, the movie is often criticized for being wildly inaccurate. But I feel differently. While the movie does inject Hollywood fabrications to be sure, I'd argue that the overall plot is generally faithful to Houdini's life and every scene contains elements rooted in reality, or at least the "approved mythology" of the book on which it is based.
I've always dreamed of providing a DVD commentary where I could make my case for the greatness and accuracy of this movie. I've even considered recording my own for upload to YouTube (and still may do). But I've not quite figured out the technology. So I've decided instead to launch a new series here on WILD ABOUT HARRY in which I will "deconstruct" the movie scene by scene, showing where and how it is rooted in Houdini history...and anything else that comes to mind.
So with that, let's begin at the very beginning!
Chapter 1: Main Titles
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Great idea - look forward to coming instalments. I too enjoy the movie, while being aware of the apparent inaccuracies. Yes, Dave Paterson, London.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. Spotting inaccuracies is easy enough. But it's finding the (sometimes hidden) accuracies that I find much more fun. :)
DeleteWhat happened to the Pagoda USD used in the movie? I saw it used in a Houdini film around the 1990s. In that film HH did the Doug Henning switch with the hooded ax guy.
ReplyDeleteYou might be thinking of FairyTale (he does the Henning switch in that and the Brody movie), but it's not the same prop. Don't know what happened to it.
DeleteNo it wasn't Harvey Keitel in Fairytale nor the Brody movie. It was another actor who played HH doing the Pagoda USD. The film wasn't about HH, but it did have that scene. Could have been a TV series episode.
DeleteI just remembered he also does the switch in Young Harry Houdini. In fact, maybe that's what I'm thinking of instead of FairyTale. But still no Pagoda prop.
DeleteYes! It was Young Harry Houdini! Thanks! I could swear the USD in that film was the Pagoda USD from the Curtis film, but as you pointed out it wasn't. 33 years plays tricks on the memory.
DeleteGreat deconstruction job, John. Thanks for doing this. The opening titles of this film (my favorite Houdini movie as well) are thrilling and really prime the viewer for what's to follow. Also noteworthy is the wonderful music in this sequence, which is an almost John Philip Sousa-like arrangement/orchestration of the beautiful "Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland" waltz, a nod to Harry and Bess in their early days at Coney Island, and which was, of course, used as a recurring theme throughout the movie.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom. So true about the great music. I didn't mention the credits for Roy Webb (music) or Edith Head (costumes) as they didn't really have a Houdini connection, but music and costumes are both wonderful in this movie. Wally Westmore's makeup is also worth a mention.
DeleteYes, so many great people worked on the film. I've always wondered if any of the music in the film was ever used by Houdini in his act at any point (for example, the famous John Philip Sousa march that was played for "Metamorphosis" in the movie). Maybe not, though it's certainly possible; would be interesting to know (and probably very difficult to find out). Another post for another day, perhaps!
DeleteThis was great. Please keep them coming.
ReplyDelete