Today I continue my scene by scene deconstruction of Paramount's 1953 biopic, HOUDINI, in which I'll attempt to make the case that it's much more historically accurate than it is given credit. Also anything else that comes to mind. Last time we examined the Main Titles. Today we FADE UP on...
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An interesting magic trick note: there are actually two different milk pitchers in this sequence. One can be seen next to the Houdini poster, which is a slightly taller milk pitcher with rounded handle, then later when Curtis does the milk pitcher trick, he is using the standard magic prop, which is shorter in size.
ReplyDeleteOh, I never caught the two milk pitchers. Thanks for that!
DeleteCan't recall what Bess said/wrote about working dime museums, but keep in mind these were like sideshows where the acts performed continually, hour after hour...sometimes opening in the morning and not closing at night until the streets were empty. Doing the trunk 8-18 times a day can get to be a grind. And the some of patrons off the street weren't always the most appreciative/civilized audience either.
ReplyDeleteI don't recall any direct quote from her, but it's mentioned in a few bios that she refused to work in certain museums, and I believe Hubers was one of them.
DeleteThe Dime Museum may have been called, "Schultz's", instead of "Huber's", because Huber's was still in business then. They were still presenting live acts in the 1960's, until it bacame all arcade games and eventually (like everything else in Times Square in the late 1970's) another porno arcade/store.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure that wasn't Huberts (with a T). That was the dime museum in Times Square. Hubers when out of business in 1910. We know this because Houdini went to their liquidation auction and came home with a mummy and an electric chair.
DeletePossibly so. Don't know if there was a connection between the two or not. Or if the movie avoided any variation of the actual name...although they did show an exterior of, "Tony Pastor's" theater in the next scene. I think you are right though.
ReplyDeleteJohn, what a well-written and insightful deconstruction! I really enjoyed reading it! I am embarrassed to admit I've never noticed how Harry's stage setting in the dime museum mirrors the Mysterious Harry photo, but I'm certainly delighted to know it now. Re. Harry as the wild man, I recall this being a BIG hook for me when I saw the movie as a kid - the whole idea of wearing a grotesque mask and scaring the hell out of people, what young boy wouldn't love that? Whether I would have been as drawn into HOUDINI had it just been a handsome young magician wooing a beautiful girl, I'll never know. Looking forward to the next scene deconstruction, and thanks for all your work on these!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom. I'm so happy I could point out something you hadn't seen before. I think it took me a few years to see this as well. Yes, the Wild Man. Such a great way to introduce Houdini and his world. And it's real!
DeleteDoes anyone know of another movie that has a scene with a Dime Museum in it? Or the exterior of one?
ReplyDelete(a Dime Museum with live acts, oddities, attractions, etc.)