Monday, June 27, 2022

LINK: A bit of Houdini music

Our friend Dean Carnegie shares on his Magic Detective blog some Houdini (1953) history that I've completely missed in my current Deconstruction series. Dean points out that the movie's familiar love theme is a real song from Houdini's time called, "Meet Me Tonight at Dreamland". The song has been recorded by many artists and even performed in a film by Judy Garland. Dean shares that YouTube clip.

Dreamland was one of the three major amusement parks in Coney Island at the turn of the century (the two others being Steeplechase and Luna Park). While not explicitly referencing a place, I think this song can be interpreted in that way. Certainly the movie may be touching on that idea as Coney Island is where the real Harry and Bess met and were married. Just another way Houdini '53 channels real Houdini history.

Anyway, click here or on the headline and start the week with "a bit of Houdini music" at The Magic Detective.

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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 28, 2022 at 3:52 PM

    Fascinating to read. I wonder if there was sheet music or records of that song the referenced the, "Houdini" movie, as another song, "The Golden Years" was.
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  2. Tom and JohanJuly 4, 2022 at 11:33 AM

    Yes, the song was specifically written for Dreamland at Coney Island. I have an old piece of sheet music that I bought years ago specifically because I recognized it as the "love theme" from the 1953 HOUDINI film (it's from about the same period as the above piece of sheet music, although with a different image). Almost all of the music in the film comes from other sources (though often heard in the movie in clever new arrangements), including the popular "The Thunderer" by John Phillip Sousa (used for Metamorphosis and at several other points in the film). I suspect that's why a soundtrack album was never released, which is a pity.

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