Continuing my scene by scene dissection of Paramount's classic 1953 biopic Houdini. Last time we attended a Magician's dinner. Today the aftermath...
Chapter 9: Magic Ticket
- Home
- Life
- Escapes
- Magic
- Movies
- Houdini's Movies
- Les merveilleux exploits de Houdini à Paris (1909)
- The Master Mystery (1918)
- The Grim Game (1919)
- Terror Island (1920)
- The Man From Beyond (1922)
- Haldane of the Secret Service (1923)
- Velvet Fingers (1925-26)
- Medium Well Done (1937)
- Religious Racketeers (1938)
- Houdini Picture Corp.
- Film Developing Corp.
- Filming locations
- Unmade Movies
- Deconstructing Houdini '53
- Spiritualism
- People
- Beatrice Houdini
- Theo Hardeen
- Cecelia Weiss
- Mayer Samuel Weiss
- Jim Collins
- Franz Kukol
- Martin Beck
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Margery
- J. Gordon Whitehead
- Edward Saint
- Jacob Hyman
- Leopold Weiss
- Carrie Gladys Weiss
- Bernard M.L. Ernst
- Charmian London
- Jess Willard
- H.P. Lovecraft
- Sherlock Holmes
- Assistants
- Imitators
- Other magicians
- Media
- Full Bibliography
- By Houdini
- Biography
- Fiction
- Foreign
- For Kids
- Methods
- Wild About Harry Bookshelf
- Houdini His Life Story (1928)
- Houdini The Man Who Walked Through Walls (1959)
- Houdini The Untold Story (1969)
- The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini (1993)
- Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss (1996)
- The Secret Life of Houdini (2006)
- The Metamorphosis: The Apprenticeship of Harry Houdini (2012)
- The Witch of Lime Street (2015)
- The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini (2019)
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Really enjoyed your deconstructions of the 1953 "Houdini" movie. The back stories, production and legacy of the movie, could make a book!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I would love to one day write a book about Houdini (1953). It's on the list!
DeleteLove this latest deconstruction, John (now that I've finally had an unhurried moment to read it!) Thanks for sharing. It really is wonderful storytelling, as you say. If Harry doesn't say "cash it in," the audience, certainly the women, lose sympathy for him. But the way Bess ultimately gives in to his wishes (and the wonderfully theatrical way she reveals it to him as he's swimming around the tank at Coney Island in a fish mask!) shows unconditional love on her part too, rather than a manipulated wife capitulating to her husband. Yet another reason this movie is so magical and endearing.
ReplyDeleteThank you! There's actually another chapter (10) that I got up before the end of the year. Might be a while until the next. I got a lot on my plate at the moment!
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