Here's an interesting nugget to finish off the work week. This comes from an interview with Houdini by Fred Lockley in The Oregon Daily Journal on June 4, 1920.
I can understand how the character of Judah Ben-Hur would appeal to Houdini. Not only could he identify with him as a fellow Jew, but I think Houdini saw himself as someone who developed his mind and body despite his circumstances. For some reason, I'm reminded of this quote:
"When I was playing Dime Museums and being classed a 'freak,' I generally kept very quiet and tried to make a living, not knowing that I was developing my dexterity by working ten to fifteen times daily."
Today, we tend to think of Ben-Hur as a classic movie. But when Houdini gave this interview, Ben-Hur was best known as a novel by Lew Wallace and an enormously popular stage play. This is also from The Oregon Daily Journal (Feb. 22, 1920).
Curiously, Houdini says in this interview that his father was born in Italy instead of Hungary. But Houdini plays fast and loose with the truth throughout this piece. He also claims to have "flown a mile" in Australia.
This interview appears to have been conducted while Houdini was working on Terror Island at the Lasky Studio in Hollywood. Here's another nice detail.
Remember, "row well and live."
Want more? You can read all three installments of the Fred Lockley-Houdini interview as a "Scholar" member of my Patreon below.
Related:
Charlton Heston noted in his autobiography that while working on the filming of Ben Hur, family and friends visited him during the chariot race scene. When he filmed the galley slave scenes, nobody came to visit him.
ReplyDelete"Ramming Speed!"
ReplyDeleteThe interview may have been done (first week in November 1919) while he was filming Terror Island scenes in Riverside, CA. Per the June 1920 Photoplay Article, Who is Houdini? by Fred Lockley (which I have displayed in my Houdini room): “A FEW days ago I sat in the patio at the Mission Inn at Riverside…The speaker was Harry Houdini, handcuff king and film player…Sure, I’ll give you an interview, said Mr. Houdini…”
ReplyDeleteOh, nice! Does that copy of the interview have the Ben-Hur reference?
DeleteNo, Photoplay only shared a subset of the 3 installments (June 2, 3, 4) found in Oregon Daily Journal.
DeleteThanks Joe! I wasn't even aware of this being a 3-parter. I've shared all 3 parts on Patreon. A lot of malarky here. Houdini and a Hollywood press agent spinning fresh mythology. But this is also what makes it interesting.
Delete