Continuing my scene-by-scene dissection of the 1953 biopic HOUDINI starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Last time, Houdini returned to America only to find himself ignored by the press. That's about to change.
Chapter 17: America's Sensation
We start in the bedroom of an unknown woman (Maxine Gates). She's in a nightgown and is clearly just waking up. The sound of a band in the street briefly draws her attention, but she shrugs it off. As a New Yorker, she's seen it all. She then raises her blinds to find Harry Houdini hanging upside-down in a straitjacket outside her window and flips out.
We then cut outside to the scene of a classic Houdini suspended straitjacket escape. There's a crowd watching as Houdini struggles high above what is later identified as Times Square. It's worth noting that Houdini is using the same style of straitjacket from the Magician's Club dinner scene. It's also fun to know that this was shot on the Paramount backlot on Halloween (1952).
In the crowd, a policeman on horseback briefly blocks Bess and Mama's view. I'm not entirely sure of this policeman's purpose. Are we supposed to be worried he will stop the performance? Houdini did famously have trouble with the New York police during two such stunts, so this might be a way to express the idea that New York police kept a close eye on Houdini street stunts. Or maybe it's just a way to draw our eye across the crowd.
The policeman moves on once Houdini sheds his straitjacket and the crowd applauds. Among them is a reporter, Simms (Douglas Spencer), who tells his companion, "Remarkable fellow. I'll interview him today."
The suspended straitjacket escape became Houdini's go-to outside stunt in 1915 and continued until the end of his career. Houdini only did the escape in North America, so its use here as Houdini's first big American outdoor stunt is perfect.
Houdini finally received permission to do the stunt in Times Square in 1917 to promote a war benefit at the New York Hippodrome. In 1923, he repeated the escape in front of the famed Palace Theater in Times Square. He got into the air before police could stop him and was later fined.
The movie now dissolves into a montage of Houdini's American success. This is the second montage of the film, and as I said in Chapter 13, I love a good Houdini movie montage! So let's break this one down.
We begin with a shot of B.F. Keith's Palace Theater in New York, where we see Houdini is held over for his "26th week." Houdini certainly played the Palace, but no vaudevillian would be held over 26 weeks! Houdini's longest engagement was 19 weeks at the New York Hippodrome with his Vanishing Elephant. And speaking of the Vanishing Elephant...
Houdini's most famous feat of magic is represented on the front page of Variety. We see two photos of the elephant vanish with Tony Curtis inserted into an actual photo of Houdini (see below). The date on the paper is August 12, 1919, which is a year after the vanishing elephant, but still close. This also re-establishes an in-movie chronology that I will track as we continue.
The montage continues with Houdini and Bess doing a levitation. The Houdinis did do a Trilby levitation early in their careers, but it wasn't a trick Houdini was ever known for. But it's another nice uncut magic trick for the actors to perform. However, Tony makes a small mistake that reveals the trick if you know what to look for.
Other material was shot for this montage that never made it into the finished film. This includes Houdini's plane-to-plane transfer from The Grim Game (shot in black and white and undercranked to look like a silent film), a cremation illusion (again, not something Houdini was known to perform), and the Milk Can escape. It's a shame to lose The Grim Game clip, as it would have been a nice nod to his film career. (Houdini's movies would not get acknowledgment until the 2012 Houdini Miniseries.)
However, the true heartbreaker is the loss of the Milk Can escape, which still did make it onto posters and promotional material. Photos from the scene show Houdini performing it at the Orpheum Theatre in Harrisburg, PA. At the start of the montage, we saw the B.F. Keith's name on the Palace marquee. This name-checks the two primary American Vaudeville circuits of Houdini's day. These names would have been familiar to 1953 audiences, and it's a great way to show that Houdini was a vaudevillian for much of his career.
The montage concludes with a shot of Mr. and Mrs. Schultz (Sig Ruman and Connie Gilchrist) from the Dime Museum opening sequence sitting among Houdini's appreciative audience. They have a short and one-sided argument about who exactly fired him. It's a nice callback and a great way to end the scene.
Up to this point, Houdini has been a light, colorful, and celebratory movie. But it's about to shift tone and travel into darker waters with its most famous and frightening sequence.
Want more? The poster we see in the cut Milk Can scene is based on an actual poster from Houdini's appearance in Harrisburg in 1912. You can see that, as well as a review of his Milk Can escape, as a "Scholar" member of my Patreon below.
It was more common back then, in NYC (and other cities) to have police officers on horseback directing traffic, maintaining crowd control, and other duties, when not walking their beat.
ReplyDeleteSo it probably wasn't to get the audience wondering if they were going to stop the stunt. (they could do that by just going to the rooftop/pulley.) but perhaps showing the interest HH was creating by gathering a crowd so large they needed officers on horseback to control the crowds.
Makes sense. Thanks.
DeleteNo one ever talks about his film career. *sobs*
ReplyDeleteI loved the way Tony Curtis pass the hoop on the levitation. When I did a Super X suspension at Magic Mountain, I did it the same way.
ReplyDeleteI think Harry did his suspended straitjacket escapes dangling in front of newspaper buildings and theaters. I don't believe he did them in front of residential buildings.
ReplyDeleteYeah! He would tell the people working in the press what headline he wanted and such.
DeleteI’m sure Harry wouldn’t want to do it in front of Residental buildings for obvious reasons. Disturbing the people who live in there.
Back then when newspapers were the dominant media, doing his escape from a newspaper's building, (especially when cities had several newspapers furiously competing against each other), it would guarantee front page (above the fold) coverage, because it was that newspaper's story, which included exclusive pre/post coverage/interviews.
DeleteAll true. But it also meant rival papers would ignore it, which is something I've encountered several times. Sometimes his SSJs are hard to find for this reason.
DeleteThat is true, but also was a reason for the newspaper helping with the stunt, would really hype THEIR story, with exclusive coverage. It was often the goal for one paper to carry a story before the others when it would later just be "yesterday's news."
DeleteMentalists would arrange a prediction stunt with a particular paper or do blindfold drive/walk that would start and end at the paper's building....one promoting the other. Those adept at these tie-ins would book a theater on the promise their appearance would get front page coverage.
Diego Domingo
Actor Douglas Spencer also plays a reporter in 1951's "The Thing From Another World". Another actor says the line: "Houdini would find it tough getting in!". (1:14:42)
ReplyDeleteYou can get out, but you can never get in!
Delete*badumtss*
Oh, cool, I didn't know that! Thanks Fox.
Delete