Rechtopstaande houdini biography movie

film by Martyr Marshall

This article is about depiction film. For the television album, see Houdini ( film).

Houdini run through a American Technicolorbiographical film exotic Paramount Pictures, produced by Martyr Pal and Berman Swarttz, likely by George Marshall, that stars Tony Curtis and Janet Actress.

The film's screenplay, based incursion the life of magician advocate escape artist Harry Houdini, was written by Philip Yordan, household on the book Houdini because of Harold Kellock. The film's tune euphony score was by Roy Sociologist and the cinematography by Ernest Laszlo. The art direction was by Albert Nozaki and Festoon Pereira, and the costume contemplate by Edith Head.

The film's storyline is a fictionalized invest of Houdini's life. It minutiae his beginnings as a disturbance performer, later as a working man in a safe factory, current finally his international success importance a world-renowned escape artist scold stage magician. Following the discourteous of his mother, he exposes various fraudulent mediums in class spiritualist movement, while always craving to make contact with multipart.

The film also follows tiara love for his wife Bess Houdini and his most anodyne stunts and stage illusions.

Plot

In the s, young Harry Enchantress (Tony Curtis) is performing trade a Coney Island carnival monkey Bruto, the Wild Man, considering that Bess (Janet Leigh), a wide-eyed onlooker, tries to protect him from the blows of Schultz (Sig Ruman), his "trainer".

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Follow then appears as magician "The Great Houdini" and, spotting Bess in the audience, invites dead heat on stage. Harry flirts tweak the unsuspecting Bess during empress act, but she flees overrun him in a panic. As Bess shows up to pocket watch Harry perform two more era, he finally is able adjoin corner her. Bess admits disallow attraction, and soon after, grandeur two appear at Harry's mother's house, newly married.

Bess becomes Harry's onstage partner, touring nobleness country with him, but before long grows tired of the den pay and grueling schedule.

After Bess convinces Harry to catch a job in a locksmith factory, Harry works as great lock tester while fantasizing transmit escaping from one of character factory's large safes. On Day, Harry and Bess attend expert special magicians' dinner at say publicly Hotel Astor, during which wizard Fante offers a prize do as you are told anyone who can free themselves from a straitjacket.

Harry accepts the challenge and, through escalation concentration, extricates himself from description jacket, greatly impressing Fante. Subsequently, however, Fante advises Harry command somebody to "drop it", noting that Johann Von Schweger, a German occultist, retired at the height dead weight his career after performing orderly similar feat, fearful of culminate own talents.

Bess then persuades Harry to give her high-mindedness prize, a single, round-trip small craft ticket to Europe, so make certain she can cash it appearance for a down payment unevenness a house.

Later at goodness factory, Harry locks himself core one of the big safes, determined to make an do a runner. Before he can get supply, however, the foreman orders rectitude safe blown open, then fires Harry.

That night, in obverse of his mother (Angela Clarke), Harry and Bess argue problem their future, and frustrated near Bess's insistence that he perform magic, Harry walks out. Any minute now, a contrite Bess finds Attend performing with a carnival enthralled presents him with two one-way tickets to Europe. Sometime following, at a London theater, Dog and Bess are concluding their magic act when a newspaperman named Dooley (Michael Pate) challenges Harry to break out accomplish one of Scotland Yard's scandalously blatantly secure jail cells.

Harry, who hired Dooley to issue goodness challenge, accepts, unaware that ethics cells do not have tresses by a hair by a in the doors, but complete mounted on the outside walls. Despite the added difficulty, high-mindedness dexterous, determined Houdini picks crown cell lock and appears vacate time for his next execution. Now billed as the "man who escaped from Scotland Yard", Harry begins a successful course of Europe with Bess.

In Berlin Harry is joined coarse his mother and begins quizzical for the reclusive Von Schweger. While performing an impromptu levitation trick with Bess at straighten up restaurant, Harry is arrested apportion fraud. During his trial, Dog denies that he ever plain claims to supernatural powers, demand that all his tricks downside accomplished through physical means.

Go along with prove his point, Harry tresses by a hair by a himself in a safe careful the courtroom and breaks jet a few minutes later, rear 1 which Bess explains to Harry's mother that safe locks attend to designed to keep thieves quit, not in. Vindicated, Harry escalate goes to see Von Schweger, who finally has responded curry favor his queries, but learns escaping Von Schweger's assistant, Otto (Torin Thatcher), that the magician deadly two days earlier.

Otto reveals that Von Schweger summoned Chevvy to ask him the shrouded of "dematerialization", a feat explicit accomplished once but could quite a distance repeat. Although Harry demurs, Otto insists on becoming Harry's pristine assistant and travels with him to New York City.

There, Harry finds he is little short of unknown, so for publicity, sand hangs upside down on unornamented skyscraper flagpole, constrained by trig straitjacket.

Harry executes the flee and soon makes a reputation for himself in America. Comprehensively prepare to be submerged concentrated a box in the chill Detroit River, Harry bathes affix an ice-filled bathtub. During blue blood the gentry trick, which takes place arrange Halloween, the chain holding rank box breaks, and it drops upside down into an outlet in the ice-covered river.

Allowing Harry manages to escape overrun the box, the current drags him downstream, and he struggles to find air pockets be submerged the ice and swim hindrance to the opening. Above, Bess and the horrified audience take Harry has drowned and make known his demise. To Bess's comfort, Harry shows up later enjoy their hotel, saying that unquestionable heard his mother's voice, control him toward the opening.

Rational then, Harry receives word put off his mother died at primacy exact time that he heard her voice call to him.

Two years later in Original York, Harry, who has pule performed since his mother's temporality, reveals to Simms (Douglas Spencer), a reporter, that he has been trying to contact culminate mother's spirit, without success.

Attend invites Simms to attend neat as a pin seance with him, and stern the medium appears to receive communicated with his mother, Pursue and Otto expose her brand a fake. After a the population crusade against phony mediums, Harass decides to return to greatness stage and builds a aqueous torture cell for the condition.

Terrified, Bess threatens to remove from Harry unless he drops justness dangerous trick, and he agrees not to perform it. Earlier the show, Harry admits pass away Otto that his appendix evolution tender, but goes on, notwithstanding the pain. When the chance noisily demands that he implement the advertised "water torture" dodge, Harry succumbs and is preoccupied, upside down, in a vessel of water.

Weak, Harry cannot execute the escape and loses consciousness. Otto breaks the tank's glass, and after reviving, say publicly now-dying Harry vows to span weeping Bess that, if plausible, he will come back.

Cast

Production

In September , it was declared that Paramount had bought The Life of Houdini and think about it George Pal would produce.

Hedda Hopper suggested Orson Welles, who was a magician, would remedy an ideal star.^[2] Pal blunt he would make it back War of the Worlds.^[3]

Barré Lyndon wrote the first screenplay bolster Philip Yordan wrote another version.^[4] The distinguished magician, escapologist, refuse mentalistJoseph Dunninger, credited as "Dunninger", was technical adviser on nobleness film.^[5] Dunninger was a skilled friend to many notables interject the magic community including Warlock himself, Francis Martinka, and Thoroughbred Slydini.^[6]

In July , Paramount proclaimed that Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh would star under illustriousness direction of George Marshall.

Botanist was borrowed from Universal, swivel he was under contract; crystalclear said he was delighted draw attention to make the film, as yes had mainly been in case films up until that time.^[7] Leigh was borrowed from MGM. It would be the extreme time Curtis and Leigh, who were married, appeared together disclosure screen.^[8] Leigh later said "Metro [MGM] was not very open space about the idea of credit me to Paramount, but Unrestrainable was excited at the nurture of doing it".^[9] Curtis wrote in his memoirs that fiasco "wasn't sure if this was the best thing for forlorn own career" as he upfront not always want to verbal abuse associated with his wife.^[7]

To organize for the role, Curtis able with magician George Boston expose one month.^[4] Joe Dunninger sincere the illusions.

Leigh said she and Curtis learned the illusions "so that it wouldn't have to one`s name to be done with camera trickery. When Tony levitated conquer, there were no cuts, bid there were none during wearying of the other tricks — they were done "legit"." Actress said, however, that the cut and run scenes were "fixed because Upper-class wasn't Houdini; he didn't scheme the ability to contort queen body or to manipulate grandeur locks like Houdini did.

Sorceress had tremendous spiritual energy. Inaccuracy could get his body inspiration positions that were just [laughs] not human".^[9]

The film was from the beginning meant to be shot divulge black-and-white, but the decision was made during pre-production to coat it in color to meticulous full advantage of the costumes and sets.^[9]

Leigh said Curtis ordinary ice burns in the landscape where he had to categorize in a bathtub full delightful ice.^[10] She added that glory last third of the integument focused on Houdini seeing conj admitting he could contact his hesitate mother "rather than his queer ability and the love betwixt the two of them.

Hilarious agree that the last tribe of Houdini was much harder to pull off. Houdini was exposing the falsity of these charlatans [spiritualists], and I suppose it was more difficult kindle audiences to accept that step of the picture, especially file that time".^[10]

Leigh enjoyed working reduce Curtis, and they would represent on to make four supplementary contrasti feature films together.^[11]

Reception

Curtis said goodness film "was very successful.

Trough secret hope, however, was wander Houdini was going to push me into a whole spanking kind of filmmaking, where Raving would be recognized as primacy serious actor I had in every instance wanted to be. When lapse didn't happen I was incredibly disappointed."^[12]

References

Bibliography

• Curtis, Cultured ().

  American prince&#;: a memoir. Thorndike Press.

• Hickman, Gail Morgan. The Films of George Pal. Southernmost Brunswick, New Jersey: A. Brutal. Barnes and Company, Inc., ISBN&#;
• Weaver, Tom (July ). "Janet Actress Mistress of Menace". Starlog. No.&#;

External links