In the 1890s, young Harry Houdini ( Tony Curtis) is performing with a Coney Island carnival as Bruto, the Wild Man, when Bess ( Janet Leigh), a naive onlooker, tries to protect him from the blows of Schultz ( Sig Ruman), his "trainer". The film also follows his love for his wife Bess Houdini and his most dangerous stunts and stage illusions. Following the death of his mother, he exposes various fraudulent mediums in the spiritualist movement, while always hoping to make contact with her. It details his beginnings as a carnival performer, later as a worker in a safe factory, and finally his international success as a world-renowned escape artist and stage magician. The film's storyline is a fictionalized account of Houdini's life. The art direction was by Albert Nozaki and Hal Pereira, and the costume design by Edith Head. The film's music score was by Roy Webb and the cinematography by Ernest Laszlo.
The film's screenplay, based upon the life of magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, was written by Philip Yordan, based on the book Houdini by Harold Kellock. Upon repeated viewings, the movie still stands the test of time! Paul Michael Glazer is excellent as Harry Houdini, but that's only the tip of the iceberg with this wonderful cast.Sally Struthers plays the role of Harry's wife (both young & old) very convincingly, Vivian Vance is perfect as the nurse (bringing quite a bit of humor to the role), Adrienne Barbeau is as sultry as ever but brings a lot of heart to her role, Bill Bixby - although in the movie only briefly - is very believable as the Medium trying to contact Houdini's ghost, hell - even Peter Cushing gets in on the action! The best role by far was played by the late Ruth Gordon, who should have gotten much more notoriety for her role as Houdini's mother.Houdini is a 1953 American Technicolor film biography from Paramount Pictures, produced by George Pal and Berman Swarttz, directed by George Marshall, that stars Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.
I'm lucky enough to say that I own a copy of this movie, taped very late one night a long time ago.
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