Continued from part 1, here is the next part of the Terror Island Story as found in the May 1921 issue of Boys Cinema.
A Wonderful Submarine.
CONTENT MOVED: To be available in my 2024 book: Houdini Adaptations, The Grim Game and Terror Island Stories
To be continued…An Offer Refused and One Accepted
As promised, here is the first part of the Terror Island Story as found in the May 1921 issue of Boys Cinema:
A Prisoner Among Salvages.
CONTENT MOVED: To be available in my 2024 book: Houdini Adaptations, The Grim Game and Terror Island Stories
To be continued…A Wonderful Submarine
I recently acquired an extremely rare May 1921 issue of Boys Cinema that takes The Terror Island Film Script (which I have seen, read and studied at the Margaret Herrick Library) and adapts it to a story paper format.
Boys Cinema was a weekly story paper published by The Amalgamated Press based at Fleetway House in Farringdon Street, London. It ran from December 1919 to May 1940 for a total of 1063 issues. As the title suggests, it was a boys comic centered on the Hollywood and British stars of the silver screen with related features and articles. Each issue consisted of film scripts adapted to a story paper format, sometimes serialized.The films featured were mostly ‘B’ pictures. Covers (as seen above) and throughout the comic showed stills of the films.
In future posts listed below, I plan to take you inside this edition of Boys Cinema and share the Terror Island Story that was adapted from the film script.
UPDATE: Content to be available in my 2024 book: Houdini Adaptations, The Grim Game and Terror Island Stories
Disclaimer at the start of the Kino edition of Terror Island
Terror Island was released by Famous Players Lasky’s Paramount Artcraft Production Unit in 1920 and then re-released in 1922 under their Realart Picture Production Unit, where the title cards changed to reflect that it was a Realart Picture.
The exisiting version of “Terror Island” found in the Library of Congress (LoC) is from the Realart print and is approximately 55 minutes, but it is missing its reels (Parts) Three and Four:
Documentation at the Margaret Herrick Library gave the original length of each of the seven reels, which added up to 5939 feet:
Reel One: 975 feet, Reel Two: 848 feet, Reel Three: 958 feet, Reel Four: 917 feet, Reel Five: 889 feet., Reel Six: 784 feet and Reel Seven: 568 feet.
If you compare the running time of the five existing reels (1, 2, 5, 6 and 7) at 55 minutes (54.19) to the footage per reel, the LoC print is missing about 25 minutes (Reel 3 and 4) played at 20 fps (75 feet a minute).
So, what happened to these missing reels? My colleagues (John Cox, Leo Hevia) and I feel that it was around the time of the Tony Curtis “Houdini” movie, when Parts 3 and 4 got separated from the rest.
Let’s look at the evidence.
In July of 1952, Tony Curtis was preparing for his role in Houdini (released 1953), by surveying Silent Houdini Films at Paramount, which included Terror Island.
July 29, 1952 Los Angeles Times
On July 6th 1953 originally and then on August 27th of 1953, George Pal’s appearance as a guest on the Art Baker’s “You Asked For It” show aired, where they ran a part of the original Houdini serial Terror Island showing the under water escape of Houdini from a packing case. Then a strip was shown from George Pal’s new picture showing Tony Curtis duplicating the same feat, escaping from the packing case after being tossed into the ice covered Detroit River.
It sounds like Reel 4 was taken out of the metal canister that contained the reels of Terror Island and was used for the “You Asked For It” show and never returned back to the canister. According to Leo Hevia:
It’s the only thing I can think of that would explain the missing reel. The completed picture was divided into half a dozen or so reels. Those reels went into metal canisters that looked kinda like clam shells. Since the underwater packing box escape scene was the only part needed for that TV show, it appears the techs removed that particular reel from the canister and never bothered to put it back after it was used.
So that explains one reel, but two reels are missing. John Cox has an explanation:
In TI’s day, film reels couldn’t be longer than 1000 ft. That became the standard reel length for post production work right up to the end. However, theaters projectors could eventually handle 2000 ft. reels, so when a release print is made, those 1000 ft reels are combined into one “A/B” reel (two 1000 ft loads). By the 1950s, there was an awareness of the hazards of nitrate stock, so Paramount’s archival print of TI was probably new and therefore what was in the canister were A/B reels. So what would have been plucked out of the can for this promotion would have been Reel 2 A/B, and on this would be TI’s original Reels 3 & 4. Hence, when this reel was lost, two reels of TI were lost.
In 1970, Paramount donates “Terror Island” to the American Film Institute collection at the Library of Congress:
So thanks to the Tony Curtis “Houdini” movie, George Pal, and the “You Asked For It” show, the print donated by Paramount to the LoC is missing Reels 3 and 4 or Reel 2 A/B, depending on how you look at it.
Special Thanks to John Cox and Leo Hevia for their contributions on this subject.
Last week, I did a post on searching for the Terror Island Underwater Box Escape Footage that by all accounts appeared on the “You Asked For It” show in 1953.
So now all I had to do is find that footage. I was hopeful that it would appear on the “You Asked For It” Rare TV Magic Acts (McIIhany) (4 DVD Set) and I was not disappointed. George Pal Houdini Films appears on Volume One:
Below is part of the transcript:
George Pal: Hi Art!
Art Baker: Howdy!
Pal: We are just about to air.
Baker: Fine, we appreciate you taking time to answer…Here is a young magician and he wanted to see a film of the great Houdini himself. Have anything for him?
Pal: Well Art in doing the research for Paramount’s new technicolor picture “Houdini” I ran across an old movie called “Terror Island”. It has been made in 1920 [1919].
Baker: 20!
Pal: And it stars the real Houdini in person.
Baker: Huh!
Pal: So if you are ready, we can show one of his famous underwater escapes.
Baker: Fine!
Pal: Okay Terry put on the first one.
And below are snippets of the underwater box escape footage from “Terror Island”:
Credits: William McIIhany (whm)
Parts 3 and 4 of the current version of Terror Island are considered missing. I previously did posts that described the missing scenes in chronological order for each part:
The Catalina Island Museum Houdini exhibit (Houdini: Terror on the Magic Isle) which runs May 5th to Oct 7th, 2018 has a audio-visual presentation that reconstructs these missing parts based on my work above that is a must see.
The museum also currently pieces together other must see Houdini footage (courtesy of John Cox) of how the underwater box escape likely looked in Terror Island.
This post is about my search for the actual missing Underwater Box Escape footage from Part 4 of Terror Island..
According to The Motion Picture Herald, August 8, 1953:
…the same show [“You Asked for It”] is contrasting classic escapes: the one in “Terror Island,” in which the real Houdini escapes from an underwater sealed box, and the one in “Houdini”, in which Tony Curtis does the same. Paramount gets the credit, all along.
According to Linking Ring Vol 33 No. 7 Sep 1953:
The Baker Show ran a part of the original Houdini serial Terror Island showing the under water escape of Houdini from a packing case. Then a strip was shown from the new picture showing Tony Curtis duplicating the same feat, escaping from the packing case after being tossed into the ice covered Detroit River.
According to Linking Ring Vol 33. No. 6 August 1953:
There also was a showing of the real Houdini making one of his famous trunk escapes underwater and a scene from the Houdini picture showing Tony making the same escape. Very much the same.
According to Hugard’s MAGIC Monthly August 1953:
Recently Mrs. Bob Parrish asked for and got clips from an old Houdini picture and the latest Paramount film “Houdini”
According to Long Beach Independent, July 6, 1953:
YOU ASKED – One of Houdini’s most spectacular underwater escapes will be seen again when George Pal, producer of short movies guest with Art Baker on “You Asked For It” over KECA (7) at 8 p.m. Pal will show an old featurette of the great magician and casually introduce some film clips from his new movie, “Houdini”.
According to The Honolulu Advertiser, August 22, 1953 and [August 27, 1953]:
Houdini Appears [Houdini On TV]
One of Houdini’s most spectacular underwater escapes will be seen again when Producer George Pal guests on “You Asked For It” Thursday, Aug 27 at 7:30 p.m. over KGMB-TV. Pal brings with him 35 mm film of an old Harry Houdini featurette i which he demonstrates his famous underwater escape. Pal will show portions of his new Paramount film, “Houdini,” starring Tony Curtis as the great master of legerdemain.
According to Los Angeles Times, July 29, 1952 recently shared by John Cox at WildAboutHoudini:
Anthony Curtis, of the films is meanwhile busy at Paramount surveying old Harry Houdini silent films made about 1919 and 1920. Of particular interest, he finds, is “Terror Island,” directed by James Cruze…
So based on all the evidence above, it appears a more complete print of Terror Island existed at Paramount in 1952 and the footage of the missing underwater box escape was shown on “You Asked For It” in 1953.
Next week, I will share some screen shots and part of the transcript from when George Pal appeared on You Asked For It in 1953. So tune in next week to find out if this underwater box escape footage was found.
Saturday, June 2nd, the day after the 1953 Screening of Houdini on Terror Island, the “Houdini Nuts” gathered at the Magic Castle in the Houdini Seance Room for brunch.
“…a gathering of devotees that enjoy laughter, silliness, folly, merriment, & friendship. But mostly, we gathered to share our passion for Harry Houdini” Arthur Moses
In attendance for the “Houdini Nuts” 2018 gathering was Arthur Moses, Patrick Culliton, Gene Franklin Smith, Mark Willoughby, Lisa Cousins, Joe Fox, Neil McNally, Ron Mondz, John Cox and myself.
The last “Houdini Nuts” gathering was in 2015 for the Grim Game premiere and festivities in Hollywood, where Arthur Moses surprised us with a “Houdini Nuts” Grim Game Souvenir Folder.
For the 2018 gathering, Arthur Moses surprised us with a Terror Island puzzle. Thank You Arthur!
After brunch, Joe Fox and Arthur Moses each played something special just for the “Houdini Nuts” and then Arthur shared some incredible goodies with us, which included items he had for sale; I picked up a 1937 Adventure Comic book insert (The Thrill Book of Escapes) from England that had an interesting article on the Mirror Cuff challenge, titled “When Houdini Nearly Failed”. Thank You Joe and Arthur!
We then made our way to the Castle Library, where we got to see some incredibly clear film footage of Houdini. Thank You Lisa Cousins and Bill Goodwin!
I then picked up a Academy of Magical Arts, Inc 55 years Houdini Seance Coin from the gift shop.
It was now time to go home and take a nap before the “Houdini Nuts” gathered again to catch Duffy Hudson’s One Man Houdini Show at the Generation DCD Studio in Burbank.
I had the honor to sit to the left of Magic Castle’s Librarian, Lisa Cousins, at the premiere of the Grim Game in Hollywood, the showing of Terror Island on Catalina, and now Duffy Hudson’s One Man Houdini Show.
All the “Nuts”, referred to as “non-believers” and the “scary front row” by Duffy were treated to a very special performance of magic/escapes (strait-jacket, cards, handcuffs, needles) and Houdini’s life-story (which was well-researched).
After the show, Duffy hung out with the “Nuts” for a bit, signed some autographs and took some photos. Duffy gets my vote for Best One Man Show.
The “Nuts” then decided to end the evening at a near-by coffee shop.
Can’t wait for the next “Houdini Nuts” Gathering!
Friday, June 1, I returned to Avalon Catalina for the First Fridays at the Museum screening of the 1953 film Houdini starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh in their outdoor amphitheater.
I was met at the docks by Jessica Zumberge from the Catalina Island Museum, who gave me a golf cart ride to the Museum, which is featuring the first ever exhibition about the making of Terror Island. The exhibition is on view May 5 through October 7, 2018.
After checking out the museum gift shop which has some very nice Houdini items for sale,
Spent some time with some of Julie Perlin Lee’s amazing staff (Gail Fornasiere, Jessica Zumberge and Patty Salazar) who were all hard at work, looking up information for me.
Julie then joined the work party, and we discussed plans for the day.
I borrowed a golf cart (after Jason Clay made a key magically appear) with plans of having lunch and spending some time on Descanso beach where Houdini attempted a rescue of a wayward boat in the bay.
Plans quickly changed after the guy at the beach club told me the patio food bar was closed due to a water leak.
So I decided to go back into town to get something to eat, and that’s when I realized that there was an island wide water outage that closed restaurants and bathrooms all over Avalon.
I was about to give up and just go to Vons to get something to eat, when I noticed an outdoor bar was serving food, Yes!
After a quick lunch, went to beach (where no one was allowed in the water due the sewage pipe leak) and listened to some music before going back to museum to get Julie and her kids.
We all hopped in the golf cart to go pickup the mighty Arthur Moses and John Cox.
First stop, Strand Theatre building, where Terror Island screened on Friday September 10 in 1920.
Next stop, Joe’s RENT-A-BOAT.
Captain Julie gave us a VIP tour of Terror Island shooting locations which are only reachable by boat.
We then returned to the museum so Arthur could play the Houdini pinball machine and see the Houdini exhibit (which featured many items from his collection) for the first time.
I then took John and Arthur for a golf cart ride to check out the old pool from the Hotel St. Catherine, where Houdini stayed and also the Hotel Catalina where some of the Terror Island Cast members stayed.
We then decided, that the three of us would get dinner before the Friday night festivities started.
We quickly realized, that there wasn’t one place open for dinner; the couple bars that were serving food at lunch were now shutdown as well.
Julie graciously offered to make us a meal at her place, but we knew she had an event to prepare for, so we decided to grab some bread, lunch meat, fixings, fruit, and chips from Vons.
After our picnic dinner, we headed to the museum for the Friday Night Festivities.
Everyone mingled and enjoyed a beverage prior to the Tony Curtis Houdini movie being shown.
Our amazing bartender, Kellie Costello, made her signature cocktail, the “Hairy” Houdini, that was a big hit.
Once, the sun set, it was time to take our seats for the show.
Houdini Nut Julie Perlin Lee introduced the other Houdini Nuts in attendance which included myself, Arthur Moses, and John Cox.
After a brief introduction on the movie by John Cox, the movie started, which everyone seemed to really enjoy based on the reactions throughout the movie.
About, 9:30 realized that movie was going to end about 10pm, which was the same time we needed to catch the last boat back to Long Beach, so quickly said my good-byes to Jessica, Patty and Gail.
Julie then took John, Arthur and I to the boat dock. We said our good-byes and as the Catalina Express pulled out from the dock, you could hear Tony Curtis at the outdoor amphitheater saying:
“that he will come back to her, he will find away somehow”
I will definitely find away back to Catalina for another adventure, Julie and her staff are the best.
Related HHCE 1953 Houdini Movie posts:
Previously I did a post on what these locations look like today:
So in this post thought I’d share what these locations looked like back in Houdini’s day.
Strand Theatre:
Hotel Central:
Hotel Catalina:
And as a added bonus, here are images of the Hotel St. Catherine where Houdini stayed back in the day:
1918
1919
1919
1920
1921
Special thanks to Jessica Zumberge (curator at Catalina Island Museum) for going above and beyond to locate and scan these items from their archives for me to use in this post.
Credits:
Saturday, May 19, returned to Catalina for the special screening of Terror Island at the Art Deco Avalon Casino theater. My wife Kristina accompanied me on this trip.
We met fellow Houdini Nuts, Mark Willoughby, Joe Fox, John Cox, Jim Bentley and Stacey Zimmerman at Catalina Island Express.
After a little over an hour boat ride, we arrived in Avalon, where we were met by fellow Houdini Nuts, Lisa Cousins and Julie Perlin Lee (Executive Director at Catalina Island Museum).
Kristina and I dropped our luggage off at the museum while the others went on ahead to the Casino theater.
Our amazing tour guide Jessica then gave us a golf cart ride from the museum to the Casino Theatre, where we were greeted by more of the amazing museum staff (Gail, Kevin, Lydia).
We then found our reserved seats in the theater before going to a special VIP room at the Casino for brunch, mimosa’s and music (by my buddy “Scout”).
Returned to the theater for the VIP pre-screening performance by Magician and actor Jim Bentley.
Jim has portrayed Houdini on stage and television; and has performed many of Houdini’s death defying escapes and signature magic effects.
Jim brought his acclaimed comedy and magic act to the “Magic Isle”. He was funny and entertaining from start to finish and featured Houdini’s Siberian Chain Escape and ended with Houdini’s famous straitjacket escape.
After a brief intermission, we left the theater before returning with our tickets for the movie.
Everyone got an amazing 36 page program featuring Houdini that is definitely going to be a collectors item.
Julie Perlin Lee then welcomed everyone to the Magic Isle before the movie started.
Seeing Terror Island in a beautiful theater in a large screen accompanied by an orchestra was a truly amazing experience I will never forget. Michael Mortilla & The Accompanists are musical geniuses. Bravo!
After the movie was over, took a photo with Houdini Nut, Stacey Zimmeran dressed as Harry Harper from Terror Island.
Kristina went back to Hotel, while Houdini Nuts, Fox, John, Lisa, Mark, Stacey and myself went to find the pool from the Hotel St. Catherine where Houdini stayed.
After checking out the pool, part of the group went to see where Houdini attempted a rescue of a wayward boat in Avalon Bay.
We then joined the rest of the group and walked back to the Museum, to see the Houdini Exhibit, that John and I had been raving about.
Everyone loved the exhibit and really appreciated the effort that everyone put into making it truly something special.
Julie and Jessica from the museum, then joined the Houdini Nut group and said they had a couple surprises to share with us.
Jessica shared the first surprise which was a 2/26/76 recorded Oral History interview that Chuck Liddell did of Stephen “Duke” Squirrel” D’Arcy, one of the men responsible for the rescue of the boat in Avalon Bay on November 28., 1919.
According to the interview: “On that day, they [Director Cruz and Assistant Director Vernon Keys) were shooting [Terror Island] scenes out in front of the St. Catherine and [Captain] McAfee almost lost his boat. Squirrel tells the interviewer that he went out there, got that boat and got his story in the paper.
And Julie shared the second surprise, which was a scrapbook that belonged to the other rescuer, Tinch Moricich, which not only had an original clipping from the Catalina Island paper with the story of the rescue, but it had two original clippings from the Los Angeles Examiner that had a picture of Houdini and boat tossed by high waves.
After my mouth dropped to the floor, it was time to see if we could get the museums newly installed Houdini Pinball machine to trigger the Houdini movies parts of the game, in particular, “Terror Island”.
After some pinball magic, we were finally successful.
It was past closing time at the museum, and most of the Houdini nuts had to catch a boat soon, so we called it a day; An Amazing Day and one I will remember for the rest of my life.
The next day, Kristina went shopping for an hour. And I went to the museum. After playing pinball and checking out the Houdini exhibit, Jessica let me listen to the interview again, and Julie let me look thru the scrapbook in detail. What a treat. It was now time to catch a boat, so we said our good-byes until next time.