Category Archives: Movie Stills

Still 289-21: You don’t need a key for this kind of box

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This photo (Still 289-21) is one of 5 photos that appeared in a 1920 Cinema Chat Ad for The Grim Game.

So what is going on in this photo?

Harvey Hanford [Harry Houdini] has snuck into the Cameron home to visit Mary Cameron [Ann Forrest].

They are seated in the Cameron Library by the window.

Harvey tells Mary, “You don’t need a key for this kind of box – open it like this – ”

Harvey gives the box several sharp blows on the end to jar back the lock – then opens the cover.

[Scenes 25 – 42 paraphrased from Paramount Script]

Still 298-22: Who is the other man in this still?

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This still 298-22 has intrigued me for a long time.

We know that is Harry Houdini playing Harvey Hanford (Cameron’s nephew) and we know that is Ann Forrest playing Mary Wentworth (Cameron’s ward and heiress), but who is the other man in this still?

Feel free to read The Grim Game Cast and Story and use the actor photos below for clues.

Your choices are as follows:

 

Harry Houdini (Harvey Hanford)

 

Thomas Jefferson (Dudley Cameron)

 

Augustus Philips (Clifton Allison)

 

Tully Marshall (Richard Raver)

 

Arthur Hoyt (Dr. Harvey Tyson)

 

Unidentified Actor (Old Servant Banks)

 

Or you could choose NONE OF THE ABOVE.

Care to take a guess before I share some more thoughts on the matter:

Well, it is not Harvey Hanford [Harry Houdini] unless Dixie Dooley’s story is correct and Houdini has a twin brother in disguise.

It possibly could be Dudley Cameron [Thomas Jefferson]. Could this be the scene when the following Cameron spoken title appears?

“I’ve told you to keep away from Mary, you – spendthrift! I have other plans for her. Now get out!”

Cameron has disinherited his nephew.  He has never got over his hatred of the young reporter who once forced his way into his presence to get a story and whom he had thrown out. He has repudiated and forbidden HH to enter his house. Cameron also want’s Mary to wed Dr. Harvey Tyson not HH when he dies.

It possibly could be Clifton Allison [Augustus Phillips] since we know he carried a revolver and shot Dr. Tyson and Cameron in the movie.

I think we can rule Richard Raver [Tully Marshall] out; he was never at the house at the same time as HH and Mary, and does not come across as the type to have a gun.

It possibly could be Dr. Harvey Tyson [Arthur Hoyt]. There is a scene in the script where Dr. Tyson see’s the couple HH and Mary before him.  Their attitude shows him that there is a rival in the field who may upset his matrimonial plans. Dr. Tyson shows his bitter anger at what he has seen.  He starts as though to confront the lovers…  However, Dr. Tyson has a moustache in the movie.

It possibly could be Old Banks [unidentified actor], the man-of-all-work who is Cameron’s servant, butler and guard at times.  The following subtitle appears in the movie:

The main entrance is guarded by old Banks, the man-of-all-work, who admits only the chosen few.

On one occasion when HH pays a visit to Mary, HH is discovered by Banks. By a clever trick, Banks drops the gun and HH seizes it.  Banks calls attention to the fact that HH has no business on the grounds and in a spoken title adds:

“If anything happened around here, we’d have circumstantial evidence on you – prowling about these grounds with a gun!”

HH places gun just inside the gate just before closing it and making his escape.

Okay, so based on knowledge of the movie, the above descriptions and photos of the actors; who do you think it is now?

Cinema Chat Series Part 3 of 3

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Number 42, March 8, 1920 [page 16 and 17]

Below is the text from the ad:

Houdini the handcuff king, who is here seen in pictures from his latest film is one of the highest paid men in vaudeville, and one of the most famous men in the world. He started in life as a locksmith. Soon he learned he could pick any lock. He conceived the idea of going into vaudeville as a handcuff expert. He was instantly successful and toured the world in an act which took the form of escaping from any kind of handcuff with which he had been manacled. Escapes, however, were the least of his many stunts, as a list of some the remarkable things he has done would prove.

As an instance he was once handcuffed, tied and sewn in a canvas sack, and thrown from Eiffel Tower, Paris.  Halfway down Houdini was out of the manacles and the sack and clinging to a parachute.  He was thrown from Brooklyn Bridge locked in a steel safe.  He came up in one minute.  He escaped from a strait jacket whilst suspended head downwards from the “Times” Building, in New York.  He has also escaped from every famous prison in the world including the Tower of London, and the Conciergerie in Paris. So far he has never been successfully challenged on any feat, and we will permit anyone to tie him, nail him in a box or seal him up in glass!

Houdini has appeared before all the crowned heads of Europe.  He has been locked and manacled in practically every prison in America. Before he is manacled he is always stripped and examined carefully for keys, etc.  He has also escaped from time-lock safes.

In his first Paramount-Artcraft picture, The Grim Game, Houdini does practically all the stunts that have made him a world-famous figure, a perpetual mystifier, an entertainer par excellence. His aerial feats in this photo-play will cause one all to gasp, for they are simply extraordinary.

In future blogs, I will attempt to describe the scene, character(s) and actor(s) that are depicted in each picture still from The Grim Game.

See below for related links:

Weird Tales Sketch Card

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This is a scan of an original character sketch card by Studio-Hades that sold on eBay last month.  The scan contains slightly more contrast and considerably less detail than the original, the scan really does not do this piece justice.

It is from the WEIRD TALES 2 sketch collection and is numbered 13 in the series; there is only one of each card in a series.

The following text appears on the back of the card:

Few periodicals have had such a lasting impact on literature and popular culture as Weird Tales. First published in 1923 during the heyday of the pulp magazine, Weird Tales broke the constraints of what was conceivable in popular fiction at that time. Crafted by a diverse group of authors, including Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch, Tennessee Williams and August Derleth, they seamlessly melded themes as disparate as space viruses and necrophilia to sword and sorcery and historical speculation – all for a penny a word. Conan the Barbarian, arguably Weird Tales most famous son, enjoys more fame now than at the time of his creation.

Acheron Mint celebrates the unholy legacy of the strange, occult, the supernatural and bizarre and the fearless writers who conceived it with the Weird Tales Sketch Collection Set Two.

The sketch is of course from The Grim Game.  In fact, it was from the following famous image that can found in the Library of Congress.

Harry Houdini was a frequent Weird Tales contributor.  Here are some Houdini Weird Tales covers.

  • Weird Tales Volume 3 No. 3 March 1924 
  • Weird Tales Volume 3 No. 4 April 1924
  • Weird Tales Volume 4 No. 2 May June July 1924

Rare Houdini Poster

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This poster is an awsome find in the world of Houdini collectibles – a fantastic photo of a classic Houdini pose (L302-60). These were made around the late 1970s and are rare enough to be collectible but not so rare that that they break your bank account.  I was fortunate enough to pick one up for $29.99 and that included shipping.  It measures 16×20 and is on a high grade semi-gloss paper.  It is proudly displayed in my Houdini room.

Houdini’s “Strange Power Over Locks”

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“Above all, the performer must give the impression that he possesses some mysterious power over locks.” [Burling Hull, the Challenge Handcuff Act]

According to Patrick Cullington [Houdini the Key], Burling Hull added this text to the written instructions that went with Houdini’s Defiance Handcuff act when he republished them under his own name. Hull didn’t steal that idea from Houdini’s writings, he stole it from Houdini’s act.

Houdini’s “strange power over locks” was demonstrated in every performance of his handcuff act and it was definately demonstrated in his movies as evidenced by The Grim Game movie stills depicted in this blog. 

Everything about Houdini’s expression indicates that he is exercising a “power”. [Patrick Cullington, Houdini the Key]

 

And is saved by an Awning?

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According to Ruth Brandon and Milbourne Christopher, Houdini frees himself from a strait-jacket, falls into an awning, rolls into the street under the wheels of a moving truck, grasps its underside and rides away:

  • He was captured after a fight and, as one might expect, taken up to the roof of the building, strapped into a strait-jacket and suspended head down over the street below.  (He freed himself, fell into an awning, rolled into the street under the wheels of a moving truck, grasped its underside and rode away). [Ruth Brandon, The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini, page 207]
  • Captured after a fight, Houdini was taken to a rooftop, strapped in a straitjacket and suspended head down over the side.  He released himself, fell into an awning, then dropped to the ground.  Then he rolled under the wheels of a moving truck, grasped the underside and rode away beneath it. [Milbourne Christopher, Houdini The Untold Story, page 163]

 

According to the Paramount Script, Houdini frees himself from a strait-jacket, swings like a pendulum at the end of the rope, catapults his body through a small window; and then scales a wall and disappears over the other side.

According to the Paramount Script, Houdini leaps down into an alley-way and makes a dive under a fast moving truck after he escapes from a jail cell, not after he escapes from the strait-jacket as Ruth Brandon and Milbourne Christopher suggest.

 

So which sequence is correct?

  • (A) Strait-Jacket,  Awning, Truck
  • (B) Strait-Jacket, Window, Wall
  • (C) Jail, Truck
  • (D) B and C
  • (E) None of the above

I believe the answer can be found in the following:

This insert appears to be in chronological order and follows the Paramount Script with the exception, that there is was no scene that mentions an awning in the Paramount Script.

So based on all of the circumstantial evidence, I believe the following:

  • Answer A is incorrect because it includes the Truck and not the Wall
  • Answer B is incorrect because it includes the Window and not the Awning
  • Answer C is correct because it follows Paramount script and chronological insert
  • Answer D is incorrect because B is incorrect
  • Answer E is incorrect because C is correct

That is, I believe that the Awning scene (lobby card L302-75) did happen as part of the strait-jacket escape and appears in the movie.  However, I believe the truck scene happened as part of the jail escape not the strait-jacket escape.

Hopefully, one day I will know for sure.  What do you think?

I’ve Seen Most of The Grim Game

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Poster Image created from still photo 298-8

That is, I have had the distinct pleasure and honor to be allowed access to the Margaret Herrick’s Library Special Collection file of original production stills from The Grim Game.   I can tell you it was an amazing experience that I will never forget.  There were 10 envelopes in the file that contained 87 unique stills ranging from Production# 298-1 to Production# 298-92.  All 92 production numbers were accounted for with the exception of these ten: 298-3, 298-33, 298-34, 298-35, 298-36, 298-37, 298-58, 298-66, 298-76 and 298-90.  Now, there were four stills in the file that did not have the production number on it, so they could account for four out of the ten missing; plus I have also seen 298-3 (L302-3, mid-air collision), 298-34 (plane), and three other stills (jail scene and two other mid-air plane images) without the production number that could account for five more of the ten missing. Plus, the infamous L302-55 (298-55) image was not in the file, but a totally different image for 298-55 was in the file.  And there were two images of 298-27 in the file that are totally different images.  So, there is no guarantee the stills are all correctly numbered.  In addition:  Production numbers 19, 20, and 21 were marked with 289-19, 289-20, and 289-21 as opposed to 298-19, 298-20, and 298-21.  And, some of the production numbers were written in pen on the still.

So, based on this circumstantial evidence, I can pretty much say that I have now seen and cataloged most of the production stills for The Grim Game.

Poster Image created from still photo 298-71

 

Here are some interesting counts of the 87 unique stills found in the special collection file at the Margaret Herrick’s Library:

  • Harry Houdini was in all 87 stills; Yes, I said ALL.  I don’t think you can say that for his other movies.
  • Ann Forrest was in 21 stills.
  • A Straw Hat was in 17 stills.
  • The Jail was in 15 stills.
  • An airplane was in 13 stills

 

 

If you or someone you know has a 298 or L302 image from The Grim Game with any of the following numbers (33, 35, 36, 37, 58, 66, 76 or 90) on it, please send me an email describing the image, so that I can correctly catalog all of the stills for The Grim Game.

Also, if you have an image from The Grim Game that is missing the production number on it, and would like to know what the production number is for that image, send an email and I will be glad to identify it for you.

The Grim Game Core Experience

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I decided to go for it.  That is, I took a day off from work and drove to the Margaret Herrick Library with the hope of making a future appointment to finally see The Grim Game, Master File 681 Paramount Script Collection and Archive of photos (original stills).

I showed up at the Margaret Herrick Library with a notepad, pencil and driver’s license.  The guard at the front greeted me, took my drivers license and had me fill out some paper-work.  After signing in, he told me to take the elevator to the second floor and check in at the desk.

My heart was pounding as I got off the elevator.  I was given a library card that was good for the day; I was then directed to go discuss my research project with the librarian.

Within moments, the librarian filled out a card for me to see the core collection for The Grim Game and the core collection for Terror Island.

The Grim Game core collection consisted of three envelopes:

Contents of Envelope 1 (1 card)

Contents of Envelope 2 (4 pages)

  • Copy of November 1919, Photoplay article (Page 112 and Page 115)
  • Copy of New School , program notes by Wm. K. Everson, “3/1/1974” (1 page)
  • B&W Copy of Page 19 from MUM Society of Americans Magicians Monthly Magazine August 1919 (Click here to see it in color)

Contents of Envelope 3 (Six stills): The two in bold (298-19 and 298-51), I had never seen before

  • 289-19 (Note:  prod#  is mis-labeled on still, should be 298 not 289)  Harry Houdini and Ann Forrest reading The Daily Call Illustrated Magazine
  • 298-51 (similar to this Library of Congress image) minus the chains and cuffs
  • L302-64 (same as this Lot 271 image that sold at Potter and Potter auction)
  • 298-16 (same as image found in MAGIC April 2001 magazine on page 106) Harry Houdini risks his life to escape by leaping out of moving car
  • 298-53 (same as this Kevin Connolly’s L302-53 image but with 298-53 prod# on it)
  • 298-87 (same as image in Grim Game Press Book  and image in The Adventurous Life of Versatile Artist) Harry Houdini lying down on the top wing of an airplane

 

After reviewing the core files, the librarians showed me how to use the library computers and helped me locate some other references on Houdini.

While I was there reviewing other Houdini references, I also had the opportunity to discuss my research project with Barbara Hall, Special Collections Research Archivist and Faye Thompson, Photograph Department Coordinator.  And schedule an appointment to see The Grim Game, Master File 681 Paramount Script Collection and Archive of photos (original stills).   Stay tuned!