Sherman Grinberg Film Library (Lance Watsky)
Last year (Dec 2019), I received the following email from our friends Dick Brookz and Dorothy Dietrich (D&D) at the Houdini Museum in Scranton:
Hi Joe,
Just got 14 minutes of digital Houdini film highly watermarked to protect ownership
.Each reel is about seven minutes
One is Houdini hanging from a bed sheet from a 4 story building, swinging from window to window swinging over to a drain pipe and lowering himself to the ground. It is in broken segments as it was filmed.
The other is various clips we have seen small part of before but these are more lengthy. One lowering a person on a shipment, and kissing Bess, a couple quickies wit Harry Kellar, Houdini taking a bow, the putting him a crate and dumped overboard, him being tied up by a gang of monks, etc.
Any thoughts?
Dick Brookz and Dorothy Dietrich
Without seeing the film clips, my initial thought was that they all sound familiar and that there is a “hanging from a bed sheet” scene in The Man From Beyond (TMFB).
Meanwhile, D&D let Lance Watsky at Sherman Grinberg Film Library know I was an expert on Houdini Films, and got permission for me to study and review the two reels, which I did in December 2019.
It turns out, I had gotten a gimpse of the two reels once before, when Librarian Bill Goodwin shared them at our Houdini Nuts gathering at the Magic Castle (June 2018), but at the time was not allowed to describe what I saw, nor study the films.
Well, thanks to Sherman Grinberg Film Library (Lance Watsky), Dorothy Dietrich & Dick Brookz, John Cox (Wild About Houdini), and the Academy of Magical Arts (Magic Castle), we can now share what’s on them to a larger audience.
In fact, on the Magic Caste website (August 20, 2020), AMA Trustee Shoot Ogawa presented Episode 37, “Behind The Bookcase” with guests John Cox and Lance Watsky, who showed the world premiere of this recently discovered film footage of Houdini.
The quality of this footage is amazing, which is important. Lance Watsky believes the film Sherman Grinberg Film Library owns was struck from a copy of an orginal 35mm negative.
Here’s a breakdown of the Houdini Footage on Reel 1.
Monk Table Tie Escape (0:00:00)
This is footage of Houdini doing an escape on the set of Haldane of The Secret Service. This is not from the movie itself. The scenario appears to be that he’s being challenged by monks (played by actors and assistants.) This is the same cut footage that has appeared in documentaries, but is of much higher quality. The uncut version shows the full escape and Houdini being raised up on the of the shoulders ecstatic monks.
Houdini, Kellar and Hardeen (0:01:48)
This is familiar footage of Houdini shaking hands with Kellar, and then the two getting into backseat of car driven by Hardeen. But, because of the high qualify of the footage (and John Cox going thru frame by fame), we now know that this is Kellar being picked up at the Hotel Astor in Times Square New York and being driven to Flatbush, N.Y during the week of Nov. 5-11 1917 (most likely Nov 10, 1917 the day before Houdini hosted the Antilles Benefit at the Hippodrome).
Houdini and Kellar Rope Ties (0.02:15)
This footage (found on Film-Flamming and other documentaries) was shot in front of Dash’s house in Flatbush (where Houdini and Bess was living at the time). Per Bill Goodwin, the footage is so clear you can read the address on the porch; Houdini and Kellar are seen taking turns demonstrating rope ties. You also see a shot of Bess with Kellar and Houdini in front of the house. As well as Kellar having fun demonstrating his famous Kellar rope tie escape by having Houdini and Hardeen tie his wrists.
Behind the Scenes filming of The Man From Beyond (0.03:21)
You see Houdini rehearsing a scene on a vessel and then consulting with Burton King about the scene. You also see the famous footage of Bessie “sprucing up” Houdini and getting a little smooch from him.
Master Mystery Packing Case (0.05:02)
This is familiar footage from the Master Mystery movie of Houdini doing a Packing Case escape.
Miscellaneous (0.06:15)
This is familiar footage of Houdini in white bathing suit handcuffed with 4 pairs of handcuffs. You then see Houdini surfacing and resurfacing with the handcuffs, checking to see they got some good shots.
So the footage on Reel 1 has appeared on documentaries and much of it is available on YouTube (at a much lower quality).
Now Reel 2 is unique and has never appeared on any any known Houdini movie, nor documentary for that matter.
Scaling a Building (0:00:00)
Houdini is hanging from a bed sheet from a 4 story building, swinging from window to window swinging over to a drain pipe and lowering himself to the ground. It is in broken segments as it was filmed.
(0.00.00) We see Houdini opening the shutters of the top window of a 4 story building and looking around. He then pulls out bed sheet’s tied together and hooks them to the window. Houdini then puts his left leg outside the window and grabs the bed sheet ladder.
(0.00.47) We see the bed sheets hang down to the bottom of the second window. Houdini grabs the bed sheet ladder and starts climbing down. He kicks open the right shutter of the second window below and climbs down grabbing hold of the left shutter. He then swings himself attached to the shutter and bed sheet to the adjacent window where he grabs the right shutter and lets go of the bed sheet ladder. He then swings the right shutter close while grabbing the left shutter.
(0.01:50) We see Houdini holding onto a drain pipe and then dropping to the ground and walking away.
(0.01.59) Similar to (0.01:50) footage.
(0.02:06) We see back of Houdini from the waist down on the drain pipe jumping down and walking away.
(0.02:14) Similar to (0.02.06) footage
(0.02:25) We see back of Houdini’s head and hand on drain pipe looking down before he starts to climb down.
(0.02:30) Similar to (0.02:25) footage
(0.02:41) We see Houdini from the waste up climbing down the drain pipe and jumping down.
(0.02:54) We see most of Houdini climbing down the drain pipe and jumping down and walking away.
(0.03:03) Similar to (0.02:54) footage
(0.03:12) Similar to (0.00:00) footage.
(0.03:52) We see Houdini on adjacent window after he let go of bed sheet ladder and shutter of adjacent window. And then we see him make his way to the next adjacent window shutter and then the drain pipe. He then climbs down the drain pipe pass two stories of windows until he reaches the ground.
(0.05:30) We see Houdini at the top window going down the sheet ladder to window below, swinging over to the adjacent window, and from there swinging over to another adjacent window.
(0.06:36) We see Houdini swinging over to another adjacent window, transfer to drain pipe and then slide down the drain pipe.
So where is this footage from?
This footage is not from The Grim Game (TGG).
Although, the TGG synopsis for the scenario writer had Houdini escaping from a jail, then using the rope of a flag pole from the building to scale down each story; arriving on each window ledge, he cuts off the end of the rope, ties it to he cell bar on the window and lowers himself again. TGG script also had Houdini freeing himself from a strait-jacket, swinging like a pendulum at the end of a rope, catapulting his body through a small window, and then scaling a wall and disappearing over the other edge.
Escaping and scaling buildings definitely was a theme in some of his movies.
And Houdini was also known to do “human fly” stunts.
Per a Wild About Houdini post:
He climbed the exterior of 278 to bring Bess flowers on their anniversary. He performed at least one human fly stunt during his return tour of the UK in 1920, when he climbed to the top of a castle in Newcastle and dangled from a parapet.
Houdini also shot random scenes in London, Edinburgh and Paris for a movie he was going to call The Dupe. Some of that footage was later used in Haldane of the Secret Service. But some footage was never used.
This footage is not from the TMFB or is it?
The Man From Beyond (TMFB)
Well, The “hanging from a bed sheet” used in TMFB is totally different. But after examining screenshots of Houdini in each of his known films, I came to the conclusion that the “hanging from a bed sheet” footage on reel 2 resembles Houdini during the making of TMFB. And that he filmed two different escapes from sheets, and the one on reel 2 was not chosen for TMFB. John Cox concurs and also points out that because of how clear the film is, you can tell that a haness and stunt double (Bob Rose?) was used.
Susposedly, Bob Rose was an uncreditied stunt double for Houdini. Below are a couple related newspaper references:
In all that time, I have never been in a hospital. That may be destiny- or it may be a close adherence to the precepts laid down for me by my teacher, the greatest stunt man of them all – Houdini. [30 Sep 1934 LA Times article by Bob Rose]
It was the first time he [Bob Rose] had ended in a hospital. He had always stuck to the rules laid down to him by Houdini who said, “Do every stunt scientifically. Don’t do it on nerve . Don’t attempt a stunt if you are afraid. Stunt work must be done on the same basis as gambling. You’ve got to have a feeling that it is a cinch or you must not do the stunt.” [04 January 1936 Larne Times]
Houdini wrapped up TMFB (and Haldane) in 1921.
The Man From Beyond (TMFB)
Special Thanks to Sherman Grinberg Film Library (Lance Watsky), Dorothy Dietrich & Dick Brookz, John Cox, and the Academy of Magical Arts for allowing me to review and comment on this extroadinary footage.
Update:
The film treatment, Marvelous Adventures of Houdini, self-published and copyrighted in 1917 has a scene where Houdini uses sheets on side of warehouse and makes his way down a water pipe or from window to window. There are also many elements of the Marvelous Adventures story that echo in his other films.
Related:
