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Summary of 1950 Houdini Screenplay (Property of Film Producers)

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In 1950, Film Producers, Inc was going to make a Houdini Pic. They commissioned a 150-page screenplay (June 25, 1950) by Stephen Longstreet which led to a 172-page screenplay by Endre Bohem and Hilda Gordon (August 29, 1950).

Below is a summary of the 172-page screenplay:

It is Halloween in New York City and the year is 1927 – the first anniversary of the Great Houdini ‘s death. In accordance with his instructions, a group assembles in a bare room of his house on 113th Street to conduct a séance in the hopes that Harry Houdini can return to them. Among them are Bess, his attractive beloved wife, in her middle forties; Roy, sixty, his manager; Tony, fifty, his best friend; Dr. Jamieson and Dr. Schaeffer, scientists; Joe Quinn, a reporter. A sealed envelope left by Houdini is opened and read by Tony. Houdini promises to come back tonight if he can, and to help him he wants his friends to concentrate on him. Each of them has a different thing to remember. Tony will remember him as a child, when he was still little Ehrich Weiss…

Ehrich is only thirteen when he astounds his pal Tony and their school teacher by mysteriously getting out of a locked classroom where he is supposed to remain as punishment for not paying attention. Ehrich then runs off to the carnival grounds where he accepts the challenge of Roy and Stella Comstock, a young couple performing cycling and magic stunts, to duplicate the great needle trick. Ehrich is bound, suspended head first and picks up the needle with his eye-lid. Roy is impressed and offers Ehrich a job, but the boy insists on having his five dollars instead. With it Ehrich buys a coveted Chinese puzzle lock from the junkman and exasperates Mama Weiss and Tony with the long hours he spends before he finally opens it. Mama is a pleasant, careworn woman, who resignedly realizes that her beloved Ehrich is a problem boy who may spend all his life trying to find the answers to mysteries…

 

By the time Ehrich is in his early twenties, he is performing as a magician with Roy and Stella Comstock and gets billing as “The Great Houdini.” During a show at a high school auditorium, Houdini selects the pretty, eager Bess Rahner from the audience to assist him. A pebble from a small boy’s slingshot breaks the beaker of chemical water and ruins Bess’s dress, but this give Houdini an excuse to make amends and see Bess again. Despite the opposition of Bess’s stern mother, a romance develops between them and leads to an early marriage, which alienates Bess and her mother. Mama Weiss, however is very pleased that her son has found as pretty and sweet a girl as Roy’s Stella…

Bess’s first appearance at a third-rate theater as Houdini’s assistant finds her frightened, and angry with Houdini for making her wear tights, but his glib patter and sensational feats of magic overcome her fear, and afterwards he kids her out of her anger…

Houdini constantly practices new stunts and escape routines, and hoping to get into big-time vaudeville, he and Bess go to Detroit with Roy and Stella for an audition. They are booked, but when Houdini tries to escape from a strait-jacket, he finds he hasn’t yet mastered it and as a result they all lose their jobs. To get fare back to New York, Houdini performs a daring stunt by being handcuffed, leg-ironed and weighted, then diving through a hole in the ice into the Detroit River. Bess, Stella and Roy, in the waiting crowd, become panicky when Houdini fails to come up. Roy is on the point of going after him, when Houdini at last emerges triumphantly, having located the hole in the ice barely in time. This stunt is highly publicized by Joe Quinn, a young newspaperman, and as a result Houdini accepts a lucrative offer from the Orpheum Circuit and hires Joe as his press agent. Realizing he will be doing daring stunts for the rest of this life, Houdini feels it’s wrong to ask Bess to face the torture of having to stand by and wait and never be sure he’ll emerge alive, but Bess shares his confidence in himself as well as returning his love and she insists on sticking with him…

Houdini becomes well-known as an escape artist. When he appears at the Palace Theater in Pittsburgh, Tony, Mama Weiss and Mrs. Rahner, Bess’s mother whom Mama has as last gotten to accept her daughter’s marriage, are in the audience. Houdini escapes from an ancient Chinese water-torture chamber, but in the process his ankle is broken. Tony, who is studying medicine, tries to make Houdini take proper care of his ankle, but Houdini insists on keeping his engagements in New York…

Houdini confounds the N.Y. police by escaping from a locked cell in the Tombs. Then, although his ankle is still in a cast, Houdini, dangling head downward and supported by ropes, works himself out of a strait-jacket, has he is lowered from a building in Times Square…

Photo courtesy of Fred Pittella

On tour across the country with Bess, Houdini continues to perform more and more spectacular escape stunts and he becomes famous for them and for his showmanship. When he learns that Stella has been injured during the performance of her and Roy’s bicycle act, he talks them into going to London to look over the act of a Harvey Houdini who claims that Houdini is imitating him. Houdini wants Roy to set up a way for him to debunk the phony. Meanwhile, Houdini buys a home for Bess in New York, and has Mama Weiss and Mrs. Rahner get it in shape so they can move into it when they return from England. Before they go, Houdini performs an escape feat for an assemblage of Boy Scouts in which he is tied to a stake from which he has to free himself before a ring of fire envelops him. It very nearly leads to his being burned to death since kerosene has been used on the fire. Afterwards Tony, now a doctor, warns Houdini that he must give his body a chance to recover from the many beatings he’s been giving it. Houdini refuses to do so, but insists that Tony go abroad with him and Bess to be on hand for occasional checkups.

Aboard ship, Houdini and Bess amuse the passengers by conducting a séance, but it disturbs Houdini when one of his guests, a Dr. Schaeffer, insists on taking the supposed message from his dead son seriously…

In London, Houdini cleverly debunks the trickery of the phony Houdini, making the latter a laughingstock to the audience…

Houdini captivates Europe with his fantastic feats, but in Paris he has a narrow escape from a trickily locked safe when an attendant tampers with the lock…

In Russia, the Secret Police are furious when Houdini pulls off the impossible feat of escaping from a large safe-like metal box-car. Celebrating afterwards with Bess, Stella and Roy at a nightclub, Houdini witnesses Hindu Ramandra’s endurance test of remaining locked in an air-tight coffin for eighteen minutes. Houdini determines to do the stunt the next night and remain inside twice that long, despite Bess’s apprehension. However, Houdini doesn’t get to perform this feat, for the critical illness of his mother sends them all hurrying back to New York.

Mama Weiss dies before Houdini gets there, and he becomes haunted by a fragmentary message to him which she was unable to complete – a message about something he should know about. Houdini feels that it may be possible to contact Mama and with the worried and understanding Bess, he investigates the possibilities through various mediums, all of whom he finds to be fakes. He discovers that Dr. Shaeffer is being duped by these phonies, and he launches a crusade to expose them, giving lectures and staging exposes, with Bess’s help. A Dr. Jamieson, head of a psychological foundation, enlists Houdini’s aid in exposing the famous Angelus Sisters, which Houdini does by duplicating their supposed spiritual phenomena by mechanical means. But this whole business seems to depress Houdini and to get him interested in his former feats, Roy gets Ramandra to challenge him. At the Hippodrome Theatre, Houdini astounds the world by remaining in a sealed, airtight glass casket for an hour and thirty-one minutes. However, afterwards, Houdini seems like a changed, broken man, and Bess becomes frantic with worry because she can’t seem to reach him at all. She is very apprehensive when several months later, Houdini insists on being locked in a sealed casket and buried in a grave. When he remains inside for three and half hours, Bess suffers agony, but at last, he frees himself and, like a frightening apparition, emerges from the earth…

Bess thinks it a miracle that Houdini is now his cheerful self, and he asks her forgiveness for having had to undergo this experiment which he hoped would put him in touch with his mother. While it failed, he feels that perhaps after his death, he may be able to contact Bess…

And so, a year after the death of the Great Houdini, Bess and his friends are assembled in the hope that Houdini will return. They sit in expectant silence with Bess nervously playing with Houdini’s Chinese puzzle lock, which she’s always carried for good luck. They wait many minutes past the scheduled time, and then Bess suddenly is elated to discover that the puzzle lock, which no one has ever opened except Houdini, is now open. She took tenderly at Houdini’s photograph and it is almost as if he were smiling…

Credits:

  • Summary Snippets courtesy of Paramount Files at Margaret Herrick Library

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Ehrich born in 1873?

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Although there is no real evidence to support this claim, Houdini’s sister Gladys once stated that Houdini/Ehrich was named after an infant son [born April 6th, 1873?] who died through a fall.

That said, John Cox wrote a wild blog post, The Houdini Earth birth year conundrum, that suggested Houdini believed he was born in 1873 until he discovered his true birth year [1874] during his weekend visit to Budapest with his mother in 1901. John speculates:

Having discovered the truth in 1901, Houdini recorded his real birth year in official records. But for the public record, one that his mother might read, it remained 1873 for HER. Tellingly, the 1914 edition of his pitchbook [The Life, History and Handcuff Secrets of Houdini pitchbook], published after her death, his birth year is updated [from 1873] to 1874.

So, after Houdini’s mother died, that was the end of 1873 or was it. Well, I just recently acquired Houdini’s Book of Magic and Party Pastimes (Copyright 1927, by Beatrice Houdini, Executrix of the Estate of Harry Houdini), where it surfaced again:

I wonder where the publishers got their source for the date and brief story of his extraordinary life?  Obviously, not from Bess?

Happy Father’s Day!  And special congrats to my son, who just became a father to my grandson that the hospital nurses nicknamed “Little Houdini”.

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The Amazing Exploits of Houdini – The Bride & Orangutan

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During my visit to the McCord Museum, I was fortunate enough to have read a compilation (April 24, 1920 v1 n1 to June 5th 1920 v1 n7) of “The Amazing Exploits of Houdini” found in The Kinema Comic.

  1. The Bride & The Orangutan.
  2. The Jewel Thieves.
  3. “Stop Thief!
  4. The Gold Melters.
  5. Adventure of the Midland Express.
  6. In The Dead of Night.
  7. Out of The Sky.

Each issue contains a several page serialized fictional story (by-lined by Houdini). This week I share my paraphrased version of “The Bride & The Orangutan” found in the April 24 1920 v1 n1 issue:

A car on the wrong-side of the road with blinding headlights is bearing down on Houdini, as he jumps up in the air and lands on the hood of the vehicle. The driver who appeared to be up to no good, yells that he can’t stop and that Houdini will have to jump for it. Houdini climbs over the short door of the driver’s compartment and grips the man around the throat, but is confronted by another man with a gun. Houdini gets the driver’s body between him and the gun and discovers the man holding it was not the only occupant in the cab. With him was another man and girl. After a struggle, Houdini receives a blow to the head and then is drugged with chloroform.

When Houdini gains consciousness, he is lying on the floor of a room, bound hand and foot. He hears the sound of rushing water, accompanied by the grind of some machinery. He also smells a distasteful odour, that reminds him of his old circus days. But then he hears someone breathing heavily in the opposite corner of the room. He his pleasantly surprised it’s the girl from the car.

She tells Houdini he should not have exposed himself to danger and that now they are both trapped and helpless now.

Houdini rolls over on his side and within thirty seconds he his free. She remarks that not even Houdini could have gotten out of those ropes any quicker that you did.

Houdini lets her know that he is Houdini. She tells him that she is Mary, the third daughter of the Countess of Millingham and this morning is her wedding and she doesn’t see much chance of getting away in time for the ceremony. She has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom by the men that kidnapped her. Three weeks ago, the men wrote to her father, threatening this action on her wedding, unless he paid them a sum of five thousand pounds. Leaving the theatre last night, she got abducted in the car, and then Houdini came to her rescue.

Houdini asks where they are; and Mary replies somewhere in Surry, perhaps thirty miles out of London. WRT building, Mary imagines that it is some vacant mill and ask if Houdini can hear the water-wheel.

After freeing Mary, Houdini starts to walk toward the window as possible means of escape, when suddenly the boards beneath him give way and Houdini feels himself fall. Houdini manages to grasp the side of the floor. Searching for a foothold on the walls of the well, Houdini gradually muscles himself up to the surface of the floor.

The window was no longer an option, which only left one other exit and that was the door. Near the top of the door was a square hole about six inches across, and heavily barred. Houdini hoisted himself up until he could look through and discovered the cause of the peculiar odour. Crouched up against the wall furthest from the door was a huge orangutan that watched Houdini’s every movement.

Taking the ropes that they had been bound in, Houdini used one to tie his keys to the end, lower it through the grill, and by so doing managed to pull it underneath the bottom of the door. A loop was thus formed, which he maneuvered until he had it fastened on the bolt. The door was then easily opened.

The beast sprang forward and into the room toward Houdini’s neck. Houdini jumped to one side and the beast went toppling down to its death as it hit the water wheel.

Houdini took Mary’s hand and together they rushed out the door down the stairs to the car which had very nearly run over Houdini the previous night.

It was 4:30 in the morning and the wedding didn’t start until 11:30. Houdini started the car and off they went to the police station. A squad car went off right away and captured the whole lot in beds.

Mary looked well as a bride.

100 Year Anniversary – Aeroplane Crash Tidbit continued

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Last week, I shared a tidbit about the Aeroplane Crash in The Grim Game that was not widely known. That is, I shared that the camera plane may have “indirectly led” to the collision, due to a delay in mounting the camera that caused the planes to do the stunt in the rough air of the afternoon as opposed to the calm air of the early morning. I also shared a bonus tidbit, that the stuntman was supposed to make his way to the rear cockpit or drop into the rear seat.  In addition, I shared a couple advertisements from my personal collection showing how the accident happened.

Today, I thought I would share the flip side of the newspaper ad (Toledo Times October 19, 1919) displayed last week, that has a nice jail scene still and describes how “Houdini is supposed to let himself down into the cockpit beside the murderer by means of a rope, and throttle him”:

One of the most amazing air accidents in the history or aviation forms the sensational climax of a new Paramount-Artcraft picture, “The Grim Game,” starring Houdini, the most famous handcuff king, which is coming to the Temple all of this week.

According to the story, Houdini in an airplane is pursuing a murderer, who is trying to escape in another machine. At a height of 3,000 feet Houdini is supposed to glide above the other machine, let himself down into the cockpit  beside the murderer by means of a rope, and throttle him.

All went well, with the stunt, the two machines circling one above the other  and a third , containing Director Willat and the photographer, about a hundred yards away, until Houdini was just about to loose his hold on the rope. Then suddenly a gust of wind lifted  the lower ‘plane into the upper one, and their  propellers locked. They dropped like rockets, revolving nose on nose, with Houdini still dangling on the rope and the the two aviators making frantic efforts to control their machines. Death seemed certain. But a few hundred feet from the ground, with both propellers gone, one of the airmen by a miracle, succeeded in falling into a glide, and, though the other crashed nose-on into a field, the only injuries sustained were slight bruises.

100 Year Anniversary – Aeroplane Crash Tidbit

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The 100th Anniversary of the infamous Aeroplane Crash in The Grim Game is coming up on May 31st.

Of course, it is now “widely known”, that it was stunt double, Robert E. Kennedy, on the rope and not Houdini.

For the 100th year anniversary, thought I would share a tidbit about the plane crash that is “not widely known”. It involves the third machine with the camera.

According to “The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood Classic Aviation Movies by H.Hugh Wynne”, the camera plane may have indirectly led to the collision.

The studio rented three DeMille airplanes and pilots, and scheduled the flight for the calm air of the early morning on May 31, 1919. Maintenance problems and a delay in mounting the camera held things up until after lunch. Finally three airplanes took off in the early afternoon. David E. Thompson and Christopher Pickup flew the stunt planes. Al Wilson piloted the camera plane with Irving Willat, the director-cameraman, riding in the back seat with his camera.

In compliance with the flight plan, Pickup, with Kennedy aboard, flew straight and level while Thompson, with less weight and wind resistance, and better visibility in the lower machine, moved into position directly below. Al Wilson maintained a steady camera platform position to the left, and in line with the performing machines, so that neither his tail section nor wing tip appeared in the camera’s field of vision. By this time of day the air was rough and it was difficult for the pilots to maintain their positions.

Willat recorded the spontaneous incident on film and the studio revised the script to include the mid-air collision.

Bonus tidbit:

The script called for Harry Houdini [Kennedy], to climb down a knotted rope attached to the front mid-wing strut of one plane, drop to the top wing of another machine flying just below, and make his way to the rear cockpit.

Patrick Culliton spoke with Irvin Willat about this stunt and was told that Kennedy was supposed to drop into the rear seat.

When the stunt was filmed it was contrary to the plan and turned out to be one of the most exciting air stunts ever recorded on film.

To be continued…

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100 Year Anniversary – HHCE attends Screening on Terror Island plus more

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On Friday May 17th, I took the Catalina Express out of San Pedro at 8:45 am to Catalina Island (Houdini’s Terror Island) to see the 100th year anniversary screening of “The Grim Game” sponsored by the Catalina Island Museum.

Despite rain the previous day, it turned out to be a gorgeous day to visit the Island. I walked to the Catalina Island Museum to see their new exhibits, including the permanent Houdini Terror Island Exhibit.

Jessica Zumberge (a curator at the Catalina Island Museum) was my tour guide.

The Terror Island exhibit showcases lobby cards (Mark Willoughby collection), a film ad from the Press Book (John Cox collection), article on boat rescue, locations of the film’s most important scenes, and a video of the overboard box escape from the film.

If you look at the 2018 image of Toyon Bay, you will see me in photo, where the natives are in the 1919 photo.

And I am also credited as the one who uncovered the video of the overboard box escape that is missing from the existing movie.  This footage is not available to view anywhere else, so visitors to the island get a rare treat.

I was then joined by fellow Houdini Nuts, Julie Perlin Lee (Executive Director at the Catalina Island Museum) and John Cox (Houdini Expert).

If you look at the old Catalina Map in the photo, you can see a beach called Pebbly Beach to the left of Julie and a beach called Banning Beach (now called Toyon Bay) to the right.  These were key film locations in the Terror Island Movie.

John Cox and I then went to the Blue Water Grill where we talked Houdini, before going to check out “Houdini Point” at Descano Beach.  This is where Houdini took part in a real-life nautical drama. A small vessel had been disabled and was in immediate danger of capsizing or smashing into the rocks off Sugar Loaf Point (I like Julie Perlin Lee’s idea to change the name to  “Houdini Point”).

We then made our way to Overlook Hall, to set up for the main event of the evening, the 100th anniversary screening of “The Grim Game”. Overlook Hall, originally built in 1929, has emerged as Catalina’s premier venue for special events.

It was standing room only.  John Cox who introduced the movie, tweeted:

It truly was a great night for a very special movie with music provided by Award Winning composer, Michael Mortilla. Below are photos from the event:

Hanging out with Michael Mortilla, John Cox, and Michael’s wife.

John Cox hanging out with guests, including Magician Lee Terbosic from Discovery Channel’s Houdini’s Last Secrets.

Hanging out with some of Catalina Island Museum’s amazing staff, Gail Fornasiere, Kellie Costello and Kevin Liebson.

Well it was now time to catch my 9:45 boat back home or was it? Half-way to the boat, my phone rings and I get an invitation to stay over with Perlin Lee Family for the Catalina Island Museum Silent Film Benefit, the next day.

What a treat! The brunch, dancers, speakers, movie and live orchestral music by Michael Mortilla & The Accompanists was incredible.  Bravo!

Below are a couple photos from this amazing event:

David & Julie Lee Perlin and Lee Terbosic & Girlfriend Jessie Marie dancing in the ballroom, plus John, Lee & Jessie in the Art Deco Avalon Casino Theater.

Special Thank You to Julie Lee Perlin and her family for making this trip extra special.

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Celebrity Magician Dorothy Dietrich featured in Stories For Kids Who Dare To Be Different

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True Tales of Amazing People Who Stood Up and Stood Out By Ben Brooks

Dorothy Dietrich, groundbreaking stage and television magician, escape artist, historian, and creator of The Houdini Museum, the only building in the world dedicated to Houdini, is one of the people chosen to be expounded on in Stories for Kids Who Dare to Be Different. She came to the fore as an innovative teenager sawing men in half, and doing dangerous magic stunts men shied away from, including the great Harry Houdini. She became the first woman in history to accomplish the Jinxed Bullet catch, “The stunt that scared Houdini,” and the only woman to escape 150 feet in the air tied in a Straitjacket attached to a burning rope for a Home Box Office Special that she starred in. NY Times article on Houdini “Miss Dietrich, on the strength of her televised stunts, could claim preeminence”

HoudiniOpoly.  Dorothy Dietrich recently designed a KickStarter success program The Largest Houdini project in KickStarter history and the largest successful Scranton, Pa project in history as well.
http://HoudiniOpoly.com

This follow-up to Ben Brooks’s New York Times bestselling Stories for Boys Who Dare to Be Different, offers more extraordinary true stories of amazing people who broke the mold and changed the world for the better. Others included in this diverse book of biographies are Hans Christian Andersen, Jack Johnson, Sally Ride, Andy Warhol, Andrea Bocelli, Joan of Arc, Andrew Carnegie, Peter Jackson, Simon Bolivar, and many more — heroes from all walks of life and from all over the world.

With the help of Quinton Winter’s striking full-color illustrations, the same author-illustrator team who collaborated on Stories for Boys…, offer a compilation of 76 famous and not-so-famous influencers of all genders from the past to the present day, every single one of them a rule-breaker and stereotype-smasher in his or her own way. The profiles offer a welcome narrative: one that celebrates resilience, individuality, expression, introverts, sensitivity and innovators.

Last fall, Stories for Boys Who Dare to Be Different came out to much acclaim and earned a spot on the New York Times bestseller list. But the author also received feedback from families who were looking for biography books for all kids, regardless of gender. This was the genesis for Stories for Kids Who Dare to Be Different. The resulting message? Be yourself, and your dreams might come true.

Stories for Kids Who Dare to Be Different: True Tales of Amazing People Who Stood Up and Stood Out can be purchased at Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

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100 Year Anniversary – The Original Grim Game Story

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In honor of the 100 Year anniversary of Houdini filming The Grim Game, thought I would share the Original Grim Story for comparison to what is depicted on film.

That is, I plan to compare the 24 page Synopsis (that was intended as a special guide for the scenario writer) and the actual scenario as depicted on the existing print.

I thought I would start by sharing the story from the existing print as described in the Exhibitor’s Press Book:

Next, I thought I would share a 1-page synopsis of the original story:

THE GRIM GAME by Arthur B. Reeve & John W. Grey

Sterling Steele, star crime reporter of a yellow journal owned by a man named Clifton Allison, is in love with Julie Cameron, the ward of the old recluse known as Moneybags Cameron. Because the old recluse disfavors his suit, Steele is forced to resort to stealthy means in order to see Julie. He opens a locked and bolted door to gain entrance to the Cameron house.  Old Cameron’s choice for Julie is Dr. Harvey Tyson, his personal physician. Tyson, the publisher Allision who is in desperate straits because his newspaper is failing and Richard Raver, Cameron’s lawyer, are close friends.

To bolster up the newspaper’s circulation, Steele proposes a plan. Dr. Tyson is to secretly order Natalie Nelson, a chorus girl, to act as Cameron’s nurse and take him on a trip to Maine. Then Steele will act as if he had done away with the old man, confess to the murder and the newspaper will increase its circulation by getting the scoop on the story.

Everything goes as planned, except it is discovered that Cameron has actually been murdered.  For a time it seems that Steele will be convicted on a charge of insanity and imprisoned in an asylum. He escapes from his prison cell, is captured and taken to an insane asylum, where he momentarily eludes his prisoners and runs to the roof. Again captured and bound with, a straight jacket, Steele manages to slip over the edge of the roof and while his captors are holding him by a rope, he slips from the jacket in mid-air and again escapes.

Natalie Nelson, who is none other than the sweetheart of Richard Raver, is tricked into going to a mountain lodge where she is set upon by a gang of desperadoes.  Allision, Julie, Tyson and Steele, followed by the police, proceed to the mountain lodge where the desperadoes attack Steele, tie him securely, and suspend him from a tree.  He extricates himself in time to go the rescue of Julie and Natalie, both of whom have been attacked and locked in a closet by a mysterious assailant. Steele battles with the assailant and reveals him to be Allison.  The police break in, Steele is cleared of the murder while Allison is held for it; Raver and Natalie are happily brought together and Steele is sentenced to life in matrimony with Julie.

Well, if you compare the pressbook story and the one-page synopsis, you will notice some differences. Mary Cameron was originally Julie Cameron; Harvey Hanford (HOUDINI) was originally Sterling Steele; Ethel Delmead was originally Natalie Nelson; the two old servants are not part of the original story, nor are any guard(s); HOUDINI is not Cameroon’s nephew in the original story; and there is no references to the Call or any aeroplanes in the original story.

At this point, I will share snippets of the original story for comparison:

Sterling Steel was the chief police reporter of “The Star”

…

At the home of Clifton Allison, owner of the Star, we find Allison, Richard Raver, his attorney, and and Dr. Tyson, who is also a well-know alienist, talking over the coffee and cigars.

…

Allison has called the other two together because, through friendship, Raver has succeeded in securing for him a promise of an endowment of half a million dollars for the foundation of the Allison School of Journalism. This fund is to be administered by Allison, with Raver and Tyson as trustees. Cameron has not yet made the gift but is about to do so.

While the meeting is taking place, Julie and Sterling are talking over their plans. Cameron awakes, hobbles out to the porch and discovers the two lovers. Julie is frightened and turns toward her lover when Cameron threatens to disinherit her if he sees Sterling again. Sterling leaves to keep an appointment with Allison to talk over a plan to increase the circulation of the Star.

When Sterling arrives, they stop the discussion and talk over plans for the paper. Because of his fight with Cameron, Steele has thought of a plan which will surely increase circulation. He knows the paper advocates the abandonment of capital punishment.

“What would be the effect,” he asks, “if a man accused himself of committing a crime and all the evidence pointed to his guilt? If, then, it was brought out that the crime was a frame-up that the man had not been murdered, then would not the Star gain great circulation over the sensational crime story and greater circulation and credit though proving the inadequacy of circumstantial evidence and scoring this point in its campaign against capital punishment.

The others listen as he expands the idea. He suggests that Cameron be made to disappear. He knows Tyson’s connection with Cameron, and tells Tyson to order Cameron away to a sanitarium in Maine. He tells them to have someone telephone the police. He will arrange to get caught and confess to making away with Cameron. He will say the body is buried in quick lime in the cellar of Cameron’s own house. The police investigate and they will find some of Cameron’s easily identified jewelry which Raver can supply in the quicklime. They will find blood on Steele’s cuffs, which will really be rabbit’s blood placed there by himself.

…

Now—each of the three has his own motives to fall in line with Sterling’s suggestion.  They all agree that, with Cameron out of the way, the manipulation of the half million will be easy. Tyson figures that this will give him a good opportunity to win Julie, during the old man’s absence. Raver also has his own private secret plan to double cross Allison and win the love of Natalie,

…

Allison suggests that in order to get Cameron to go away it might be a good plan to send a pretty nurse with him. He knows a girl who could fill the part admirably. She is Natalie Nelson of the chorus of Gamorrah Theatre.

He goes to the phone and calls a number which the others overhear, Steele does not pay much attention to it at the time, although later he remembers the incident. Raver hears it and smiles darkly to himself.

…

Cameron likes the nurse…Raver gets the check for the endowment and leaves Dr. Tyson with Cameron and Julie. Cameron tells Tyson to watch over Julie while he is gone and Tyson accepts the nomination gladly. While Julie packs her things to go to her Aunts Tyson is making unwelcome love to her and in the cellar we see Raver dropping some of Cameron’s jewels into the quick lime which had been delivered secretly.

Tyson tells Cameron he will send a cab to take him to the station that night. He leaves him his ticket and tells him to meet the nurse at the station where they will take a night train.

At the office of the Star Steel begins to act peculiarly. The city editor notices this as well as the reporters. Steele is playing his part and leaves the office nervously.

Some time later we see Natalie and Raver in Natalie’s apartment. Natalie looks at her watch, then calls the police as pre-arranged. She tells them she had reason to believe that there has been a murder committed at Cameron’s house.

The paper learns from the police blotter and the editor hunts for Steele.  Allison who is at the paper shows great surprise.  The editor phones Steele’s house.  The landlady answers and goes to call Steele. Steele is washing something from the sleeve of a shirt when she finds him.

…

Natalie, now alone in her apartment, receives a note which tells her to take the enclosed ticket and the night train for Staggcliff in the Adirondacks, as plans have changed. She will meet her patient there. The note is signed with Dr. Tyson’s name.  She crumples the note and leaves to catch her train.

Through the telephone call and an anonymous letter broadly hinting at Steele, he is suspected. The detectives catch him leaving his house. He is accused of the crime and the landlady now suspicious, remembers seeing him washing his cuffs of his shirt.

Steele is arrested. They find the shirt in his closet and it is taken as evidence.

…

At her Aunt’s house Julie sees the paper and is very pleased that her lover put his story over.

…

Out of curiosity she goes to her guardian’s house. Immediately the detectives detain her. They take her to the cellar where she finds a key which has been overlooked by them.

…

To the astounded Julie, Dr. Tyson now declares before the detectives that he has found traces of human remains in the quicklime.

…

Julie goes to the jail and tells Steele of the finding of actual human remains in quick lime.

…

Left in the lurch by everyone, Sterling now appeals to Julie. “Find Cameron and that nurse, “ he directs.

He also demands that the blood stains be analyzed. They are not human blood, he asserts.

…

Julie first goes to Allison, Tyson and Raver…denies everything.

…

After she goes, Allison demand the check from Raver and Raver refused to give it up. They quarrel and each is suspicious of the other.

We next see Natalie at the Adirondack Lodge. She has been made a prisoner by “Grumbler” Grimwood, a guide and game warden at the Lodge. Cameron has not shown up at the Lodge. He has really been murdered.

Julie in the city has already learned that her guardian is not at the appointed place in Maine. She realizes that he is dead and begins to believe more strongly in Dr. Tyson and to suspect her own lover.

She does not go to the jail anymore. Steele decided that he must break jail to see her.

…

Steele finds Julie and convinces her of his innocence. He then remembers the telephone number which Allison had called. He tells her to trace it.

…

While Steele is hiding, Julie locates the apartment of Natalie and uses the key which she found, thus discovering what key it is.  She finds the crumpled note signed by Dr. Tyson’s name and thus learns of Staggcliff.

The police follow her from the apartment to where Steele is hiding. Thus Steele is captured after Julie has told him of Adirondack Lodge and that she is going there. The police overhear this and Ravor, Tyson, and Allison hear of it as well, and that the police and Julie know.

…

We next see Allison, Raver, and Dr. Tyson each hurrying away. The police have begun to get suspicious. The blood on the shirt has been found to be rabbit’s blood, not human blood.

…

Julie arrives at Staggcliff, meets Natalie, who is a prisoner. She tells of entering her apartment and finding the note. Natalie asks her how she got in and Julie shows her the key.

While this is going on, we notice that Raver, Allison and Dr. Tyson, each independent of the other have arrived in the neighborhood of the lodge.

…

Natalie is about to tell something when a gloved hand comes in through the door and smothers the kerosene light. A man enters the darkened room and rushes to Natalie’s side. He sees Julie and turns on her savagely. This leaves Natalie to believe that Raver has been caught and she in turns rushes to Julie’s assistance and tries to protect her from the unknown assailant.

Steele alluding his pursuers, is now in the neighborhood of the Lodge. He comes upon an abandoned cabin, enters and provides himself with rubber boots which he steals from the cabin, because in freeing himself from the straightjacket and the rope he was forced to remove his shoes.

Following the corduroy road which leads to the lodge he is suddenly set upon by Grimwood and his men who have had orders to permit no one to enter the Lodge. They overpower Steels and do a spectacular stunt by suspending him from four saplings by ropes.

…

Steele releases himself, eludes Grimwood and the others and approaches the Lodge as Julie is battling with unknown assailant. He hears someone coming. Natalie is unconscious, having been struck down by him and he wickedly tosses Julie into a closet, locking the door.

The unknown assailant then seizes a bolo from the wall and hides under a cot.

Steele enters, strikes a match, lights the lamp and throws the burning match on the floor. It drops near the side of the cot and we see the match burn. A hand comes out from under the cot, puts the match out before it sets fire to the floor. Steele know now there is someone under the bed.

As the bolo swings viciously all we see is that it cuts through Steele’s boots.

Steele, however has swung himself to a rafter, leaving his boots on the floor. He hangs by his toes, reaches down and lifts the cot from over the man. He tosses it aside and pounces on the man whom we recognize as Allison.

A terrific fight continues between Allison and Steele.  Allison with the bolo is trying to kill his opponent. We next see the detectives who have forced Grimwood and his men to release Tyson and Raver whom they previously seized…They start for the Lodge.

Steele is just overcoming Allison when the detectives, with Raver and Dr. Tyson, followed by Grimwood and his men rush in, with asylum keepers.

Steele rushes to the closet door where Julie is a prisoner and by his strength bursts it down. Raver rushes over to Natalie who is now recovering consciousness.

As Steele frees Julie, Raver tells Natalie of Allison taking the check from him under force.

Natalie, asks Raver to show her his key to her apartment. He does so.

Natalie leaves Raver and rushes to the chief detective. She points toward Allison and accuses him of the crime.

As she is accusing Allison, Julie comes forward and produces the key which she found in the quick lime.

The detective demand that Allison produce the key to Natalie’s apartment, Natalie asserts that there are only two keys – one given by her to Raver, the other to Allison.

She accuses Allison of keeping her a prisoner at Staggcliff, a hunting lodge which he hired for the purpose. Grimwood confirms this.

Julie then shows Tyson the note and asks him to explain it. He swears the note is a forgery and Allison is again confronted.

Caught in the net, Allison is unable to produce the key and cannot deny hiring the Lodge and writing the Tyson note.

Although weakened from a wound he attempts to escape but is overpowered and made prisoner.

The detectives exonerate Steele as Allison breaks down and confesses. Turning to Steele he speaks:

“Circumstantial evidence implicated you – now it frees you.”

As the detectives handcuff Allison and lead him out followed by the crowd, Julie, now happy, turns toward her lover. “You have escaped the death sentence – to be sentenced for life”

H A P P Y  1 0 0  Y E A R  A N N I V E R S A R Y !

Credits

  • Synopsis Snippets courtesy of Paramount Files at Margaret Herrick Library

100 Year Anniversary – HHCE attends Screening at Sierra Madre Playhouse

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On May 3rd, I had the pleasure of attending the Sold-Out 100 Year Anniversary screening of “The Grim Game” at the Sierra Madre Playhouse.

The Sierra Madre Playhouse in collaboration with Catalina Island Museum, knocked it out of the park.

Below our photos from the highly successful event:

Your’s truly, arriving at the Sold-Out event.

Tom Ogden (Comedy Magician) and John Cox (Houdini Expert) hanging out before John Cox introduced the movie.

Kevin Liebson, from Catalina Island Museum (Co-Sponsor of the event) talking up activities at the museum, which includes the permanent Houdini Exhibit and the up and coming showing of “The Grim Game”  on May 17th.

Michael Mortilla (Award Winning Composer), and I hanging out before he conducted the live piano accompaniment to “The Grim Game”.

Large Screen that Houdini’s best movie, “The Grim Game”, was projected on.

John Cox, Michael Mortilla and Kevin Liebson answering questions after the movie.

The speakers, movie and piano accompaniment, were incredible. Congratulations to all involved.  See you on Catalina Island, May 17th for the outdoor screening of “The Grim Game”.

Related:

Aquarium Challenge AKA Houdini Upside Down

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Tomorrow marks the day that Houdini first performed the Water Torture Cell. It was April 29, 1911 that Houdini performed the escape in South Hampton, as part of a 1 act play with 2 scenes called Challenged or Houdini Upside Down.

So today, I thought I would share the actual challenge from the play:

Dear Sir,

We the undersigned members of the Eccentric Club, hereby challenge you to escape from the aquarium we have in the lounge-room at our clubhouse, into which we intend to place, you, under the following conditions:

First of all, we have constructed a lid or cover, to fit over this aquarium, which separates in the middle, as per drawing herewith:

This cover will be fitted with four locks, such as are used on traveling trunks, with long brass hasps. We intend locking your feet in this cover, after which we place around this cover a metal square so that, even if the locks were opened, you could not possibly release your feet.

On this metal square we will have rings placed and, after we have you securely locked into this cover, we will place two locks in these rings, fastened to a cable and, with the aid of derrick or winch, we will hoist you up into the air, turn you in an upside-down position, and place you over the aquarium.

We will then lower you down into the aquarium, head first. Excluding the possibility of your breathing when under water, we will proceed to lock the lid down to the aquarium at each corner, making use of our locks and as many of these as we see fit.

We will allow you make use of any covering or drapery you wish, and allow you in this way to conceal your methods of escape.

In the event of any accident occurring which will prevent your making your escape, we are not to be held responsible for this accident in any shape or form.

If you manage to release yourself and make your escape, we stand willing to pay the sum of L1,000 which we have deposited as a side-bet. You may attempt this feat either publicly or privately, as you see fit. We demand the right to select our own committee, and you can select a like number of gentlemen to represent you.

Trusting to hear from you, we remain

I find the description of the first Water Torture Cell and cover with a metal square placed around it very interesting.

I wonder what happened to this prototype?

Special Thanks to George Goebel for sharing the play with illustrations during our very special visit.

Note: The one act play and its two scenes can be read in its entirety in Patrick Culliton’s excellent books, Houdini’s Strange Tales (collection of fiction by the legendary Harry Houdini) and Houdini – the Key.

Bonus:A one of a kind broadside for this challenge sold at Potter & Potter Auction yesterday.