Press and Sun Bulletin Mar 24 1922
Beginning Sunday Eve, April 2, Houdini premiers in person and on the screen in “The Man From Beyond” at Times Square.
New York Times Sun Mar 26 1922
Below is a bi-fold program for the premiere of Houdini’s movie “The Man From Beyond” that I recently acquired:
Joe M. Notaro Collection
And the following are some reviews:
New York Tribune Mon Apr 3 1922
The New York Times Tues Apr 4 1922
Other Related Posts:
Joe M. Notaro Collection
They each starred with Harry Houdini in one of his two-pictures under the Paramount-Artcraft banner. Ann Forrest in the Grim Game (1919) and Lila Lee in Terror Island (1920)
Joe M. Notaro Collection
They were together in Paramount-Artcraft’s The Prince Chap (1920)
And they were card 11 and card 17 of the 20 card Spanish Silent Movie Card Set (Series VII) from the 1920s. Harry Houdini was card 20.
Joe M. Notaro Collection
Related:
I recently acquired this Philadelphia newspaper dated April 18, 1920 advertising Houdini (on film) at the Regent.
The Regent was one of the first theatres to show Terror Island, charge ten cents, and feature a mammoth pipe organ.
The earliest theatre to show Terror Island that I could find was an exclusive first-run at Boston Massachusetts Modern and Beacon theatres,
Sunday April 11, 1920
Friday April 16, 1920
followed by Burlington Vermont Majestic, Alexandria Louisiana Saengers Strand, and Waco Texas Rex on Sunday April 18th
and then Philadelphia Pennsylvania Regent.
The below image of Houdini (on film) depicted in the newspaper is missing from footage available today.
It is from Part 3 of one of the missing reels from Terror Island. To find out what your missing, check out the following posts:
Other Related Posts:
Check out the sample HoudiniOpoly Box Bottom. Recognize any names?
Go to Houdiniopoly.com for latest news.
Next week, I will share Houdini’s ties to this theatre.
To kick off September, thought I would share a Pharmaceutical Calendar Ad from 1977, I recently acquired about The Perilous Escape From the “Spanish Maiden”:
Imagine a man stepping into an upright casket lined with sharp steel spikes and having it firmly shut and padlocked. Houdini escaped from such a device without the slightest injury and without leaving a clue as to how he did it.
The casket, painted with a resemblance of a Spanish maiden, was modeled after an instrument of torture used during the Spanish Inquisition. Spikes lined the interior in such a way that the body was trapped, but not pierced. It was hinged on one side, and on the other there were padlocks.
[it then goes on to explain in detail how he escaped]
You gotta love the image of Houdini they used from “The Grim Game”.
If you don’t own the Miracle Factory and Kino DVDs on Houdini, you will definitely want to check out the Houdini Historical Film footage (taken from high quality 35MM nitrate originals which no longer exist) found on the following two tapes:
While going through my closet the other day, I came across this remarkable 6 page give-away booklet to promote “The Master Mystery”:
Front and Back Cover
Pages 1 and 2
Pages 3 and 4
Pages 5 and 6
I picked this up for 50 cents when I visited the Houdini Historical Center in 1998.
While this is not an original, Mega Houdini collector Kevin Connolly does own an original which he shared last year with members of his Conjuring History Facebook group that made my jaw drop.
Thought today I would share a E documentary that was hosted by AJ Benza. It was released 26 October 1998.
It contains fragments (0:08-11:00; 18:54-19:00; 28:32-28:36) from the Grim Game that also appeared on History’s Lost and Found (episode #22) that aired in 2000.
On Wednesday, December 8, 2010 John Cox at WildAboutHoudini first shared these fresh fragments from the Grim Game:
These clips come from History’s Lost and Found (episode #22) which showcased Houdini’s Water Torture Cell and first aired in 2000. In the introductory montage we see a collection of Houdini footage. Much of it is familiar — but then pops up three (two) distinct fragments from, yes, The Grim Game!
So where did these fragments come from, and how much footage was trimmed away? Is it possible these full sequences exist somewhere outside the infamous Larry Weeks print?
The show credits still and stock footage from all the segments together, but within the list we see a handful of suspects who could have supplied the clips: Houdini Historical Society, Sidney H. Radner Collection, Houdini Tribute.com, John Gaughan, Morris Young Collection, Archive Film and Photos, Budget Films/eFootage, Hot Shots Cool Cuts, Steamline Stock Footage, and WPA Film Library.
Okay, fess up! Who (else) is squatting on footage from The Grim Game?
Photos & Footage on the 1998 documentary are credited as follows:
So based on the documentary credits, that narrows these Grim Game footage fragments to:
That said, as far as I can tell these fragments still exist (as flipped or reversed images) on the Larry Weeks (now TCM) print.
Anyhow, enjoy the documentary that includes some interesting comments from the late great Ken Silverman:
One of the stunts he done was stand on top of Bi-plane and jump into Lake Michigan handcuffed. (18:04-18:08)
Ruptured appendix caused peritonitis to set in. Peritonitis comes from bacterium and appendicitis comes from the bacterium and he couldn’t have got that from a punch in the stomach so he must have had it before. (20:17- 20:24)
