Motion Picture News April 17, 1920
Tomorrow we look at the flip side of this insert.
Terror Island – Not a Serial! (Ad 4 of 7)
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Category Archives: Terror Island
Terror Island – Not a Serial! (Ad 3 of 7)
Motion Picture News April 10, 1920
This image can also be found on page 110 of Disappearing Tricks – Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century by Matthew Solomon.
Tomorrow we look at the front of another color insert.
Terror Island – Not a Serial! (Ad 2 of 7)
Motion Picture News April 3, 1920
Tomorrow we will look at an incredible two-page advertisement that illustrates a few of the big scenes in Terror Island.
Terror Island – Not a Serial! (Ad 1 of 7)
Last week we looked at full color advertising inserts that were published in the magic magazine M-U-M to accompany the release of The Grim Game.
This week, I thought we look at the full color advertising inserts that were published in Motion Picture News to accompany the release of Terror Island in April 1920.
Each Day this week (Sunday to Saturday), I will post a different color advertisement for Terror Island – Not a Serial!
Motion Picture News April 3, 1920
Tomorrow, we will see the flip side of this insert.
The Grim Game, Magicians and the Magic of Hollywood Cinema
Magicians interest in the movies was spurred by special promotion of The Grim Game for the magic community. Full-color four-page advertising inserts were published in the magic magazine M-U-M to accompany the release of The Grim Game [August 1919 pages 17-20 and September 1919 pages 29-32]. A special screening of the film was arranged for the Society of American Magicians (SAM), which gave The Grim Game its official endorsement and pledged that its members would help promote the film around the country [Sphinx September 1919 page 162].
At the 1919 SAM screening of The Grim Game, Thurston gave a speech in which he pronounced the film “one of the most wonderful things I have ever seen” and called it Houdini’s “greatest work” [quoted in Sphinx September 1919 page 162].
Houdini followed up The Grim Game with a second feature for Famous Players-Lasky entitled Terror Island. There was also some spectacular ads that accompanied the release of Terror Island in April 1920, that we will take a look at next week.
Source
- Magicians and the Magic of Hollywood Cinema during the 1920s by Matthew Solomon
Drifting Away From Vaudeville
Before relocating to Hollywood to fulfill a contract with Famous Players-Lasky, Houdini wrote: “I am drifting away from vaudeville, and with the exception of my European dates have no plans re[garding] a return”
Once he had filled these European dates [Sailed Dec 30, 1919 from New York City to Britain] and returned to the United States [July 12, 1920], Houdini stopped performing in theatres for more than a year-and-a-half while attempting to launch his own independent film production company, the Houdini Picture Corporation
Source:
- Magicians and the Magic of Hollywood Cinema during the 1920s by Matthew Solomon
- The Career of Ehrich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman pages 243, 262-263
Paramount-Artcraft Pictures: Classic Houdini Publicity Poses
The above photo of a classic Houdini pose just sold on eBay February 9th for $204.70; congratulations to the winner.
Below are other classic Houdini publicity poses taken when Houdini was working for Paramount-Artcraft Pictures:
The above image of Houdini appears on the cover of the pressbook for The Grim Game as well as the pressbook for Terror Island. This image of Houdini may have been used more than any other image of Houdini for publicity abroad; See Kevin Connolly’s blog.
The signed photo above will be auctioned by Lawsons in New South Wales on Friday, February 22, 2013. See John Cox’s blog for more info on auction.
Note: All of the above images can be found on various cards. Below are some examples from eBay that as of this date are currently for sale:
Spanish Trading Card Translated
A rare 1930 Spanish Houdini Trading Card just sold on Ebay for $214.50. Below is the text from the back of the card translated to English by Google translator:
One movie has been enough for this fantastic artist was known universally. Son of a wealthy merchant born in Chicago in 1887, where he studied engineering. From child showed always a strong character and determined that led to the realization of their daring plans. I build armor-plating which was the reason of his only film prinicipal “Houdini and human tank”, which gave him much popularity.
It is of a nervous temperament, and among his numerous feats has made the climb in front of a “skyscraper” with the sole help of his feet and hands.
Now retired from filmmaking.
So now that it’s somewhat translated, what does this all mean? Your guess is as good as mine. My real interest in this card is actually the image of Houdini on the front. You see it is the same image that appears on the cover of The Grim Game Press Book and
The Terror Island Press Book:
