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 the owner know I was an expert on Houdini Films, and got permission for me to review and comment on the two reels.
It turns out, I had seen these two Pathe reels at a Houdini Nuts gathering at the Magic Castle last year, but at the time was not allowed to describe what I saw, nor study the films.
Well, thanks to D&D, and the owner of the footage, I can now share what’s on them.
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. 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.
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 may have been living at the time). 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.
But Reel 2 is a different story.
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?
The Man From Beyond (TMFB)
This footage is not the one from TMFB, nor is it from The Grim Game (TGG).
Although TMFB had an escape where Houdini freed himself from bedsheets, then used the bedsheets to scale down the building.
And 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.
All of this said, this footage on reel 2 has never appeared on any known Houdini movie, nor documentary for that matter. Incredible!
Thoughts?
Special Thanks to D&D and the owner for allowing me to review and comment on this footage.
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