Category Archives: The Grim Game

Irvin Willat

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MUM AUG 1919 P15 HH HK IW

Irvin Willat was born on November 18, 1890 in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. He was a director and writer, known for The Grim Game (1919), The False Faces (1919) and Down Home (1920). He was married to Billie Dove. He died on April 17, 1976 in Santa Monica, California, USA.

NYPL Image 21665 GG HH AF IW

Candid Grim Game photo of Harry Houdini, Ann Forrest and Irvin Willat (Courtesy of NYPL, Image 21665)

 

Irvin Willat was the only man who could do better tricks and more tricks than Houdini.

He knew a good action scene when he saw one, and was the one cranking away steadily from a third plane, that caught the entire collision and the start of what looked like a fatal crash as the two Canucks spun earthward with Houdini’s stunt double, Robert E Kennedy, flying at the end of the rope like the tail on a doomed kite. Willat saw to it that the movie script was rewritten to take in the collision, and The Grim Game was finished accordingly.

houdini_movieIn a telegram to Willat, Houdini wrote, with some degree of exaggeration, “Grim Game opened today Broadway Theatre. Scored sensational success.  Its [sic] the talk of New York.  I am appearing in person and in my speech yours is the only name I mention.  Am giving you the biggest boost you ever had but you earned it.”

Sources:

  • Houdini’s High-Flying Hoax, by Art Ronnie, American Heritage April 1972
  • Irvin V. Willat, “Conversations with Irvin V. Willat,” interview by Robert S. Birchard, Film History 12, no. 1 (2000):38, paraphrasing a letter from Houdini.
  • Telegram from Houdini to Willat, August 26, 1919, Houdini biography file, Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, Beverly Hills, Calif.

Lookout Mountain in Laurel Canyon

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Last Sunday, some of my Houdini colleagues and I went on “The Haunted Houdini Tour” of Los Angeles conducted by Richard Carradine, a renowned ghost hunter.   See John Cox blog at Wild About Harry for a full report of the places we visited.

Lookout MountainWhile discussing Houdini’s movie career, Richard Carradine showed a photograph of the site of the former Lookout Mountain Inn, that is just West of Laurel Canyon.  On October 26, l9l8, disaster struck the Lookout Mountain and Laurel Canyon area when a fire, fanned by strong winds, burned about two hundred acres and totally destroyed the famous Lookout Mountain Inn.

Richard then displayed a movie still from the 1919 movie, The Grim Game, and compared it to the photograph above of Lookout Mountain.

HHC L302-84 Postcard

Based on his familiarity with the area and the photographic evidence, Richard suspects that the Grim Game still was taken at the site of the former Lookout Mountain Inn.

On the tour, I confirmed his suspicion. That is, a plane had been positioned on the brow of Lookout Mountain so that, once inside, Houdini could be photographed against the sky as if in flight.

THE GRIM GAME Cinema Trade Promotion (Stills 298-54 and 298-63)

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Last week I posted a snippet of an article by Bayard Grimshaw about THE STUDENT AND THE BLOW from Abracadabra Magazine Saturday 23rd March 1974.   This week, in honor of the Oscars, I thought I would share a Grim Game photo that was used in that same special edition of Abracadabra Magazine:

GG cinema trade photo 001

This came from a sheet issued to the Cinema Trade to promote The Grim Game Movie in 1919.

The bottom image is from still 298-54 .

Mary [Ann Forrest] is visiting Houdini at the jail to let him know that hoax is going according to plan.  The guard then gives them contrary news:  “They found the body [Cameron] in the old well – poor place to hide it.  Guess your trial will be a short one”.  Houdini smiles and voices his doubt.  The guard tells them he is not joking…Gradually the truth of the matter that Cameron is really dead is forced home on Houdini and Mary.  Houdini tells Mary to go see the others and tell them to explain the hoax and have him released. [scenes 212-225 Paraphrased from Paramount Files at Margaret Herrick Library]

And the top image is from still 298-63 and is part of the sequence where Houdini escapes from the jail after Mary leaves.  See the following earlier post for details:

Number 46 of top movies in 1919

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Houdini The Movie Star Back Cover46. The Grim Game

Year:1919,Director:Irvin Willat
Cast:Tully Marshall, Arthur Hoyt, Thomas Jefferson, Harry Houdini, Ann Forrest, Augustus Phillips

According to movielist,

The Grim Game comes in at number 46 of top 50 movies in 1919:

The Grim Game comes in at number 4 of top 8 Irvin Willat (Director) movies:

The Grim Game does not make the top 50 Tully Marshall (Actor) Movies:

•             http://www.movieslist.in/actor-actress/tully-marshall/films#

The Grim Game comes in at number 34 of top 50 Arthur Hoyt (Actor) movies:

The Grim Game comes in at number 7 of top Thomas Jefferson (Actor) movies:

•             http://www.movieslist.in/actor-actress/thomas-jefferson/films#

And The Grim Game comes in at number 1 of top Harry Houdini movies according to Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence.

What is Houdini’s Greatest Stunt on Screen?

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Care to take a guess?

1920 03 20 The Picture Show Image 1

During an half an hour interview, Houdini was asked the following question:

WHAT do you consider the greatest stunt you have done for the screen?

“ Another incident in the same picture,” answered Houdini.

“ I stood in the archway of a prison, thus –“ Here he took up a crouching position, in the corner of the room, and enacted the whole thing for my benefit.  “ A heavily loaded jerry, going at twenty-two or -four miles an hour rolled by me.  I threw myself on the ground, completely rolling over between the fast revolving fore and hind wheels over and over, till I caught the transmission bar, and hung there for very dear life! Thus was I carried to the aid of the heroine.  Though my words may not convey very much, this was my greatest stunt.  It allowed of no rehearsals – I said to the camera-man, ‘Get this now or never!’  And had I made the slightest false move I should have been crippled for life, if not killed ”.  [The Picture Show, March 20, 1920 p19]

Here is another account of the incident.

Here is another great stunt from the Grim Game.

Related:

The Prison/Truck stunt(s) sound amazing, as does the Strait-Jacket/Awning/Wall stunt(s). For me, I need to see the movie to decide which one is the greatest stunt.

Special Thanks to Bill Mullins who shared with me the “Half-An-Hour with Houdini” Interview and photo from The Picture Show Magazine.

1920 Kinema Comic Insert

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1920 Kinema Comic InsertThis is a large paper insert issue given away with comics.  It measures 212mm x 103mm.

The writing at the bottom of the card reads:

Paramount-Artcraft
Presented with No. 3 of the Kinema Comic, May 8th, 1920.
HOUDINI
The Handcuff King

Note: Paramount-Artcraft was the picture company that made “The Grim Game”.  The Handcuff King image on the card is from still L302-55:

HHCE L302-55 11x14

According to Arthur Moses, the British Boys weekly “The Kinema Comic” ran a serial “The Amazing Exploits of Houdini” (“Written by Houdini Himself” – or so it says) and always began on page 6 and continued on to others.  These were tales of pure fiction with maybe 2% fact thrown in. The weekly serials began with the v1n1 April 24, 1920 issue.

Harold Kellock says in his book “Houdini His Life-Story” (1928) that “The Kinema Comic” serial ran for seven years.

2005-09-007

An Amazing Magical Work of Art

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The following amazing magical work of art that was estimated to sell between $1,200/$1,500 just sold yesterday at Potter & Potter Auctions for the starting bid of $600.00.  Congratulations to the winner.  BTW, I was the winner.

Houdini Grim Game Limited Edition 1 of 10

366. Houdini, Harry. Grim Game Dimensional Giclée Print. American, 2006. By Dave Avanzino. Number 1 from a signed and numbered edition of 10. Recreating a three-dimensional version of the color lithograph advertising Houdini’s silent film, The Grim Game. Handsomely framed to an overall size of 18 ¼ x 24 ¼”. Signed and numbered by the artist. Fine condition.

This artwork originally debuted at the Los Angeles Conference on Magic History in November of 2007 with remaining pieces offered to the rest of the magic community via ads in magic magazines like Genii (e.g., Vol 71 Issue 3 and 5). The listing price in the ads was $1200 each.

Mixed Media and famed Disney Artist David Avanzino used this beautiful rich piece to create a unique dimensional scene where the characters seem to come alive and float in space.  Each element has been hand cut by the artist and, after painting the edges of each piece, he assembled them in a shadow box of amazing dimensionality.

The classic poster image was reproduced from the library of Nielson Magic Posters with their permission.  All of their posters are scanned directly on 1:1 proportion from the original.

Houdini in “The Grim Game” – aka Houdini Believes in Reincarnation (Ad 4 of 4)

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Yesterday, I posted ad 3 of 4 from page 5 of a local newspaper in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Here is ad number 4:

Fort Wayne Indiana 19 Oct 1919 Ad 4Double-click image above to enlarge for easier reading..

For More Information on Houdini’s beliefs in reincarnation, I recommend the following: