The photo below is my rendition of what Ann Forrest might look like riding a motorcycle:
Scene 325 of The Grim Game takes place on a mountain road where we see Mary (Ann Forrest) riding in on a motorcycle. After riding a long distance, the road is too rough for Mary to go any farther. She stops and gets off of the motorcycle and proceeds quickly up a path. [Paraphrased from files at Margaret Herrick Library]
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:
Let’s Elope?
This photo (Still 298-80) appeared in a Swedish Program [HHCE Collection] and a Danish Program [Arthur Moses Collection] for the Grim Game.
So what is going on in this photo?
Harvey Hanford (HH) calls at the Cameron home and finds Mary Cameron (Ann Forrest) in the garden. HH and Mary are sitting on a rustic bench. To her he explains the great newspaper scoop he hopes to put over which will make it easier for them to elope. Mary is quite enthusiastic over her lover’s attempt to land a big story and agrees with the plans. Their plans all arranged, HH kisses Mary good night. [Paraphrased from files at Margaret Herrick Library]
The image above is the front and back of card #38 from Houdini: The World’s First Superhero” cards. And once again the image on the right (back of card) is
misidentified. But instead of misidentifying the actress as Gloria Swanson like William Kalush and Larry Sloman did on page 360 of their book, The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of Americas First Super Hero; the card misidentifies the actress as Marguerite Marsh. Close, but no cigar. The actress is not Gloria Swanson or Marguerite Marsh, but Ann Forrest (Houdini’s co-star) from the Grim Game. Houdini did spend time with Gloria Swanson on the Lasky set, but was never in a movie with her. See my blog Harry gets cozy with a young Gloria Swanson (and Ann Forrest) at Lasky Studios. Houdini also cozied up with Margaret Marsh when he made the serial The Master Mystery. As the card above points out, Margaret Marsh played Eva Brent, the imperiled damsel in distress in the Master Mystery.
Houdini cozies up to Marguerite Marsh in The Master Mystery
For some time now, I have been intrigued by John’s blog at Wild About Harry titled: LIFE photos reveal cut wing walking sequence in 1953 Houdini biopic. So last year, I decided to go to the Margaret Herrick Library Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in search of the Lost Plane to Plane Transfer. I got to look at the press book, stills, newspaper clippings, and a number of different versions of scripts for the 1953 movie starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.
Unfortunately, there were no plane photos/footage, nor any mention of the plane to plane transfer in any of the versions of the script that I read.
However, I did discover the mention of the plane transfer buried in some production 11495 department records:
Apparently, on October 21, 1952, it was listed as Montage number 5 of 6 montages:
Note: Montages 4, 5 and 6 did not make the cut, but montages 1, 2, and 3 did appear in the movie.
It was still listed as a Plane Transfer montage on a production call sheet dated: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31st, 1952, along with the Needle Trick, Levitation, Bullet thru Woman, and Cremation montage. Also, the Milk Can shows up for the first time on this call sheet as a montage, but the canon montage is missing on the call sheet. Note: The Milk Can did not make the cut, either.
Also, on a RETAKES AND MONTAGES sheet dated 10/31/52 there is a brief description of a plane transfer shot taken on 10/31/52 that read as follows:
The RETAKES AND MONTAGES sheet also included a brief description of montage shots for the Canon, Cremation, Milk Can and others (e.g., Bullet thru Woman, needle trick, levitation, card tricks).
In reading the scripts and shooting schedule for the movie, discovered some other illusions/routines that did not make the final cut: IRON MAIDEN ILLUSION, ELEPHANT ROUTINE, PAPER BAG ESCAPE, WINDMILL ESCAPE, CARETTE ESCAPE, FOOTBALL ESCAPE, and BURIED ALIVE ESCAPE.
Although there were no photos of the plane transfer, there were some LIFE photos of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis performing the Cremation Illusion and the Bullet thru Woman Illusion. Also, there were a couple LIFE photos of Janet Leigh escaping from a
see-thru lace straight jacket which unfortunately didn’t make it in the movie. And, there were two official Paramount Picture Corporation stills, 11495-43 and 11495-78 that showed the cremation illusion and the milk can escape respectively.
In future related blogs, I plan to describe some correspondence WRT trying to locate original Houdini material (e.g. handcuffs, Milk Can, Overboard box, Book of Life illusion, and Water Torture Cell) for use in the 1953 movie. As well as describe in more detail some of the montage escapes and illusion sequences that didn’t make the cut. I also plan to do a blog on what Harry Houdini and Tony Curtis have in common?
Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence (HHCE) Wishes You All a HAPPY NEW YEAR And Invites You to the GREATEST THRILLER EVER FILMED! HOUDINI in “THE GRIM GAME”:
The evening herald. (Albuquerque, N.M.), January 01, 1920, Page 4, Image 4
2012 has come and gone. Now it’s time for our New Year’s Resolutions.
In 2013, HHCE will continue its mission statement and purpose for this blog site:
I am also planning on doing a number of series (in no particular order) on the Grim Game:
In addition to the Grim Game, I may include some posts on Houdini and his other movies.
I hope 2013 is a great year for everyone!
2012 was an amazing year for Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence (HHCE) for a number of reasons:
Got to see most of the Grim Game and its exciting escape sequences at the Margaret Herrick Library:
Discovered some amazing Grim Game advertisements:
Got to meet some Houdini icons (Subject Matter Experts) in person:
HHCE had the most Grim Game links on Facebook:
Got mentioned numerous times by John Cox at his Wild About Harry blog:
Got mentioned by Kevin Connolly at his Houdini Himself blog:
And last but not least, HHCE acquired a number of amazing ads, brochures, and cards from the Grim Game.
In a couple of days (i.e., January 1st, 2013), I will post plans for HHCE in 2013.
Here is a Christmas present from our friend Kevin Connolly at Houdini Himself:
Kevin Connolly Collection
See the Grim Game on Christmas Day and the Day after.
Happy Holidays!
This photo (Still 298-7) is one of 5 photos that appeared in a 1920 Cinema Chat Ad for The Grim Game. It is also the image that was used to make the following 11×14 lobby card which one sold for $956 at 2010 November Beverly Hills Movie Poster Auction #7029.
So what is going on in this photo? The description for the lobby card at auction read as follows:
Harry Houdini is manacled and about to be thrown in “the strongest cell.” But everyone who followed the top escapologist career, knew what was coming next! Note that Houdini, ever the alert showman has pulled his coat sleeves up to reveal the cuffs clearly and visibly outlined against his bare skin, so as to preclude any “trickery.” This is exactly as he performed it many times on stages throughout the world.
The bacon number for Houdini can be calculated by typing: “bacon number houdini” in Google.
In September, iTricks posted that Harry Houdini’s Bacon number is 4 and that the Houdini/Bacon bridge was Arthur Hoyt:
Note: Author Hoyt played Dr. Tyson in The Grim Game.
Three months later, Harry Houdini’s Bacon number is still 4, but the Houdini/Bacon bridge is now Tully Marshall according to Google:
Note: Tully Marshall played Richard Raver in The Grim Game.
Any way you look at it, The Grim Game is the bridge between Houdini and Kevin Bacon.
I also want to give a shout out to Kevin Connolly and John Cox/iTricks for the following related Houdini/Bacon posts: