Magician Harry Kellar, Harry Houdini, and director Irvin Willat on the set of The Grim Game (1919). Photo: Paramount/Arthur Moses Collection
Click the links below to find out more about the Grim Game that hasn’t been publicly seen in years.
Links: See Silent Film that Escapes from Obscurity
Great articles Joe! They describe the film as 35mm nitrate print but you can see from the inspection photo that it’s actually 16mm. TCM is one of my go to channels when I watch cable TV. Late last night they aired two of my favorite films: Planet of the Apes and Easy Rider back to back. Talk about tripping into outer space…
HH looks content with a bit of swagger in this photo. And who can blame him? A film career on the upswing, and the Dean of magic visiting him on the film set. The film career and the Dean would be gone in a few short years…
Sad but true about the film career and the Dean. WRT to 35mm vs 16mm, there are definitely some inaccuracies in these articles. For example, I would not call this a lost film and it has been shown a number of times in the 70s and 80s.
It seems-like someone in Brooklyn likes the Kellar photo too. They have it on Ebay for $4.99 a pop. SMH
I saw that and had the same reaction.
It happened to me so many times, I finally had to start adding text to my images.
It’s a shame, but understandable. We definitely appreciate collectors like you and Arthur Moses sharing your images. I was lucky enough to see the original Kellar image above in person.