While doing some research on Burton King, who first directed Houdini in The Master Mystery (1918), I came across the following Moving Picture World, March 8, 1919 article that I found very interesting.
But wait a minute, shortly after The Master Mystery was released, Lasky approached Houdini with a contract. So looks like Houdini abandoned (postponed) forming an independent production company and signed a deal with Famous Players Lasky (FPL).
- Per Variety, in March 1919, Houdini was placed under contract by FPL), for a term beginning in May, (where he did the Grim Game).
- Then in September 1919, according to Motion Picture News, he signed a new contract to appear in feature films, starting with Terror Island (TI).
TI did $111,000 in the United States and $54,000 abroad. Probably because of those low grosses Lasky and Paramount decided not to invest any more time or money in Houdini. His contract for further films was not picked up.
What makes the Moving Picture World article particularly interesting, is that appears to be the precursor to what would become the Houdini Picture Corporation (HPC), an independent production company formed “to make feature films with the magician as star” where “Houdini will write his own stories, and will be directed by Burton King.” After FPL broke ties with Houdini following TI, he made two features (The Man From Beyond and Haldane of Secret Service) for the HPC with Burton King as the director.
Related:
It’s the headquarters in Washington DC that perplexes me. How does that make any sense? Maybe this was just a front for his SPY handler! :p
Houdini sure seemed to like King. But the guy was no great talent. Houdini really needed a filmmaker as a partner. You get a sense on the HPC stuff that no one involved had a feel for the art.
Lol, it’s definitely perplexing, which is what makes it so interesting, along with the timing of it and players involved.
Who was Christian Hemmick?
According to the Washington Post, Sunday January 18, 1920:
It was back in 1911 that Mrs. Alice Natalie Barney, the very wealthy widow of the late Albert Clifford Barney, and one of the leaders of Washington fashionable society, married Mr. Christian Hemmick in Paris. Mrs. Barney was then 57 years old – the bride-groom only 26. Young Mr. Hemmick had no wealth, but as Mrs. Barney put it, “he looked like a young Greek god.”
…
They went from Washington to New York and joined the upper bohemian stratum. Their apartment at the Hotel des Artistes was a center for actors and playwrights…There were held meetings of the directors of Actors and Authors Theater in which she was prominent. Her husband conceived a desire to own a play…
[Early in 1919] Mrs. Hemmick seriously considered obtaining a divorce. [About a year later, she astonished Washington society and announced her estrangement with him.]
Interesting! They sound like wannabe producers with more money than sense. They probably had a conversation with Houdini and decided they were in business and issued this press release. Meanwhile, Houdini was making a deal with the real thing (Lasky). I bet there was a fair amount of drinking going on at Hotel des Artistes! :p
FWIW, the news of the deal with FPL was announced right after the press release.