By the early 1900s, the extraordinary Houdini earned an international reputation for his theatrical tricks and daring feats of extrication from shackles, ropes, handcuffs and... Scotland Yard's jails.
Il mago Houdini, Houdini le grand magicien, El gran Houdini, Houdini, der König des Varieté, Houdini, O Homem Miraculoso, 마술의 사나이, 胡迪尼传, Houdini - utbrytarkungen
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Tony Curtis stars as Harry Houdini in this biopic of the legendary escape artist and illusionist, following his struggles to rise to the top as well as his relationship with wife Bess (Janet Leigh).
In line with most of the Hollywood biographies made at this time the film doesn’t let the facts get in the way of a good story, taking the key events and changing a lot of the details to fit the story being shown.
I’m not too familiar with the details of Houdini’s life, but in this case the semi-factual approach actually fits well, matching its notoriously tricksy subject who was no stranger himself to bending the truth for effect. This approach is probably the way he…
Very slowly making my way through Tony Curtis's autobiography at the moment so thought it would be a good idea to visit some of his significant films that he mentions. This was one of his first leading roles and, while I am a sucker for a good film about magic, this was not a good film about magic. Overly talky and theatrical with some interesting set pieces that are obscured either by editing or mise-en-scene. Definitely glad he moved on to bigger and better things.
"People aren't going to stand in line to see me pull rabbits out of a hat." ~ Harry Houdini
Illusionist and stunt performer Harry Houdini (1874-1926) was born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary and came to the United States in 1878 with his mother and four brothers. He excelled at athletics as a teen and began his magic career in 1891, becoming widely known as "The Handcuff King." He was renowned for his miraculous escape acts, managing to find his way out of handcuffs, chains, straight jackets, prison cells, combination safes and even a casket while buried alive.
This film was the very first biopic of Houdini's life, based upon the 1928 book "Houdini, His Life Story" by Harold Kellock.…
What really made this movie worth watching was the chemistry between Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Given they were married at the time, the spark between them really felt genuine. I really don’t have a lot of knowledge about the real Houdini, so I have no idea how accurate this is. But when I was watching the fictionalized version of Houdini perform tricks, I did find myself wondering how he did some of those things. How did they accomplish the scene in the movie when Janet Leigh is suspended up in the air? With this, Murder Inc. and I’ll Cry Tomorrow, I don’t know why I have been wanting to watch movies based on true events lately. I like these…
A surprisingly strong classic Hollywood biopic, taking a look at the life and tricks of the great magician Harry Houdini. With Tony Curtis in the titular role, and Janet Leigh as his loving, often frustrated wife, you know going in that Houdini has star power. And boy do those stars shine. Their romantic chemistry is palpable; sweet, tender, strained when it needs to be. Curtis and Leigh alone are enough to make the film worth watching.
Fortunately, it’s also well-crafted enough to make for a compelling watch in its own right. The pacing is smooth, the set design and costuming is lavish, the cinematography pops with colour. Houdini’s constant tempting of death, and the strains it puts on his marriage, make for a genuinely tragic romantic core. Though may be a little cheesy in stretches, there really isn’t much to dislike about this one.
George Marshall’s biographical drama tells the spectacular but tragically short career of magician and illusionist Harry Houdini. Starring Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh and Torin Thatcher.
While working as a Coney Island performer, Harry Houdini (Tony Curtis) encounters and falls intensely in love with Bess (Janet Leigh). The two rapidly wed, and with her at his side, the magician starts his rise to reputation as the world's utmost escape artist and magician.
But as the seepages get increasingly hazardous, Bess fears that Harry may be overdoing his act. This factual look at the life of Houdini takes a number of liberties with the proofs, including how the magician essentially perished.
Tony Curtis gives a very good performance in his part as…
Nice enough film, reminiscent of the kind of thing I might have got sucked into watching while visiting my Grandparents. Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh are both great in their roles, their relationship is central to the film and their star power is what carries it. Curtis particularly is magnetically appealing. I read a biography of Houdini a couple of years ago, and of course this film strays far from the truth in places. However it was pleasing that Houdini's important relationship with his mother was recognised, and his time spent debunking mediums was also noted, which for me is the most interesting period of his life.
Where most biopics understandably feature omissions from their subjects lives, here events are…
George Marshall was something of a hack director and his Houdini reminded me strongly of his Perils of Pauline - a gorgeously designed fantasy for Paramount that presents the beginning of the twentieth century with colourful pizzazz but that renders scarcely a moment of its 'true story' credible. The only way to watch a biopic like this is to watch the pretty pictures and treat it as pure fantasy - and Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh are very pretty pictures indeed.
Thoroughly entertaining Technicolor biopic plays fast and loose with the facts, yet manages to capture something of the magical spirit of the famed illusionist and escape artist. It benefits considerably from the screen chemistry of married stars Curtis and Leigh. I first saw this when I was 9 and loved it—and it still holds up.
i was about an hour in when i realized this was about the guy houdini. im so smart ik
Best viewed as the film that could and should have made Tony Curtis an instant star—that would take a few more years yet, rather than the biopic it supposedly fashions itself as because it gets precious few things right about world famous magician and escapologist Harry Houdini, instead heavily fictionalising his life for convenience and entertainment purposes.
This is just your standard classic Hollywood biographical film—inaccurate, formulaic and superficial but also boosted by high production values and very watchable based on the talents of its stars and in this case, the vibrant Technicolour photography from Ernest Laszlo, capturing the period sets, props and costumes with prestigious flair, even if George Marshall's direction is mostly flat and theatrical. Curtis and Janet…
And now for my next trick I will make the next two hours of your life simply disappear.
