Product Description

Tony Curtis gives a winning performance as the great Houdini, the struggling circus performer who emerged as the world s most captivating magician and escape artist. From his beginnings as a wild man carnival act to the internationally famous feat of escaping from a locked trunk in an ice-jammed river, Houdini effectively captures the amazing life and courage of this fascinating man. Also stars the beautiful Janet Leigh as Houdini s supportive wife who lovingly stood by his side throughout his legendary career.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9972 in DVD
• Brand: LEGEND FILMS
• Released on: 2008-06-03
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, NTSC, Closed-captioned
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 5.00 pounds
• Running time: 107 minutes

Features

• Tony Curtis gives a winning performance as the great Houdini, the struggling circus performer who emerged as the world's most captivating magician and escape artist. From his beginnings as a "wild man" carnival act to the internationally famous feat of escaping from a locked trunk in an ice-jammed river, Houdini effectively captures the amazing life and courage of this fascinating man.

Amazon.com
Tony Curtis will amaze and astound you with one of his best performances as Harry Houdini, "the man of 10,000 tricks." Houdini has nothing up its sleeve, but the charismatic Curtis and Janet Leigh ("Hollywood’s Most Exciting Young Lovers," proclaims the film’s original trailer, the sole bonus feature on this disc), as Houdini’s wife, Bess, levitate this conventional, albeit enormously entertaining 1953 biopic that follows the legendary magician and escape artist from his days as a sideshow attraction to international stardom. Houdini dedicates his life to giving audiences "bigger and bigger thrills," and the film’s best scenes recreate Houdini’s act and death-defying escapes, including a harrowing plunge into the frozen Detroit River while locked in a trunk. Houdini’s fate is well-known, and while the film plays loose with the facts, it does conjure up an eerie foreboding by the time he takes the stage for his final, ill-fated Halloween performance. After Houdini’s first strait-jacket escape, an elderly magician urges him, "It’s isn’t a trick. Drop it. It will make you famous, but it will kill you." At long last available on DVD, Houdini is old fashioned movie magic that’s no trick and all treat.--Donald Liebenson

Review
Harry Houdini has always been a favorite subject, for both fictional films and documentaries. The entertainer and escape artist (1868-1926) transcended his craft to become a genuine superstar of the early 20th century. His insatiable curiosity about life's mysteries and man's physical limits would later develop into an obsession with spirituality. Producer George Pal's 1953 Houdini is organized along the lines of a musical biography, except that songs and music are replaced with Harry's miraculous escapes. The show holds up very well today, especially as nostalgia for its stars Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, at that time Hollywood's darling newlywed couple.

Carnival 'ape man' Harry Houdini (Tony Curtis) has ambitions to become a stage magician, even though audiences are unimpressed by standard magic tricks. He falls in love with and marries Bess (Janet Leigh), but she tires of life on the road with unappreciative audiences and gets him to take a normal job. Harry returns to the stage not as a magician but as an escape artist. Flashy publicity stunts escaping from strait-jackets and locked safes soon make Houdini an international sensation. Magic specialist Malue (Ian Wolfe) encourages Harry to find an elusive escape artist named Von Schwager, who, rumor has it, can dematerialize himself through mental concentration. Harry does hire Otto, Von Swager's assistant (Torin Thatcher) to help him devise ever more ingenious escape stunts. After his mother (Angela Clark) dies Harry becomes interested in the possibility of communicating with the dead, and takes a break from performing. His investigations uncover fraudulent mediums and other spiritualism scams. When Houdini returns to the stage, Bess worries that her husband is taking unnecessary risks to maintain his personal legend.

Houdini is an excellent example of a biography that remains true to the spirit of an historical character even as it fictionalizes most of the facts of his life, including his demise. The script by the prolific Philip Yordan pays homage to the mystique of Harry Houdini, a man who had half the world believing he possessed supernatural powers.

[] Tony Curtis's experience as an amateur magician surely gave him a leg up on the role. Half the fun of Houdini is watching the charming Curtis and Janet Leigh interact on screen; the movie is practically a Valentine to their romance. George Marshall's unfussy direction gives the couple plenty of opportunity to shine. The Technicolor show makes good use of limited sets, suggesting rather than showing that tens of thousands of New Yorkers are watching Harry dangle from the top of a ten-story building. The work of the same design and effects experts from George Pal's science fiction classics is visible as well. One clever matte shot makes a bridge over the dry Los Angeles riverbed appear to span a snow-swept, frozen Northeastern river.

Legend Films' DVD of Houdini is an acceptable but imperfect transfer of Paramount's Technicolor original, made from an Eastman composite element. The red matrix is imperfectly aligned for much of the movie, resulting in rather wide red terminators and haloes around bright parts of the image, such as Harry's white tuxedo shirt. Although not bad enough to spoil the experience -- the flaw is not obtrusive for most of the film -- image purists will not be pleased. Savant recommends the disc anyway, as a full film restoration of this commercially marginal title would cost millions.

The aspect ratio is a standard 1:33, a shape borne out by the text blocks in the film's title sequence. Legend has included the original trailer as an extra. --Glenn Erickson of DVDSavant.com

Customer Reviews

"Houdini" finally materializes, on DVD!
Finally this cinematic treasure comes to DVD. While sometimes not historically accurate, it does portray a young Ehrich Weiss and his passion for the art of escapism & illusion and his love for his wife Bess. Real life husband and wife couple, Tony Curtis & Janet Leigh are more than convincing as "The Great Houdini" and his stage assistant.

This delightful film will bring enjoyment to legions of fans of old like myself as well as a cursory enlightenment of Harry Houdini for newer generations.

Filmed in 1953, "Houdini" is presented in Technicolor with an Aspect Ratio of 1.37:1. A very family friendly movie, recommended without reservation.

A Long Time Coming
Remembering this movie as a child and finally it has made it to DVD. What took the studio so long? I am sure that I am not the only person asking that question? Although not true to the real life of Houdini the film is a fun and entertaining piece of work that at times will keep you fixed to the screen. Giving it a five star rating and suggesting that it be watched by all members of the family so that a new generation of people can enjoy its magic.

Enjoy it for the acting & theatrics, but not for its accuracy
This film is a very enjoyable if not completely accurate rendition of Harry Houdini's life. Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, young and in love in real life, do a great job of playing Harry and Bess Houdini. An amateur magician himself, Curtis gives a great performance in the first really good role of his career. There will be many to come. What's accurate about this film? Most of the escapes shown in the film such as when Houdini allowed himself to be hung upside down outside of a tall building while confined in a strait jacket, his offering and succeeding to escape from any pair of handcuffs that his audiences could produce, and his decision to go through with being locked in a box submerged in water while he himself is bound in chains.

What's inaccurate in the film? It's more a matter of what is omitted. The film does mention Houdini's running battle with spiritualists. What it doesn't mention is Houdini's tiff with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle over the whole issue. The depth and length of this disagreement is considerable, though, and it's understandable that in a film not of documentary length that it had to be left out.

Sadly enough, the film has only a trailer as an extra feature.
A commentary track, an actual documentary, or even - if it was possible - to include the excellent 1976 made-for-TV film "The Great Houdini" with Paul Michael Glaser in the title role would have made for a better package. That 70's version of Houdini's life gives more details about what made the man tick, even if there is something about its atmosphere that transports one back to the days of disco. At any rate, when it comes to classics from Paramount, I'll take them any way I can get them.