Houdini (1953) 6.7
The spectacular but tragically short career of magician and illusionist Harry Houdini whose tricks defied explanation and safety. Director:George Marshall |
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Houdini (1953) 6.7
The spectacular but tragically short career of magician and illusionist Harry Houdini whose tricks defied explanation and safety. Director:George Marshall |
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| 0Share... |
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Tony Curtis | ... | ||
| Janet Leigh | ... | ||
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Torin Thatcher | ... |
Otto
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Angela Clarke | ... |
Harry's Mother
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| Stefan Schnabel | ... |
German Prosecuting Attorney
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| Ian Wolfe | ... |
Malue
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Sig Ruman | ... |
Schultz
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| Michael Pate | ... |
Dooley
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Connie Gilchrist | ... |
Mrs. Shultz
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Malcolm Lee Beggs | ... |
British Jail Warden
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Frank Orth | ... |
Mr. Hunter
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Barry Bernard | ... |
Insp. Marlick
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Douglas Spencer | ... |
Simms
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The amazing career of master magician Harry Houdini is presented from his beginnings with a carnival "wild man" act to his emergence as an internationally-acclaimed illusionist, From his mysterious escape from a locked safe under the frozen Detroit River to dramatic one from a locked cell in Scotland Yard, he never failed to please his audience. Although Houdini's tricks are achieved through a marvelous physical dexterity and innate sleight-of-hand, he courted death with the hazardous illusions he performed and his compulsive quest to contact the spirit world. Written by duke1029@aol.com
A very enjoyable movie, though full of enough holes to occasionally provoke a snicker or two. Tony Curtis and his wife Janet Leigh performed all of the escapes in the movie, coached by professional magicians and escape artists. When I saw this movie as a kid, I got interested in escape routines-- I had my brothers tie me to a chair, which I escaped from two out of three times (I would have escaped from it the third time, but my mom saw me struggling to escape from her antique dining room chair and untied me). I bought 'escape' handcuffs, and then learned how to pick the lock in a pair of cheap handcuffs. When I was older, a magician friend of mine showed me two different types of strait jackets-- the magicians and a real one. He could escape from either-- I contented myself with the magician's version, which was no easy trick. I wonder which version Tony Curtis used in the movie?