Death Defying Acts (2007)

On a tour of Britain in 1926, Harry Houdini enters into a passionate affair with a psychic out to con the famous magician.

Director:

Gillian Armstrong

Writers:

Tony Grisoni, Brian Ward

Stars:

Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Timothy Spall

3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Guy Pearce	...	Harry Houdini
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Mary McGarvie
Timothy Spall	...	Sugarman
Saoirse Ronan	...	Benji McGarvie
Malcolm Shields	...	Leith Romeo
Leni Harper	...	Leith Romeo's wife
Ralph Riach	...	Mr. Robertson
Olivia Darnley	...	Flower Stall Seller
Anthony O'Donnell	...	Oily Librarian
Billy McColl	...	McTavish
James Holmes	...	Ugly Mug
Melanie Harris	...	Rose (as Frankey Martyn)
Aileen O'Gorman	...	Effie - Elderly Seamstress
Raymond Griffiths	...	Music Hall Dwarf
Shaun Mason	...	Heckler

Storyline

During Harry Houdini's tour of Britain in 1926, the master escapologist enters into a passionate affair with a Scottish psychic. The psychic and her daughter attempt to con Houdini during a highly publicized séance to contact his mother whose death has haunted him for many years. However all does not go to plan...

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Plot Keywords:

psychic | scottish | death | edinburgh scotland | lock | 

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Taglines:

Love is inescapable.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some sensuality, thematic material, language, violent content and smoking

Details

Country:

UK Australia

Language:

English Hungarian

Release Date:

13 March 2008 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Death Defying Acts: Houdini's Secret

Filming Locations:

Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,561 (USA) (11 July 2008)

Gross:

$3,561 (USA) (11 July 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), Myriad Pictures, BBC Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The opening scene reveals the partially built arches of the Sydney Harbour Bridge behind Houdini as he is lifted to the surface of the water. Houdini died in 1926. Construction of the arches did not commence until 1928.

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Connections

Referenced in Lockout (2012)

User Reviews

A Satisfying Mixture of Fact Embellished with Fiction

Gillian Armstrong makes fine movies: she is a director who knows how to tell stories and enhance what appears on the surface to be reality with a healthy dose of fantasy. Her sense of pacing and image creation adds substance to her tales that sometimes border on bizarre.

DEATH DEFYING ACTS uses the character of Harry Houdini as the stimulus of to tell a story about the folk of Edinburgh, Scotland at a time when stage shows were embraced much the way America was using vaudeville - an escape from the rather dreary state of living to a world of entertainment and love of magic. Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan) survive in Edinburgh by picking pockets not merely for cash but for information to use in their act in the little theaters. Mary does exotic dances then uses her 'gifts' to see into the 'other world' of people in the audience ( Benji does the investigative work and is the prompter for the séance like acts Mary performs). Their idol is Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) and when they learn Houdini is coming to Edinburgh to 'perform', they discover Houdini is promising $10,000 to anyone who can prove they have the ability to look into the future (or past). Houdini's manager Sugarman (Timothy Spall) arranges Houdini's water tank escape acts and other acts of 'magic', and when Mary and Benji arrange to meet Houdini, Sugarman is aware they are charlatans. How Mary and Benji work their way into Houdini's belief system and love life with their con game forms the meat of the sparing.

The atmosphere of the film is well captured by cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos who understands who to balance the mire of the streets of 1926 Edinburgh with the gorgeous fantasies used during Houdini's escape acts. The musical score by Cezary Skubiszewski is a terrific mixture of Scottish tunes and instruments with solid melodramatic mood music. Pearce, Zeta-Jones, Spall and Ronan turn in excellent performances. This is an unjustly overlooked film that, while not being a masterpiece, serves up a fine story well told. Grady Harp