Houdini (film)

Houdini is a 1953 biographical film about the life of the magician and escapologist Harry Houdini. It was made by Paramount Pictures, directed by George Marshall and produced by George Pal from a screenplay by Philip Yordan, based on the book Houdini by Harold Kellock. The music score was by Roy Webb and the cinematography by Ernest Laszlo. The art direction was by Albert Nozaki and Hal Pereira and the costume design by Edith Head.

The film details a highly fictional account of Harry Houdini's life. The film follows his most dangerous stunts and magic tricks along with his love Bess Houdini.

The death of the magician is depicted in the film as a failure to escape the Chinese Water Torture Cell; in real life Houdini died of peritonitis due to being punched in the stomach.

Plot

In the 1890s, young Harry Houdini is performing with a Coney Island carnival as Bruto, the Wild Man, when Bess, a naive onlooker, tries to protect him from the blows of Schultz, his "trainer." Harry then appears as magician The Great Houdini and, spotting Bess in the audience, invites her on stage. Harry flirts with the unsuspecting Bess during his act, but she flees from him in a panic. When Bess shows up to watch Harry perform two more times, however, he corners her. Bess admits her attraction, and soon after, the two appear at Harry's mother's house, newly married. Bess becomes Harry's onstage partner, touring the country with him, but soon grows tired of the low pay and grueling...
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