Overview of great houdinis, the, 1976, directed by melville shavelson, with paul michael glaser, sally ann struthers, ruth gordon, at turner classic movies. It makes the reader understand what kind of a person houdini really was, not just as a great magician, but as a human being. The film portrays a less public side of houdinis life, profiling the confrontational. It seals off the compound, trapping the crew inside. A biography of the renowned escape artist harry houdini, examining his fascination with the occult and his promise to his wife on her deathbed. Houdini had one made just large enough to hold him tightly folded in a fetal position. Reprising the role of minnie castavet in the made for tv frightflick look whats happened to rosemarys baby 1976 and played the devouring jewish mother cecilia weiss in the television movie the great houdini 1976. The great houdini i harry houdini was one of the most famous magicians of all time. Anyone who has spent any time reading this blog knows i have a bit of a thing for the 1976 abc tv movie, the great houdinis. Studiously avoiding covering the same ground as the 1953 houdini theatricalfilm biopic, director mel shavelsons script for great houdinis spends a great deal of time on the conflict between harrys catholic wife bess and his jewish mother. The great houdini library binding december 1, 1976 by anne edwards author.
With paul michael glaser, sally struthers, ruth gordon, vivian vance. I remember watching this movie on tv back in the 70s. The series stars adrien brody as harry houdini and features the life of the legendary illusionist and escape artist from poverty to worldwide fame. I found houdini, that is, the great houdini, by beryl williams and samuel epstein, published in 1951 and sadly out of print, in a usedbook store and bought it for twentyfive cents. It was his first us tv movie, broadcast on october 8 1976. If you are a houdini fan or a tony curtis fan, do yourself a favor and watch this great movie. This book tells the story of houdinis life and reveals some of the secrets to his greatest tricks. Magician extraordinary, written by beryl williams and samuel epstein, is a biography on harry houdini, the great handcuff king and magician. A computer at a nuclear power plant malfunctions and receives erroneous information of a radiation leak. Who would of thought all the things that houdini really did do. The park complex also contains the hurricane harbor water park in 2012, six flags combined great adventure park with the wild safari area to form a single 475acre theme park. Bronzecolored finish exquisitely and meticulously detailed with darkened highlights.
This biographical movie depicts the youth of the magician harry houdini 1874 1926. The great houdini library binding december 1, 1976. Finally he joined up with his father in new york city. It stresses the years of persistence, in the face of rejection and hard work, it took for him to create his stardom. Six flags management said during a super fan call that houdini s great escape was slated to be open memorial day through labor day during the 2010 season. Six flags great adventure is a theme park in jackson township, new jersey, united states. Starring paul michael glaser, sally struthers, ruth gordon, adrienne barbeau, bill bixby and vivian vance. The family was poor, and ehrich left home in order to work when he was 12.
Jan 23, 2020 harry houdini remains one of the most famous magicians in history. The life and afterlife of harry houdini by joe posnanski, hardcover. Made for television, the great houdinis tells the life story of famed american illusionistescapeartist harry houdini and his wife bess. The great houdini is a 1976 american madefor television biographical film which is a fictionalized account of the life of the. Release dates 1 also known as aka 10 release dates usa 8 october 1976. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but houdini died on. Rick appraises a letter allegedly written and signed by helen keller, a 19th century telescope, and a straitjacket used. The acclaimed actor and musician goes deep on androids, ufos, and the films she studied for season 2 of homecoming. February 19, 2019 the rarely shown 1976 tv biopic the great houdinis will air on talking pictures tv in the uk this thursday, february 21, at 1. Buckets of water were poured into the can, followed by houdini himself.
The hitpta auditionsdaughters of houdini carol burnett and friends. But the filming of this movie has always been a mystery until now. I love this movie and probably have watched it 15 times in my life, and i never get tired of watching it. Maybe thats because it aired during the first year of my burgeoning interest in houdini. Although houdini could do card tricks and traditional magic acts, he was most famous for his ability to escape from what seemed like anything and everything, including ropes, handcuffs, straightjackets, jail cells, waterfilled milk cans, and even nailedshut boxes that had been thrown into a river.
The hitpta auditionsdaughters of houdini metacritic. I am a huge adrian brody fan and watch anything he is in. Peter cushing filmed his small role in 4 days may 12 15 1976 after completing his scenes for star wars. Grimaldi, where he learned the tricks of a magician and a little mystery from his indian assistant, too. The films tracks the great magicians rise to fame in the early 1900s, his smashing success in london where he befriends author arthur conan doyle, and his ultimate demise in 1926. Escape the story of the great houdini by sid fleischman. Melville shavelson with paul michael glaser, sally struthers, ruth gordon, adrienne barbeau, bill bixby, vivian vance, jack carter, peter cushing, barbara rhoades. A biography of the renowned escape artist harry houdini, examining his fascination with the occult and his deathbed promise to his wife that he would speak from the beyond. As a boy his name was eric weiss and his father wanted him to become a locksmith.
May 12 15 1976 after completing his scenes for star wars. The first pictures show houdini as greek god, but when houdini finally escapes, he looks unexpectedly tired and very human. The great houdini tv movie 1976 the great houdini tv. This book tells the story of houdini s life and reveals some of the secrets to his greatest tricks. Feb 23, 2010 starsky, hutch and huggy bear reunite but it gets a little awkward for holly. The great houdinis 1976 torn between his wife sally struthers and mother ruth gordon, escape artist harry houdini paul michael glaser becomes obsessed with the occult. The park complex also contains the hurricane harbor water park.
Driven and disciplined, houdini constantly pushed his physical limits to accomplish feats of strength that amazed all. Hand made and sculptured in the united states by joseph juneau exclusively for houdini magic shops. Posts about the great houdini 1976 written by monstergirl. The film was written and directed by melville shavelson and features paul michael glaser starsky and hutch and sally struthers all in the family and originally aired on abc on october 8, 1976. One thing not generally known is that the great houdinis was in a race with a rival houdini movie at nbc called the heart is quicker than the eye. Six flags great adventure simple english wikipedia, the. Dec 31, 2011 this is the original abc promo for the great houdinis starring paul michael glaser and sally struthers. In 2012, six flags combined great adventure park with the wild safari area to form a single 475acre theme park. At the age of 12, young ehrich left home to make his way in the world in an attempt to help support his family. Rick appraises a letter allegedly written and signed by helen keller, a 19th century telescope, and a straitjacket used by harry houdini during a 1915 performance. Studiously avoiding covering the same ground as the 1953 houdini theatricalfilm biopic, director mel shavelsons script for great houdinis spends a great deal of time on the conflict between. Weiss, peter cushing as conan doyle, jack carter as houdinis brother, adrienne barbeau as his. This movie had some good actors like michael glaser who did a fantastic job playing houdini. Houdini is a twopart, fourhour history channel event miniseries written by nicholas meyer and directed by uli edel.
The spiritualism angle so important to the houdini story. Paul michael glaser and geoffrey lewis in the great houdini 1976 paul michael. Harry houdini was a hungarianborn american illusionist and stunt performer. This story also relates well with the movie,the great houdinis that was made in the 70s.
But he ran away and joined the traveling show of dr. The great houdini tv movie 1976 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. The series stars adrien brody as harry houdini and features the life of the. Feb 26, 2010 abc 1976 starsky and hutch the great houdini pt 8. March 24, 1874 october 31, 1926 was a hungarianborn american illusionist and stunt performer, noted for his sensational escape acts. You wouldnt think adrien brody would play houdini well being one is tall and thin and houdini was a shorter brick house. The film was written and directed by melville shavelson and features paul michael glaser starsky and hutch and sally struthers all in the family and originally aired on abc on. A biography of the renowned escape artist harry houdini, examining his fascination with the occult and his promise to his wife on her deathbed that he would speak from the beyond. Houdinis great escape, also known as boodini during fright fest and houdini the great escape at six flags new england, is a dark indoor vekoma madhouse attractions located at six flags great adventure and six flags new england. An extremely well made tvmovie directed by melville shavelson and starring paul michael glaser as harry houdini. Houdinis current and past exploits are astounding, but uncle ezra reminds sam that houdini calls them secrets, not tricks. A biography of the renowned escape artist harry houdini, examining his fascination with.
He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the us and then as harry handcuff houdini on a tour of europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Ruth gordon started to get more regular film and television roles. This is the movie that to me shows tony curtis at his best. Young ehrich traveled the country for about a year, always sending money home when he could. Not only does it have an amazing cast, but what at the time seemed to be steamy confection of fictionalization has over the years turned out to be fact such as houdinis affair with daisy white and bessies alcoholism. He claimed to have been born in appleton, wisconsin, but his birthplace was actually budapest, hungary. For the full behind the scenes story about the making of this. Nov 29, 2009 the great houdinis 1976 for my money, the best houdini biopic is the 1976 made for tv movie, the great houdinis. The ride opened early on may 22, 2010 and although the ride was planned to be closed on labor day, the park decided to keep the ride open past the planned closure date. The great houdini is a 1976 american madefortelevision biographical film which is a fictionalized account of the life of the hungarianamerican escape artist and entertainer harry houdini. The film was written and directed by melville shavelson and features paul michael glaser starsky and hutch and sally struthers all in the family.
From 1972 to 1976, the cincinnati redsthe franchise known as the big red. Movies and shows about magicians, prestidigitators etc. Others that followed were a tale of two cities 1980 in 1980, and helen keller. The attraction opened at both parks in 1999, and was. The great houdini is a 1976 american madefortelevision biographical film which is a fictionalized account of the life of the. The great houdinis 1976 nr 10081976 us drama 1h 36m user score. The great houdinis stars paul michael glaser as houdini. The first great houdini documentary on may 15, 1976, the bbc documentary the truth about houdini aired on american television. Harry houdini born erik weisz, later ehrich weiss, a. This ride is located in great adventures fantasy forest section and new englands crack axle canyon area. The great houdinis is a madefortelevision movie that tells the life story of harry and bess houdini. The film footage in this wellmade documentary was for many including myself their first look at the real houdini in action.