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No locks could hold
him, no tomb could keep him,
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no audience could resist him.
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He was Harry Houdini, the
greatest magician and escape
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artist of all time, taking his
audience on a heart stopping
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ride with his superhuman
stunts and death defying feats.
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More than just a vaudeville
magician with a bag of parlor
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tricks, Houdini was an outsized personality
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the likes of which the
world had never seen.
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Brashly challenging his audience to find
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a restraint, any restraint,
that could hold him.
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Nothing could hold Harry Houdini,
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and no one knew how he did it.
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Now nearly 80 years after his death,
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a one of a kind public auction
of Houdini's magic memorabilia
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offers the faithful and the curious
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a glimpse of the secrets he left behind.
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Advertise your product or brand here
contact www.OpenSubtitles.org today
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Hi, I'm Lance Burton.
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Welcome to my theater at
the Monte Carlo Casino
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in Las Vegas.
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As a kid, I couldn't get
enough of Harry Houdini and all
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his great escapes and daring stunts.
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Over the next two hours, we
will explore the remarkable life
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of this Hungarian immigrant, who
rose from poverty at the turn
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of the 20th century to become
a cultural sensation the likes
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of which the world had never seen.
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What a story it is, and what
a legacy he left behind.
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Nobody can tell you who
the president was in 1926.
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Nobody can tell you what
news was happening in 1926,
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or what happened 3/4 of a century ago,
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but mention to any schoolchild
who is the greatest magician,
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and they'll all say Houdini.
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We all stand on the
shoulders of the giants that
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come before us.
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Houdini's stock in trade was escapes.
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He could get out of anything.
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He starts getting out of jails
all over the United States,
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jails in Europe, sometimes
he does it naked it
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so that people can see that he's not
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hiding any keys or anything.
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He starts getting out
of handcuffs, leg irons.
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And his escapes electrified audiences.
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When Houdini was on stage,
you could hear a pin drop.
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He could make an audience do
anything he wanted the audience
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to do.
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I think America was bound up.
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America felt restrained, felt
jailed to a certain degree,
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and he was the guy that could
get out of any handcuffs,
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any jail cell.
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There were no limits and it allowed people
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to kind of fantasize and dream.
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I think the big appeal was
just doing the impossible.
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I mean, doing something that
really couldn't have been done.
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He certainly played for huge audiences.
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His outdoor straight jackets
brought maybe 100,000 people
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to watch him.
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The very idea of doing it upside down
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is completely wacky.
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I mean, who would have thought to do that?
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Hang yourself upside down.
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He would be hanging by his ankles,
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hanging from, I don't know,
a flagpole, a derrick,
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something stuck out of a
window on the 10th floor
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of a skyscraper.
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And then he would wriggle
and wriggle and wriggle,
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and if you were in the crowd, you could
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watch him shaking like an eel.
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Watching Houdini, this small guy,
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who came up from absolutely nothing,
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be there in the middle of
the streets of Washington DC
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hanging off the Treasury Building
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and liberating himself and
flinging his arms wide.
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That can't help but give
you just the gut sensation
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of liberation and freedom.
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Houdini put himself at peril.
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It was the hallmark of his act.
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The famous milk can escape
actually entombed him in water
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for seemingly impossible lengths of time.
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Houdini would be in the milk can
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under water for what, two
minutes, three minutes.
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Meanwhile, the audience was mesmerized just
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looking at the curtain.
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But perhaps his most horrifying stunt
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was his most famous, the
Chinese water torture.
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The torture cell was a
murder device, you know?
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I mean, it's like who would
come out of that alive?
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So it's more than just
torture, it's execution.
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The water torture cell, the milk can,
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the straight jackets, the
hundreds of handcuffs.
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When Harry Houdini died in
1926, his magic collection
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was left in the hands of
his brother Theo Hardeen.
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According to Houdini's
will, these treasures
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of magic history were to be
destroyed upon his brother's
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death obliterating for all
time the secrets of Houdini's
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great escapes.
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Instead, they were passed
to Sydney H. Radner, once
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the young protege of Houdini's brother.
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For more than 60 years,
Radner has steadfastly
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held onto those secrets.
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Now, for the first time, he will release
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this priceless collection in
the great Houdini auction.
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Hundreds of collectors
gather at the Liberace Museum
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in Las Vegas to bid on Houdini's legacy.
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What price will they pay
for a chance to unlock
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the secrets of the most
legendary magician of them all,
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Harry Houdini?
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Strait-jacket, 372.
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$5,000, I got for it.
$7,500 I got for it.
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$10,000 now is enough?
$12,000, yes or no? $12,000.
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I got $12,500.
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And one $12,500.
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$13,000?
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$13,000.
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He's in. $13,500 you're going
to make it now. $13,500?
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You've got to give him $13,500.
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Going to make it now. $13,500.
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35! $13,500.
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Sell it to James' bidder at $13,500.
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Number 902.
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902.
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Thanks for bidding.
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Long before he was Harry Houdini,
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legendary magician, he was
Erik Weisz, the third child
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in a sprawling family of
six boys and a baby sister.
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He was born in 1874 in Budapest, Hungary
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to Cecilia and Meyer Weisz,
and came with his family
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to the new world at age four.
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His father, a rabbi, had
been given a congregation
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in Appleton, Wisconsin.
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Four years later, Rabbi
Weisz was dismissed.
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The congregation
apparently didn't like him,
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partly it seems because he used
a lot of German in his speech.
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Erik and his family
were plunged into poverty
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as his father searched for work.
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Houdini later said in an interview,
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we had four addresses in three years.
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He said, such hardships
became our lot that I really
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don't want to talk about
it, and he actually wept.
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The Weisz's moved to New York in 1888
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to an East side tenement.
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Erik took odd jobs to help the family.
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Erik Weisz went out in
his messenger boy outfit,
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and he made a sign for the hat.
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put a dime in the messenger boy's hat.
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And he came back with a lot of money,
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and he hit it all over his clothes.
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And he said to his mother, shake me.
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And she shook him and the
money fell down to the floor,
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and he said, see, I'm magic.
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He was introduced to
magic by the traveling circuses
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that came through town.
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He became obsessed with how
these illusions were performed.
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In his spare time, he lifted
weights to build his physique
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and worked to develop acrobatic skills.
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By the time he was about 14, he
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was reading every book he could
get his hands on about magic.
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To earn money for his
family, Erik worked as a cutter
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in a necktie factory.
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He was about 15 years old, and
the boy who worked next to him
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was about 18.
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I'm reading this book by a
magician named Robert Houdin.
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The French born conjurer
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Robert Houdin revolutionized
magic in the mid 1800s
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and inspired a new breed of magician.
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What Robert Houdin did was that he took
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magic out of the realm
of the kind of ephemeral
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perhaps spiritual perhaps
religious, and he said,
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there are scientific reasons
for why this is going on.
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Robert Houdin said that magic
was going to be a performance.
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It was in a theater and it had
a scientific basis behind it.
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And his idea was never
forget I'm not a magician,
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but I'm an actor playing a magician.
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Erik thought that the name
Robert Houdin was pronounced
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Robert Houdeen, and he said to Jacob,
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I want to be just like Robert Houdin.
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And Jacob said, well, you know,
if you add an I to Houdin that
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would mean like Houdin in French.
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Houdini.
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Houdini.
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Presto.
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Harry came from a corruption
of his real name Erik.
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As a boy, Erik, he was
called by his friends Ehri,
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and that easily enough,
naturally enough, became Harry.
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Houdini partnered
with his friend Jacob calling
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themselves the Brothers Houdini.
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They picked up work in
circuses and sideshows,
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but they needed something
to set them apart,
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something that would amaze
audiences, something that would
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bring them success.
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And so they created an act
they called Metamorphosis.
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They closed the act with
Harry having his hands tied
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and then being tied in a
sack, and then the sack
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is locked in a box.
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And they pull a cabinet around
it, and in the count of 1,
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2, 3, they change places.
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So now Harry is out of
the box and the box is all
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tied up and locked and they untie the box,
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and they unlock the box,
and they open it up.
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And there's the bag, and
the bag is still tied.
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And they untie the bag,
and there is Jacob Hyman
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and his hands are tied.
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So that was their big effect.
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It was called the metamorphosis.
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As Houdini was finally
finding some success on stage,
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off stage he faced a devastating blow.
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His 63-year-old father was dying of cancer.
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He promised his father on
his father's death bed he would
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take care of Mom for the rest of
his life, and he certainly did.
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The Brothers Houdini,
now with Harry's real brother
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Hardeen, took to the road
making money to send home,
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but it wasn't long before
another woman entered his life.
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Harry met a girl named Beatrice Rahner,
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and she was doing a song and dance act.
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Rosabelle, I think, was the song
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that she was singing with
the sister act she was
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in before Houdini met
her, and so that song had
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this sort of very romantic quality to them.
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There was a maiden
sweet Rosabelle, the fairest
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of all that I know.
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All the beauties of heaven
and the riches here below.
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They fell in love at first sight,
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and I believe that Harry
Houdini and Beatrice Rahner were
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married 21 days after
they met, June 22, 1894.
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He was 20, Bess was just 18.
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They traveled together working
circuses and dime shows
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for little pay.
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For entertainers, playing
the dime museum circuit
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was the first or last stop.
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Houdini started off in the
lowest rungs of show business
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when he was in his late
teens, so-called dime museums,
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which were sometimes called freak shows.
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You would have people coming through
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to see something amazing,
to see something wonderful,
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whatever that might be,
and that can be all the way
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from any sort of freaks to things found
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at the ends of the Earth, to
performances that people would
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put on.
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Among the entertainers was Harry Houdini,
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performing 9 to 14 shows a day
with the tiny and nimble Bess.
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Metamorphosis was their signature act,
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00:11:20,199 --> 00:11:22,459
and Houdini was constantly
refining it, switching starting
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positions with Bess, or tying his hands
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to make it harder to escape.
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00:11:26,941 --> 00:11:29,101
But when he began inviting
audience members to restrain
245
00:11:29,144 --> 00:11:32,580
him in handcuffs, he
discovered a novel twist
246
00:11:32,683 --> 00:11:34,517
that would launch him from the dime museums
247
00:11:34,619 --> 00:11:35,985
onto the world stage.
248
00:11:40,159 --> 00:11:41,351
Harry Houdini was traveling from town
249
00:11:41,361 --> 00:11:44,163
to town performing his signature
handcuff, rope, and trunk
250
00:11:44,265 --> 00:11:46,232
escapes.
251
00:11:46,334 --> 00:11:49,169
Enlisting spectators from
the audience and members
252
00:11:49,271 --> 00:11:52,406
of the local police, he
challenged them to lock him
253
00:11:52,509 --> 00:11:54,576
in their best cuffs.
254
00:11:54,678 --> 00:11:57,714
In a few moments, he would escape.
255
00:11:57,816 --> 00:12:01,952
The bold stunt made headlines
wherever he went and launched
256
00:12:02,054 --> 00:12:04,756
Houdini from the lowly
dime museums and circuses
257
00:12:04,858 --> 00:12:08,729
to the vaudeville stage.
258
00:12:08,831 --> 00:12:13,702
He was in St. Paul, Minnesota,
and a show business legend,
259
00:12:13,804 --> 00:12:17,741
the producer Martin Beck,
happened to see his act.
260
00:12:17,843 --> 00:12:20,745
Vaudeville tycoon
Martin Beck controlled a chain
261
00:12:20,847 --> 00:12:24,516
of theaters that extended from
Chicago to the Pacific coast.
262
00:12:24,618 --> 00:12:26,753
He said, you know, I think
you're a rotten showman.
263
00:12:26,855 --> 00:12:28,422
You do all this stuff with the pigeons
264
00:12:28,524 --> 00:12:32,194
and the rabbits and all this
little magic and nobody cares.
265
00:12:32,296 --> 00:12:34,830
The handcuff thing you
do and that box trick you
266
00:12:34,933 --> 00:12:37,601
and your wife do, now if you
just concentrated on that,
267
00:12:37,703 --> 00:12:39,670
I could make you a headliner.
268
00:12:39,773 --> 00:12:42,341
Beck made good on his promise.
269
00:12:42,443 --> 00:12:45,545
It was 1899 and Houdini was 25.
270
00:12:45,647 --> 00:12:48,182
His life was about to change.
271
00:12:48,284 --> 00:12:50,686
No more small town one night stands.
272
00:12:50,788 --> 00:12:56,292
Next stop, vaudeville,
Chicago, Kansas City, Denver,
273
00:12:56,394 --> 00:12:58,829
and San Francisco.
274
00:12:58,931 --> 00:13:00,557
Vaudeville was now a new
form of really basically middle
275
00:13:00,567 --> 00:13:02,367
class entertainment.
276
00:13:02,469 --> 00:13:04,604
It was something that
was just for the masses
277
00:13:04,706 --> 00:13:06,773
rather than people who are sophisticated,
278
00:13:06,875 --> 00:13:11,246
and that would be a group of
entertainers, 10, 12 at a time,
279
00:13:11,348 --> 00:13:15,385
different acts would come to
a town and do their shtick.
280
00:13:15,487 --> 00:13:19,224
There would be a singer,
a dancer, a dog act.
281
00:13:19,326 --> 00:13:21,693
You'd have trained rats and cats.
282
00:13:21,795 --> 00:13:24,097
You'd have a guy who got out
with like a big inflatable
283
00:13:24,199 --> 00:13:26,834
rubber owl and would
squeeze it so that he'd
284
00:13:26,936 --> 00:13:28,776
like to play the Star
Spangled banner that way.
285
00:13:28,839 --> 00:13:31,741
Vaudeville made a
wonderful platform for magic.
286
00:13:31,843 --> 00:13:34,143
Houdini's act fit in perfectly.
287
00:13:34,245 --> 00:13:36,325
Houdini immediately became
a great hit in vaudeville.
288
00:13:36,382 --> 00:13:38,983
After I think only maybe two years,
289
00:13:39,085 --> 00:13:40,810
he was the highest paid
entertainer in vaudeville.
290
00:13:40,820 --> 00:13:42,755
He was getting more money than anyone else.
291
00:13:42,857 --> 00:13:44,791
I think about $1,500 a week.
292
00:13:44,893 --> 00:13:46,293
He could name his own venue.
293
00:13:46,395 --> 00:13:48,563
There were times where
he played the Hippodrome.
294
00:13:48,699 --> 00:13:51,467
There'd be 6,000 people there, and he did
295
00:13:51,569 --> 00:13:53,269
walk with whoever he wanted to.
296
00:13:53,371 --> 00:13:55,973
Houdini fed off the applause
297
00:13:56,075 --> 00:13:58,310
from the packed houses, and
as Martin Beck predicted,
298
00:13:58,412 --> 00:14:01,547
his new handcuff trick was the big draw.
299
00:14:01,649 --> 00:14:04,251
He would challenge people
to bring their own handcuffs.
300
00:14:04,353 --> 00:14:05,652
I want police handcuffs.
301
00:14:05,754 --> 00:14:07,622
I want antique handcuffs.
302
00:14:07,724 --> 00:14:10,326
Bring me whatever you
have, and he would escape.
303
00:14:10,428 --> 00:14:12,561
He escaped from the
most complicated handcuffs
304
00:14:12,664 --> 00:14:13,664
in the world.
305
00:14:15,835 --> 00:14:18,102
Some of them had double,
triple locks on them.
306
00:14:18,204 --> 00:14:20,907
They were as complicated as safes.
307
00:14:21,009 --> 00:14:25,447
He would be put in 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6 pairs of handcuffs
308
00:14:25,549 --> 00:14:27,882
on his wrists and then
they'd put some manacles
309
00:14:27,984 --> 00:14:30,078
on his ankles, and then they'd
handcuff the ankle manacles
310
00:14:30,088 --> 00:14:31,187
to the wrist cuffs.
311
00:14:31,289 --> 00:14:35,693
And then he would go into a little cabinet,
312
00:14:35,795 --> 00:14:39,698
and while he was in the cabinet,
he would talk to the audience.
313
00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:45,373
And in varying lengths of time,
it could be a few seconds,
314
00:14:45,508 --> 00:14:51,314
it could be hours, he would
come out, and he would be free.
315
00:14:51,416 --> 00:14:54,586
These are rare Rankin
white metal with patina,
316
00:14:54,688 --> 00:14:56,588
non-adjustable half-moon handcuffs,
317
00:14:56,690 --> 00:15:00,627
and you'll say $2,500?
318
00:15:00,729 --> 00:15:02,049
$2,500, you going to make it now?
319
00:15:04,768 --> 00:15:07,302
You're going to make it now
$3,500 in the net. $4,000.
320
00:15:07,405 --> 00:15:08,405
Thank you, sir.
321
00:15:09,607 --> 00:15:11,941
Sold at $4,000, sir.
322
00:15:12,043 --> 00:15:13,203
Have a lot of fun with those.
323
00:15:17,451 --> 00:15:20,219
Houdini never revealed
the secret of his handcuff
324
00:15:20,321 --> 00:15:23,157
escapes, but the mystery
begins to unravel looking
325
00:15:23,292 --> 00:15:25,259
at the hundreds of keys
and lock picks on display
326
00:15:25,361 --> 00:15:26,594
at the auction.
327
00:15:26,696 --> 00:15:29,332
Theories abound about how Houdini
328
00:15:29,435 --> 00:15:31,234
came by his knowledge of locks.
329
00:15:31,336 --> 00:15:35,140
There are stories that he
apprenticed with a locksmith,
330
00:15:35,242 --> 00:15:38,010
or that he learned at a tool and die shop.
331
00:15:38,112 --> 00:15:39,813
This much is known.
332
00:15:39,915 --> 00:15:42,716
Houdini had a masterful understanding
333
00:15:42,819 --> 00:15:44,786
of the interior of locks.
334
00:15:44,888 --> 00:15:47,255
The secret in getting
out of handcuffs and locks
335
00:15:47,357 --> 00:15:49,659
is knowing what they look like inside.
336
00:15:49,761 --> 00:15:52,963
You have to be able to visualize
the inside of the lock just
337
00:15:53,065 --> 00:15:54,424
to know what you're doing in there.
338
00:15:54,434 --> 00:15:56,734
Houdini knew what they looked like inside,
339
00:15:56,837 --> 00:16:01,442
and how they operated the
way that, gee, I don't know,
340
00:16:01,544 --> 00:16:05,247
a batter or something knows
screwballs and fastballs,
341
00:16:05,349 --> 00:16:06,989
can recognize a lot of different pitches.
342
00:16:07,052 --> 00:16:10,020
The fact that he got
out of handcuffs was real.
343
00:16:10,122 --> 00:16:12,356
There was nothing fake about it.
344
00:16:12,458 --> 00:16:16,061
The fake was where did he hide the key?
345
00:16:16,163 --> 00:16:18,264
Among Houdini's effects when he
346
00:16:18,366 --> 00:16:21,535
died was a pouch, his
leather pouches numbered,
347
00:16:21,637 --> 00:16:24,439
must be 30, 40, 50 of them.
348
00:16:24,541 --> 00:16:27,877
Some people believe that he used
the pouches as a filing system
349
00:16:27,979 --> 00:16:31,047
for his lock picks, so that
any kind of lock that presented
350
00:16:31,149 --> 00:16:33,684
itself, he would be able
to get to the kind of pick
351
00:16:33,786 --> 00:16:36,022
that he needed.
352
00:16:36,124 --> 00:16:38,358
How did he know that if some
police sergeant put on him
353
00:16:38,461 --> 00:16:42,631
a certain kind of cuff he needed
this particular pick to get out
354
00:16:42,733 --> 00:16:44,199
of it?
355
00:16:44,301 --> 00:16:47,503
He was able to know and he
was able to somehow probably
356
00:16:47,605 --> 00:16:51,976
suggest it to his assistants
or to somebody what
357
00:16:52,078 --> 00:16:53,078
his system was.
358
00:16:55,516 --> 00:16:59,152
When Houdini was a
kid, he lost a few teeth.
359
00:16:59,254 --> 00:17:01,756
He was trying to do an act
known as the Iron Mouth Act.
360
00:17:01,858 --> 00:17:04,626
That's where you have a
special contraption that
361
00:17:04,728 --> 00:17:06,387
fits inside your mouth
and it kind of form fits,
362
00:17:06,397 --> 00:17:08,599
and the circus performer hangs from that,
363
00:17:08,701 --> 00:17:10,621
and they spin around, and
they do all this stuff.
364
00:17:10,704 --> 00:17:12,871
And he was a little boy and he thought
365
00:17:12,973 --> 00:17:14,933
all you did was clamp your
teeth on a rope and hang on,
366
00:17:14,943 --> 00:17:16,342
and so he lost a few teeth.
367
00:17:16,445 --> 00:17:19,079
And so he did have a dental plate,
368
00:17:19,181 --> 00:17:22,483
and he would take out this plate and it
369
00:17:22,586 --> 00:17:26,990
had a secret compartment,
and that that was his secret.
370
00:17:27,092 --> 00:17:31,495
Houdini learned exercises
by which he could swallow
371
00:17:31,598 --> 00:17:33,691
say a small ball or a small
egg or something like that
372
00:17:33,701 --> 00:17:35,067
and bring it up again.
373
00:17:35,169 --> 00:17:37,570
Some people think that he
later used that to swallow
374
00:17:37,706 --> 00:17:40,207
and to bring up keys.
375
00:17:40,309 --> 00:17:42,111
The lock pick collection.
376
00:17:42,213 --> 00:17:43,237
And, Ivan, how many dollars for those?
377
00:17:43,247 --> 00:17:44,948
And what's your pleasure for it and go,
378
00:17:45,050 --> 00:17:45,849
and a $5,000 bidding go.
379
00:17:45,951 --> 00:17:48,119
$5,000. $7,500?
380
00:17:48,221 --> 00:17:49,221
$10,000 now.
381
00:17:51,024 --> 00:17:52,191
It's only money.
382
00:17:52,293 --> 00:17:55,161
$13,000 we got. $14,000.
383
00:17:55,263 --> 00:17:56,355
You've got to give him $14,000.
384
00:17:56,365 --> 00:17:57,497
Done.
385
00:17:57,599 --> 00:18:00,635
$15,000 here and
now. $15,000 where?
386
00:18:00,737 --> 00:18:03,739
Any more than $14,000?
$14,000 for it.
387
00:18:03,841 --> 00:18:04,741
Hammer's coming down.
388
00:18:04,843 --> 00:18:05,375
Internet's out.
389
00:18:05,477 --> 00:18:13,477
You own it, sir. $14,000.
390
00:18:15,257 --> 00:18:17,659
But while Houdini
may have had ingenious methods
391
00:18:17,761 --> 00:18:21,764
of hiding and using lock picks,
he had other methods of escape.
392
00:18:21,866 --> 00:18:24,000
When you got eight or nine people coming up
393
00:18:24,102 --> 00:18:26,570
with different handcuffs or leg irons,
394
00:18:26,673 --> 00:18:29,341
and you take the handcuffs that
you can get out of the easiest,
395
00:18:29,443 --> 00:18:31,443
and you have them put them on your wrist.
396
00:18:31,545 --> 00:18:33,546
And the ones you can get
out of the next easiest
397
00:18:33,648 --> 00:18:36,283
right next to them, and so on.
398
00:18:36,385 --> 00:18:36,917
But the ones you would have difficulty with
399
00:18:37,053 --> 00:18:39,621
are further up your arm.
400
00:18:39,723 --> 00:18:41,556
After you get the easy ones off, the others
401
00:18:41,658 --> 00:18:45,662
can be slid off because
they're up higher on your arm.
402
00:18:45,831 --> 00:18:48,065
He said, I'm short.
403
00:18:48,167 --> 00:18:49,268
He said, I use them.
404
00:18:49,403 --> 00:18:51,671
I use everything I have.
405
00:18:51,773 --> 00:18:52,831
Houdini's legs were kind of bowed
406
00:18:52,841 --> 00:18:55,342
as if he had had rickets
when he was a baby.
407
00:18:55,445 --> 00:18:59,848
And when they would tie ropes
or chains around his legs,
408
00:18:59,950 --> 00:19:02,518
he would have his legs perfectly
straight, which was bowed.
409
00:19:02,620 --> 00:19:03,978
But after they had finished tying him up,
410
00:19:03,988 --> 00:19:08,026
then he squeezes them together
and the ropes go slack.
411
00:19:08,161 --> 00:19:09,861
As Houdini's reputation grew,
412
00:19:10,063 --> 00:19:13,632
he grew even more daring,
performing even more difficult
413
00:19:13,736 --> 00:19:15,936
and thrilling escapes.
414
00:19:16,038 --> 00:19:18,773
He wants to escape from
every form of imprisonment,
415
00:19:18,875 --> 00:19:22,946
from jails, which he does
many times, jails in Boston,
416
00:19:23,048 --> 00:19:25,382
jails all over the United States.
417
00:19:25,485 --> 00:19:28,153
He starts to know a lot of
sheriffs and police sergeants,
418
00:19:28,255 --> 00:19:32,391
and he keeps lists of the
police all over the world.
419
00:19:32,494 --> 00:19:35,462
In July of 1899, Houdini
420
00:19:35,564 --> 00:19:38,933
created a provocative
twist for his jail escape.
421
00:19:39,035 --> 00:19:41,837
He allowed himself to be
locked behind bars wearing just
422
00:19:41,973 --> 00:19:45,610
a loincloth, as if to prove
he wasn't hiding anything.
423
00:19:45,712 --> 00:19:47,612
Somehow he gets out of the jail cell,
424
00:19:47,714 --> 00:19:49,995
then he takes every prisoner
out of every other jail cell,
425
00:19:50,017 --> 00:19:52,552
and puts them all in different jail cells
426
00:19:52,654 --> 00:19:56,024
and recovers his clothes
from yet another jail cell,
427
00:19:56,126 --> 00:20:00,596
and makes it out of the cell
block and out of the prison.
428
00:20:00,698 --> 00:20:03,133
There's probably something
a little racy about the fact
429
00:20:03,269 --> 00:20:06,070
that Houdini did most of that in the nude.
430
00:20:06,173 --> 00:20:08,407
By spring of 1900, Houdini was again
431
00:20:08,509 --> 00:20:09,809
ready for something new.
432
00:20:09,911 --> 00:20:12,245
His manager Martin Beck
hired an international agent
433
00:20:12,347 --> 00:20:15,583
to book Houdini into
the big European cities.
434
00:20:15,685 --> 00:20:19,788
He billed himself as the King
of Handcuffs and set sail
435
00:20:19,890 --> 00:20:21,524
for London.
436
00:20:21,626 --> 00:20:23,719
He arrived to discover not a
single show had been booked
437
00:20:23,729 --> 00:20:26,130
and no one knew who he was.
438
00:20:26,232 --> 00:20:28,133
But Houdini was resourceful, and when
439
00:20:28,235 --> 00:20:30,604
the manager of the Alhambra Theater in tow,
440
00:20:30,706 --> 00:20:33,308
he marched into the local
office of Scotland Yard.
441
00:20:33,410 --> 00:20:35,610
Here is this instinctive showman,
442
00:20:35,712 --> 00:20:38,247
and he went on down to Scotland Yard,
443
00:20:38,349 --> 00:20:42,185
and they introduced themselves
to Superintendent Melville.
444
00:20:42,287 --> 00:20:46,225
And Superintendent Melville took
a pair of British handcuffs,
445
00:20:46,327 --> 00:20:49,929
and he locked Houdini's arms
around a pillar, and said,
446
00:20:50,031 --> 00:20:51,831
we'll be back for you
in an hour, young man.
447
00:20:51,933 --> 00:20:54,126
This is what we do to Americans
who come over here and get
448
00:20:54,136 --> 00:20:55,937
into trouble.
449
00:20:56,039 --> 00:20:58,507
And Houdini stepped away from the pillar,
450
00:20:58,610 --> 00:21:00,776
the cuffs were opened in his hand,
451
00:21:00,879 --> 00:21:03,314
and he said, I'll go with you.
452
00:21:03,416 --> 00:21:04,608
This is how we Americans get free.
453
00:21:04,618 --> 00:21:06,785
Houdini was instantly booked
454
00:21:06,888 --> 00:21:08,521
for a week at the Alhambra.
455
00:21:08,624 --> 00:21:12,360
His show was extended
and then held over again.
456
00:21:12,462 --> 00:21:14,162
During the next five years, Houdini
457
00:21:14,265 --> 00:21:15,797
toured Britain and the continent,
458
00:21:15,900 --> 00:21:17,600
escaping from jail cells during the day
459
00:21:17,769 --> 00:21:21,071
and playing to packed houses at night.
460
00:21:21,173 --> 00:21:24,476
Pretty good, he wrote
for dime museum Harry.
461
00:21:24,578 --> 00:21:27,113
From Houdini's great tour of Europe one
462
00:21:27,215 --> 00:21:29,382
escape stands above all the rest.
463
00:21:29,484 --> 00:21:32,386
I have in my collection the mirror cuffs,
464
00:21:32,488 --> 00:21:33,980
which are a very, very
famous set of handcuffs.
465
00:21:33,990 --> 00:21:37,160
He was challenged to escape from
these handcuffs that took years
466
00:21:37,262 --> 00:21:38,428
to make.
467
00:21:38,530 --> 00:21:41,966
It had 13 tumblers, pins they
call them in that kind of lock,
468
00:21:42,068 --> 00:21:45,404
and the lock was shaped like
a letter B. So the bar is here
469
00:21:45,506 --> 00:21:48,274
and his hands are like this,
and this guy locks Houdini
470
00:21:48,376 --> 00:21:50,169
in the cuffs, and Houdini
said, I have been locked
471
00:21:50,179 --> 00:21:53,081
in a pair of handcuffs, which
it has taken a British mechanic
472
00:21:53,183 --> 00:21:55,818
five years to make.
473
00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,321
I do not know whether I can escape or not,
474
00:21:58,423 --> 00:22:01,258
but I can assure you I'm going to try.
475
00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:03,695
With that, Houdini
slipped behind his curtain
476
00:22:03,797 --> 00:22:06,265
and began working on setting himself free.
477
00:22:06,367 --> 00:22:09,135
He didn't appear for 5
minutes, 10 minutes, 15
478
00:22:09,237 --> 00:22:11,005
minutes, 20 minutes.
479
00:22:11,107 --> 00:22:12,333
Meanwhile, the audience was mesmerized just
480
00:22:12,343 --> 00:22:14,309
looking at the curtain.
481
00:22:14,412 --> 00:22:17,581
And finally, after 25 minutes, he
482
00:22:17,683 --> 00:22:19,350
came out and asked for a glass of water.
483
00:22:19,452 --> 00:22:21,419
He asked the guy to take the handcuffs off
484
00:22:21,521 --> 00:22:23,822
because his coat was
cramping his movements,
485
00:22:23,925 --> 00:22:25,817
and the guy said, Mr. Houdini,
I can't unlock these cuffs
486
00:22:25,827 --> 00:22:27,627
for you.
487
00:22:27,730 --> 00:22:32,800
This is a challenge, and so
Houdini then gets a penknife
488
00:22:32,902 --> 00:22:34,770
out of his waistcoat pocket.
489
00:22:34,872 --> 00:22:38,208
And he pulls his frock
coat up over his head
490
00:22:38,310 --> 00:22:41,545
and he slices it to ribbons
and cuts it off his body,
491
00:22:41,647 --> 00:22:44,450
and goes back into his
little house to work.
492
00:22:44,552 --> 00:22:45,952
All eyes in the packed house
493
00:22:46,055 --> 00:22:47,921
were on the motionless curtain.
494
00:22:48,024 --> 00:22:51,726
Minutes, then an hour ticked
by as Houdini worked his cuffs.
495
00:22:51,828 --> 00:22:54,296
After he worked on them for a while,
496
00:22:54,399 --> 00:22:57,634
his wife Bess came out on the
stage and gave him a kiss,
497
00:22:57,736 --> 00:23:00,371
and some people believe that
she passed the key or the pick
498
00:23:00,507 --> 00:23:02,474
to him when they kissed.
499
00:23:02,576 --> 00:23:04,076
Possible.
500
00:23:04,178 --> 00:23:07,781
Then, the orchestra began
playing a stirring march.
501
00:23:07,916 --> 00:23:09,796
Houdini had been in the
cabinet exactly one hour
502
00:23:09,919 --> 00:23:12,621
and 7 minutes by this time.
503
00:23:12,723 --> 00:23:15,591
All right, and just as we're
getting to the last few bars
504
00:23:15,727 --> 00:23:19,531
of the stirring march, bum bum pa bump.
505
00:23:19,633 --> 00:23:21,767
He comes out with the
cuffs off, and these people
506
00:23:21,869 --> 00:23:24,104
have been looking at
the cabinet for the most
507
00:23:24,206 --> 00:23:28,543
part for an hour and 10
minutes and they went crazy.
508
00:23:28,645 --> 00:23:30,103
I mean, I think at the
moment that he came out
509
00:23:30,113 --> 00:23:33,415
with those cuffs off they
were ready to walk out.
510
00:23:33,517 --> 00:23:36,686
They had reached their breaking
point, but he knew that.
511
00:23:36,789 --> 00:23:39,857
And he comes out with
the super cuff defeated,
512
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:43,095
and the paper reported the
men stood on their chairs
513
00:23:43,198 --> 00:23:45,098
and the women waved their handkerchiefs,
514
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,334
and strangers hugged each other.
515
00:23:47,436 --> 00:23:51,040
I mean, it sounds like the
night that Ali beat Foreman.
516
00:23:51,142 --> 00:23:53,176
Was the curtain hiding a trick,
517
00:23:53,278 --> 00:23:55,813
was something hidden in the
passionate kiss between husband
518
00:23:55,915 --> 00:23:56,614
and wife?
519
00:23:56,716 --> 00:23:59,885
Surprisingly, no one asked.
520
00:23:59,987 --> 00:24:01,712
Houdini had the audience
just where he wanted them,
521
00:24:01,722 --> 00:24:05,058
in the palms of his magical hands.
522
00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:06,961
Will Rogers told this wonderful story.
523
00:24:07,063 --> 00:24:10,398
He said, I was working
with Houdini at a theater,
524
00:24:10,501 --> 00:24:14,737
and Houdini had been challenged
by the local chief of police
525
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,307
to get out of this
special pair of handcuffs.
526
00:24:17,409 --> 00:24:20,612
Well, he has the handcuffs locked on,
527
00:24:20,714 --> 00:24:21,313
and he goes into his little cabinet,
528
00:24:21,415 --> 00:24:23,716
and the orchestra plays.
529
00:24:23,818 --> 00:24:27,689
And every once in a while
Houdini would come out,
530
00:24:27,825 --> 00:24:29,150
and he'd look at the handcuffs in the light
531
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,896
and he'd study them, then he
go back into his little house.
532
00:24:32,998 --> 00:24:33,730
And Will says, what he was really doing
533
00:24:33,833 --> 00:24:36,033
was sizing up that audience.
534
00:24:36,169 --> 00:24:39,437
Nobody could ever do
that better than Houdini.
535
00:24:39,540 --> 00:24:41,065
Well, anyway, it was about
an hour and 10 minutes
536
00:24:41,075 --> 00:24:43,443
and finally Houdini came
out, and he had the cuffs off
537
00:24:43,546 --> 00:24:46,614
and the audience went crazy.
538
00:24:46,716 --> 00:24:50,085
And Will had been waiting
offstage with his horse
539
00:24:50,188 --> 00:24:51,854
to do his roping act.
540
00:24:51,956 --> 00:24:53,676
He said, I might as well have rode my horse
541
00:24:53,725 --> 00:24:56,085
back to the stable as rode it
out there on that stage for all
542
00:24:56,095 --> 00:24:58,497
they cared.
543
00:24:58,599 --> 00:25:02,001
Wherever he went,
Houdini electrified audiences,
544
00:25:02,103 --> 00:25:05,506
but his biggest and most
daring stunts lay just ahead.
545
00:25:10,615 --> 00:25:13,450
Between 1890 and 1920, 12 million people
546
00:25:13,552 --> 00:25:15,753
poured into the US from
every corner of the globe
547
00:25:15,855 --> 00:25:17,589
seeking a better life.
548
00:25:17,691 --> 00:25:20,793
But in cities like New York,
they found crowded tenements
549
00:25:20,895 --> 00:25:23,296
and dangerous or dead end jobs.
550
00:25:23,398 --> 00:25:27,168
They dreamed of escape, and
Houdini, the escape artist,
551
00:25:27,270 --> 00:25:30,072
became a symbol of liberation.
552
00:25:30,174 --> 00:25:31,642
Back in those days, everyone needed
553
00:25:31,744 --> 00:25:33,410
to escape from their problems.
554
00:25:33,512 --> 00:25:35,472
It was kind of not the
greatest time in the world,
555
00:25:35,482 --> 00:25:37,242
and he was this guy that
could do everything.
556
00:25:37,285 --> 00:25:39,986
Could get out of any jail
cell, get out of any handcuffs,
557
00:25:40,088 --> 00:25:41,622
would meet the challenge.
558
00:25:41,724 --> 00:25:43,883
So the idea of that, the
whole symbol of that, I think,
559
00:25:43,893 --> 00:25:45,185
was quite brilliant and quite great.
560
00:25:45,195 --> 00:25:48,797
Any spectacle that engages and captures
561
00:25:48,899 --> 00:25:52,469
the imagination of people says something
562
00:25:52,571 --> 00:25:54,005
to them about themselves.
563
00:25:54,140 --> 00:25:57,175
I mean, it holds up a giant
mirror, and it reverberates.
564
00:25:57,278 --> 00:26:01,581
Having liberated himself from
every kind of handcuff and jail
565
00:26:01,683 --> 00:26:04,985
cell, Houdini sought new
challenges for his escape act.
566
00:26:05,088 --> 00:26:09,626
Houdini was in Halifax,
Nova Scotia in 1896,
567
00:26:09,728 --> 00:26:13,698
and he visited an insane asylum.
568
00:26:13,867 --> 00:26:16,835
And he observed a patient trying
to get out of the straitjacket.
569
00:26:16,937 --> 00:26:19,306
And he decided that, gee, that would be
570
00:26:19,408 --> 00:26:22,710
great to use as a performance.
571
00:26:22,812 --> 00:26:24,312
The buckled and belted restraint
572
00:26:24,414 --> 00:26:26,014
bound a man like a mummy.
573
00:26:26,116 --> 00:26:28,518
And in 1899, this straitjacket escape
574
00:26:28,620 --> 00:26:31,922
became the highlight of
Houdini's vaudeville act.
575
00:26:32,024 --> 00:26:33,657
He'd go into his little cabinet
576
00:26:33,759 --> 00:26:36,661
and come out 15 minutes
later looking pretty terrible
577
00:26:36,763 --> 00:26:38,765
with his collar all askew.
578
00:26:38,967 --> 00:26:40,727
But people began to think
that maybe there was a trap
579
00:26:40,737 --> 00:26:43,806
door there, and then assistant
came out of the trap door
580
00:26:43,908 --> 00:26:44,908
and helped him.
581
00:26:47,512 --> 00:26:49,579
the stunt, suggested an
even more dramatic way
582
00:26:49,715 --> 00:26:51,549
to perform the escape.
583
00:26:51,651 --> 00:26:52,975
He said you'll get better results with it
584
00:26:52,985 --> 00:26:54,486
in full view of the audience.
585
00:26:54,588 --> 00:26:56,448
The audience could see
him struggling to get out
586
00:26:56,458 --> 00:26:59,927
of the straitjacket instead of
struggling privately inside.
587
00:27:00,029 --> 00:27:02,329
The challenge to a straitjacket
588
00:27:02,431 --> 00:27:05,834
is mostly to make it
interesting to get out of.
589
00:27:05,936 --> 00:27:07,161
Because getting out of a straitjacket
590
00:27:07,171 --> 00:27:09,773
is little more than sort of wiggling a lot.
591
00:27:09,875 --> 00:27:13,078
Showmanship played
a big role in this routine.
592
00:27:13,180 --> 00:27:14,646
Let's put it this way, you know,
593
00:27:14,749 --> 00:27:18,118
he made it look harder
than it sometimes was.
594
00:27:18,220 --> 00:27:19,453
But that's good.
595
00:27:19,555 --> 00:27:22,090
That's part of showmanship.
596
00:27:22,192 --> 00:27:23,984
You had to feel the sweat,
you had to feel the blood,
597
00:27:23,994 --> 00:27:26,354
you had to feel the idea that
whatever he was doing on stage
598
00:27:26,431 --> 00:27:30,100
in order to entertain you, he
was going to get out even if it
599
00:27:30,202 --> 00:27:32,670
almost killed him.
600
00:27:32,773 --> 00:27:34,464
When you saw the evidence on the other side
601
00:27:34,474 --> 00:27:36,675
with his collar frayed
and literally blood coming
602
00:27:36,778 --> 00:27:41,215
from his palm sometimes, and
stumbling and unable to talk,
603
00:27:41,317 --> 00:27:43,443
you felt like this was a guy
who had given you your money's
604
00:27:43,453 --> 00:27:44,787
worth.
605
00:27:44,889 --> 00:27:47,691
With worldwide success
came a new set of problems.
606
00:27:47,794 --> 00:27:51,563
By the time he played
at Los Angeles in 1907,
607
00:27:51,665 --> 00:27:55,368
they'd had 50 imitators doing his act,
608
00:27:55,470 --> 00:27:58,906
and he has a very, very
difficult time bringing
609
00:27:59,008 --> 00:28:00,008
in the people.
610
00:28:01,912 --> 00:28:05,581
worth a $5 bill to me,
and this was killing him.
611
00:28:05,683 --> 00:28:07,984
Houdini knew he needed
an escape that would be too
612
00:28:08,086 --> 00:28:10,254
terrifying to imitate.
613
00:28:10,356 --> 00:28:14,126
He drew his inspiration
from his most intense fear.
614
00:28:14,228 --> 00:28:16,262
Houdini nearly drowned swimming
615
00:28:16,364 --> 00:28:20,235
in the Fox River near
Appleton, where he grew up.
616
00:28:20,337 --> 00:28:22,597
Many of his greatest feats have
to do with escaping from water,
617
00:28:22,607 --> 00:28:25,309
and possibly the need
to keep showing himself
618
00:28:25,411 --> 00:28:27,444
that he was able to escape death.
619
00:28:27,546 --> 00:28:29,547
The trick was risky
and would require a great deal
620
00:28:29,649 --> 00:28:31,516
of practice.
621
00:28:31,719 --> 00:28:33,686
Houdini had an oversized bathtub
622
00:28:33,788 --> 00:28:36,590
where he could lie under
the water and stretch out.
623
00:28:36,692 --> 00:28:38,326
Houdini practiced holding his breath,
624
00:28:38,428 --> 00:28:40,854
covering himself with water, and
seeing how long he could stay
625
00:28:40,864 --> 00:28:42,598
submerged.
626
00:28:42,700 --> 00:28:44,226
I think he managed to do it for 3 minutes.
627
00:28:44,236 --> 00:28:47,771
Houdini was 33 years old when he introduced
628
00:28:47,874 --> 00:28:50,575
the first of his great
water stunts in 1907.
629
00:28:50,677 --> 00:28:54,181
He called it the Milk Can
Escape and proclaimed it
630
00:28:54,283 --> 00:28:56,985
the best I have ever invented.
631
00:28:57,087 --> 00:28:59,420
In this footage from the
1950s television program
632
00:28:59,523 --> 00:29:02,224
"You Asked For It," magician Leo Herby
633
00:29:02,326 --> 00:29:05,161
reenacts Houdini's famous milk can escape.
634
00:29:05,264 --> 00:29:07,398
You'd see in the middle
of the stage a milk can,
635
00:29:07,500 --> 00:29:09,835
the lid would be attached
to the top of the milk can
636
00:29:09,937 --> 00:29:12,839
by several locks, and usually Houdini
637
00:29:12,974 --> 00:29:15,408
had members of the
audience bring the locks.
638
00:29:15,510 --> 00:29:18,012
The locks were not in any way gimmicked.
639
00:29:18,114 --> 00:29:21,583
It was large, but he was a small man,
640
00:29:21,685 --> 00:29:23,286
and the can looked small beside him.
641
00:29:23,388 --> 00:29:25,321
And when it was filled with water
642
00:29:25,424 --> 00:29:27,992
and he squeezed in with water pouring
643
00:29:28,094 --> 00:29:32,232
over the sides of the top, he barely
644
00:29:32,334 --> 00:29:34,134
seemed to be able to
squeeze his body into it.
645
00:29:34,836 --> 00:29:35,836
His genius for theatrics
646
00:29:35,905 --> 00:29:38,140
was as much a part of the act.
647
00:29:38,242 --> 00:29:40,542
Houdini would put a big clock on the stage
648
00:29:40,644 --> 00:29:44,147
so the audience could see how
long he had been underwater.
649
00:29:44,249 --> 00:29:46,042
He would have himself lowered
in, and he would squeeze in,
650
00:29:46,052 --> 00:29:47,752
and before he submerged his head,
651
00:29:47,854 --> 00:29:50,355
he would tell the audience, I'm
going to test the audience's
652
00:29:50,457 --> 00:29:53,526
ability to hold its breath for 1 minute.
653
00:29:53,628 --> 00:29:55,696
So the audience could feel
what he was experiencing
654
00:29:55,798 --> 00:29:57,632
down there when they let out their breath
655
00:29:57,734 --> 00:29:59,054
or had to take their next breath.
656
00:29:59,069 --> 00:30:00,629
They would know that that's
the point that they would die
657
00:30:00,639 --> 00:30:01,639
if they were in the tank.
658
00:30:04,410 --> 00:30:06,712
and they lock handcuffs on his hands
659
00:30:06,814 --> 00:30:08,294
and he plunges under the water again.
660
00:30:08,349 --> 00:30:11,651
They pour water over his head so
it's filled up to the very top.
661
00:30:11,753 --> 00:30:13,887
They put the top on, and
they padlock the padlocks,
662
00:30:13,990 --> 00:30:15,014
and they pull the cabinet around it.
663
00:30:15,024 --> 00:30:16,558
You'll be sitting there and it would
664
00:30:16,660 --> 00:30:20,596
get to be a minute, a
minute and 15 seconds, 20,
665
00:30:20,698 --> 00:30:22,138
and if you were holding your breath,
666
00:30:23,068 --> 00:30:25,970
Houdini would be in the milk can
667
00:30:26,072 --> 00:30:28,907
under water for 2 minutes,
3 minutes, whatever it was.
668
00:30:29,010 --> 00:30:32,779
And then suddenly you'd hear splash, clang,
669
00:30:32,881 --> 00:30:35,751
and the assistants would
take away the screen,
670
00:30:35,853 --> 00:30:39,722
and Houdini would be all wet and panting,
671
00:30:39,824 --> 00:30:41,817
and the floor would be filled
with water that had overflowed
672
00:30:41,827 --> 00:30:43,861
as he got out of the milk can.
673
00:30:43,963 --> 00:30:48,534
And the milk can would still be
locked with the padlocks on it.
674
00:30:48,636 --> 00:30:50,970
Of course, there was a trick to the escape.
675
00:30:51,073 --> 00:30:53,040
After all, Houdini designed the can,
676
00:30:53,242 --> 00:30:55,043
but the stunt was very real.
677
00:30:55,145 --> 00:30:57,011
He was submerged in water.
678
00:30:57,113 --> 00:30:58,781
It's very scary to do.
679
00:30:58,883 --> 00:31:02,552
I mean, you really are in
the damn thing underwater
680
00:31:02,688 --> 00:31:05,256
for some time, and it's very frightening.
681
00:31:05,358 --> 00:31:07,026
OK, and the milk can.
682
00:31:07,262 --> 00:31:09,421
Can I have how many dollars
for it? $5,000 I got for it.
683
00:31:09,431 --> 00:31:10,030
$7,500 you got to make it not.
684
00:31:10,132 --> 00:31:11,365
And $7,500.
685
00:31:11,467 --> 00:31:14,135
Any oneThank you.
686
00:31:14,237 --> 00:31:17,573
$10,000 I've got for
it. $12,500 and $15,000.
687
00:31:17,675 --> 00:31:20,911
$15,000, $17,500? $20,000 you've
got to make it now $20,000.
688
00:31:21,013 --> 00:31:23,247
Got to give him $20,
$20,000. $22,500.
689
00:31:23,349 --> 00:31:25,149
And $25,000.
690
00:31:25,251 --> 00:31:26,418
$25,000, and $27,500.
691
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:28,053
You got to make it 27 and 1/2.
692
00:31:28,155 --> 00:31:30,155
You got to give him 27 and
1/2, yes or no? $30,000.
693
00:31:30,225 --> 00:31:30,990
32 and 1/2.
694
00:31:31,093 --> 00:31:32,626
Any more than $30,000?
695
00:31:32,729 --> 00:31:34,020
You're all done at $30,000 for it.
696
00:31:34,030 --> 00:31:35,464
Oh, $32,500.
697
00:31:35,566 --> 00:31:36,398
You won't want to lose it.
698
00:31:36,500 --> 00:31:38,233
$35,000.
699
00:31:38,335 --> 00:31:39,001
37 and a 1/2, yes or no?
700
00:31:39,204 --> 00:31:40,571
37 and a 1/2 you got to give.
701
00:31:40,673 --> 00:31:42,073
All in and all out.
702
00:31:42,175 --> 00:31:43,341
Any more than 35?
703
00:31:43,443 --> 00:31:46,345
You're all done at
$35,000 for the milk can?
704
00:31:46,447 --> 00:31:47,713
No contents, just the can.
705
00:31:47,815 --> 00:31:54,790
He gets it, $35,000.
706
00:31:54,892 --> 00:31:57,292
Houdini's most sensational escape
707
00:31:57,394 --> 00:32:01,098
took the fear of entombment
one step further.
708
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,503
Privately, he referred
to it as the upside down,
709
00:32:04,605 --> 00:32:10,277
but publicly called it
the Chinese water torture.
710
00:32:10,379 --> 00:32:14,116
Houdini had this odd interest
in torture among the Chinese.
711
00:32:14,218 --> 00:32:17,521
I mean, he had these
kind of snuff photographs
712
00:32:17,623 --> 00:32:20,958
of Chinese men and women being tortured.
713
00:32:21,060 --> 00:32:25,731
I suppose that partly was behind
his Chinese water torture cell.
714
00:32:25,833 --> 00:32:30,037
1912, 1913, he comes up with
this water torture cell, which
715
00:32:30,139 --> 00:32:33,975
is beyond the milk can because
we can see him underwater,
716
00:32:34,077 --> 00:32:36,445
and it's just such a
biblical situation of live,
717
00:32:36,581 --> 00:32:38,748
birth, death.
718
00:32:38,851 --> 00:32:41,718
The tank stood only 5 and 1/2 feet tall
719
00:32:41,821 --> 00:32:44,656
with a glass front to show
that nothing was hidden.
720
00:32:44,758 --> 00:32:47,193
He'd be sitting on the floor,
and they put these stocks
721
00:32:47,328 --> 00:32:49,096
around him, and then they pulled him
722
00:32:49,199 --> 00:32:51,165
up over the top of the water torture cell,
723
00:32:51,267 --> 00:32:54,336
and at the signal, he would
go down into the water torture
724
00:32:54,438 --> 00:32:55,839
cell.
You cou
725
00:32:55,941 --> 00:32:57,399
His hair would be sort of swimming around
726
00:32:57,409 --> 00:32:59,910
and his mouth would be bubbling.
727
00:33:00,012 --> 00:33:01,052
The torture cell presented
728
00:33:04,652 --> 00:33:06,652
and possibly death.
729
00:33:06,754 --> 00:33:08,747
The tension grew as the
transfixed audience watched
730
00:33:08,757 --> 00:33:11,259
Houdini flailing in the water.
731
00:33:11,361 --> 00:33:14,396
It looked as if there were
no possibility of escape.
732
00:33:14,498 --> 00:33:18,268
He would be suspended
upside down in a tank of water
733
00:33:18,370 --> 00:33:22,007
with no ability to curl up to get air
734
00:33:22,142 --> 00:33:23,543
from the top of the tank.
735
00:33:23,645 --> 00:33:27,581
Houdini set up everything
with the classic ingredient
736
00:33:27,683 --> 00:33:30,352
of theater, which is conflict.
737
00:33:30,454 --> 00:33:33,389
He had a man standing by with an ax
738
00:33:33,524 --> 00:33:35,625
supposedly to break the glass in the event
739
00:33:35,727 --> 00:33:38,395
that he hadn't succeeded
in escaping in time.
740
00:33:38,497 --> 00:33:41,065
Houdini promised his audience
741
00:33:41,201 --> 00:33:43,535
that he honestly and positively
did not expect anything
742
00:33:43,638 --> 00:33:47,507
to happen, but then ominously
warned that accidents will
743
00:33:47,609 --> 00:33:50,344
happen and when least expected.
744
00:33:50,446 --> 00:33:53,949
All of this is really wonderfully hokey,
745
00:33:54,051 --> 00:33:56,220
because after all, Houdini
built the water torture cell
746
00:33:56,389 --> 00:33:57,389
for himself.
747
00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:03,229
provided it is pretty ludicrous,
and yet, when you're there
748
00:34:03,331 --> 00:34:05,232
in the scene, those things start to matter.
749
00:34:05,334 --> 00:34:06,800
Those things start to add up.
750
00:34:06,902 --> 00:34:10,004
You start to go along with the
fantasy of a guy standing there
751
00:34:10,106 --> 00:34:12,007
with an ax ready to break the glass.
752
00:34:12,109 --> 00:34:13,869
Well, maybe there is a risk
that he couldn't possibly
753
00:34:13,879 --> 00:34:15,578
get out in time.
754
00:34:15,681 --> 00:34:18,115
The audience bought into it.
755
00:34:18,217 --> 00:34:20,519
People would panic and leave the theater.
756
00:34:20,621 --> 00:34:23,556
Thousands watched Houdini
flaunt danger wondering
757
00:34:23,658 --> 00:34:26,727
if this time, before their eyes,
the invincible escape artist
758
00:34:26,829 --> 00:34:29,631
might finally fail.
759
00:34:29,734 --> 00:34:31,200
It's not surprising that he would
760
00:34:31,302 --> 00:34:33,804
go for the scariest possible stuff.
761
00:34:33,906 --> 00:34:38,343
The joy of art is being able
to be in the jaws of death
762
00:34:38,445 --> 00:34:40,112
without any risk.
763
00:34:40,214 --> 00:34:42,247
When you're on a roller coaster, you
764
00:34:42,350 --> 00:34:43,775
feel when you're at the
top of the roller coaster
765
00:34:43,785 --> 00:34:46,020
like you're about to die.
766
00:34:46,122 --> 00:34:49,191
And simultaneously you know
you're not about to die.
767
00:34:49,293 --> 00:34:50,158
That's the greatest feeling in the world.
768
00:34:50,260 --> 00:34:52,161
That's what art is about.
769
00:34:52,263 --> 00:34:54,630
And that's what Houdini
was able to give us.
770
00:34:54,733 --> 00:34:55,733
Take a look, guys.
771
00:34:58,939 --> 00:35:00,699
It was the first year
that Houdini introduced
772
00:35:00,774 --> 00:35:03,343
the water torture cell, and,
Ivan, how many dollars for it?
773
00:35:03,512 --> 00:35:05,513
$2,500 all over
the house. $3,000.
774
00:35:05,615 --> 00:35:09,385
I got $3,500 and $5,000,
and $6,000, and $7,000.
775
00:35:09,487 --> 00:35:10,487
Back to you.
776
00:35:13,291 --> 00:35:16,394
Anyone 65? $7,000 in time.
777
00:35:16,496 --> 00:35:18,663
And 75 I got for it. $8,000
now and we're at $8,000.
778
00:35:18,766 --> 00:35:20,533
I got 85.
779
00:35:20,635 --> 00:35:21,167
Going to make it 85.
780
00:35:21,269 --> 00:35:22,702
You got to give it $9,000.
781
00:35:22,804 --> 00:35:24,171
You got to give it $9,000 now.
782
00:35:24,273 --> 00:35:24,972
9, I got 95.
783
00:35:25,074 --> 00:35:26,098
You going to make it now 95.
784
00:35:26,108 --> 00:35:27,776
And $10,000?
785
00:35:27,878 --> 00:35:28,076
Your money, yes or no?
786
00:35:28,178 --> 00:35:29,945
$10,000.
787
00:35:30,048 --> 00:35:31,072
I've gotten $10,500 you got to give.
788
00:35:31,082 --> 00:35:32,815
Any more than $10,000?
789
00:35:32,917 --> 00:35:33,984
Don't lose it for that.
790
00:35:34,086 --> 00:35:35,453
Anyone, $10,000?
791
00:35:35,555 --> 00:35:37,923
$10,000 for it, and
that is in, that is out.
792
00:35:38,025 --> 00:35:39,391
All in and all out.
793
00:35:39,494 --> 00:35:40,527
Sold at $10,000.
794
00:35:40,629 --> 00:35:41,061
Thanks for bidding.
795
00:35:41,163 --> 00:35:42,529
Great piece.
796
00:35:42,665 --> 00:35:43,364
Bid number?
797
00:35:43,466 --> 00:35:43,931
530.
798
00:35:44,033 --> 00:35:46,802
Thank you.
799
00:35:46,904 --> 00:35:48,971
Who was this extraordinary man
800
00:35:49,074 --> 00:35:51,707
with the insatiable need
for risk and near-death
801
00:35:51,810 --> 00:35:53,210
experiences?
802
00:35:53,312 --> 00:35:56,448
What's so great about Houdini
is you're simultaneously
803
00:35:56,550 --> 00:35:59,418
cheering for him to win and
cheering for him to lose.
804
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:01,922
You always had this double edge, because I
805
00:36:02,024 --> 00:36:05,059
believe he was probably an
irritating little bastard.
806
00:36:05,161 --> 00:36:08,297
He was somebody who knew
what he wanted, went after it,
807
00:36:08,399 --> 00:36:13,404
and had this terrier-like
kind of, perhaps bulldog-like,
808
00:36:13,506 --> 00:36:16,108
perhaps pitbull-like way of
going after things until he had
809
00:36:16,210 --> 00:36:17,577
them.
810
00:36:17,679 --> 00:36:19,912
But if Houdini had
a challenging personality,
811
00:36:20,014 --> 00:36:23,117
he was also beloved by those who knew him.
812
00:36:23,219 --> 00:36:27,490
Houdini was one of the
kindest, most thoughtful men
813
00:36:27,592 --> 00:36:30,627
I've ever known in my life, and I've
814
00:36:30,729 --> 00:36:31,787
known an awful lot of people.
815
00:36:31,797 --> 00:36:34,499
Everyone who met Harry Houdini remarked
816
00:36:34,601 --> 00:36:36,768
on the intensity in his eyes.
817
00:36:36,871 --> 00:36:39,873
He appeared supremely confident
and afraid of nothing.
818
00:36:39,975 --> 00:36:43,612
He had survived the challenges
of poverty and hard times
819
00:36:43,714 --> 00:36:45,881
and had become a superstar of his day,
820
00:36:45,983 --> 00:36:48,518
but he still wasn't satisfied.
821
00:36:48,620 --> 00:36:51,922
His obsessive pursuit of more
challenges and higher stakes
822
00:36:52,024 --> 00:36:54,592
was putting him on a perilous path.
823
00:36:54,694 --> 00:36:57,830
What more could he do to
top his last performance?
824
00:37:03,006 --> 00:37:04,464
It seemed no restraint, lock, or chain
825
00:37:04,474 --> 00:37:06,341
could hold Harry Houdini.
826
00:37:06,443 --> 00:37:08,711
He boasted, in fact, that there was
827
00:37:08,813 --> 00:37:10,713
nothing that could hold him.
828
00:37:10,815 --> 00:37:12,616
Houdini's greatest invention, I suppose,
829
00:37:12,718 --> 00:37:14,351
was what he called the challenge act.
830
00:37:14,453 --> 00:37:18,258
In effect, he challenged
anybody to put him in anything
831
00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:22,564
or hold him in any way,
and he would get out of it.
832
00:37:22,666 --> 00:37:25,801
The results were that people put
him in extraordinary situations
833
00:37:25,903 --> 00:37:28,138
and handcuffed him, tied him to a ladder,
834
00:37:28,240 --> 00:37:30,908
put him in the belly of a very large fish
835
00:37:31,010 --> 00:37:33,845
that he then was supposed to get out of.
836
00:37:33,948 --> 00:37:36,983
Put him in a bank vault, put him
in an Iron Maiden torture cell.
837
00:37:37,085 --> 00:37:41,755
377 is the Iron Maiden, and I have $20,000
838
00:37:41,857 --> 00:37:46,061
to start here in a proxy, and
$25,000 now, and we're $25,000.
839
00:37:46,163 --> 00:37:47,530
$30,000. $35,000.
840
00:37:47,632 --> 00:37:49,265
I got35.
841
00:37:49,367 --> 00:37:51,836
$40,000 way in
the back. $45,000?
842
00:37:51,938 --> 00:37:53,297
Yes or no, Gary, it's
your bidder at $45,000.
843
00:37:53,307 --> 00:37:57,010
He's in. $50,000 now. $50,000.
844
00:37:57,112 --> 00:37:58,545
$50,000, thank you. $55,000.
845
00:37:58,647 --> 00:38:00,514
You got to give him $55,000.
846
00:38:00,617 --> 00:38:02,117
$55,000.
847
00:38:02,219 --> 00:38:04,419
55, and $60,000.
848
00:38:04,521 --> 00:38:05,655
$60,000 is going to make it.
849
00:38:05,757 --> 00:38:06,222
$60,000.
850
00:38:06,324 --> 00:38:08,091
Go ahead. $60,000.
851
00:38:08,193 --> 00:38:09,093
$65,000.
852
00:38:09,195 --> 00:38:10,628
Is he in?
853
00:38:10,730 --> 00:38:12,464
65, $70,000.
854
00:38:12,566 --> 00:38:13,566
$70,000.
855
00:38:13,634 --> 00:38:14,634
$70,000?
856
00:38:16,938 --> 00:38:19,406
Sold at $65,000 to your bidder, Gary.
857
00:38:19,508 --> 00:38:23,312
567.
858
00:38:23,414 --> 00:38:25,415
But were Houdini's challenges truly the act
859
00:38:25,517 --> 00:38:29,186
of a fearless escape artist
or were they a cunning stunt
860
00:38:29,289 --> 00:38:32,424
crafted by a man who had
learned to work the system?
861
00:38:32,526 --> 00:38:34,727
By piecing together old clippings,
862
00:38:34,829 --> 00:38:38,098
word patterns emerge and
key phrases reappear.
863
00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:41,436
Clearly, Houdini was more
than a passive participant
864
00:38:41,538 --> 00:38:43,272
in these memorable escapes.
865
00:38:43,374 --> 00:38:47,477
Houdini was a master
manipulator at suggestion.
866
00:38:47,579 --> 00:38:52,885
Houdini was touring the
Pierce Arrow plant in Buffalo,
867
00:38:52,987 --> 00:38:55,087
New York when his show
was playing in Buffalo,
868
00:38:55,189 --> 00:38:57,391
and he saw the guys putting
together packing boxes.
869
00:38:57,493 --> 00:38:58,926
He said, hey, I've got an idea.
870
00:38:59,028 --> 00:39:01,296
Why don't you guys in
the shipping department
871
00:39:01,398 --> 00:39:03,099
challenge me to get out of a packing box?
872
00:39:03,234 --> 00:39:04,701
Make it any way you want to.
873
00:39:04,803 --> 00:39:08,505
So he leaves with them
thinking is their idea.
874
00:39:08,607 --> 00:39:12,078
If the challenges set
for Houdini seemed impossible,
875
00:39:12,180 --> 00:39:15,849
the methods for escape sometimes
seemed cunningly simple.
876
00:39:15,951 --> 00:39:18,653
There was a university
professor that gave his physics
877
00:39:18,755 --> 00:39:22,257
class the challenge of
how did Houdini escape
878
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:24,527
from a regulation mailbag?
879
00:39:24,629 --> 00:39:27,163
And all the kids worked on
it, and they all had guesses
880
00:39:27,265 --> 00:39:29,567
and they all had ideas,
and some of the ideas
881
00:39:29,669 --> 00:39:31,871
were pretty clever.
882
00:39:31,973 --> 00:39:35,142
But the idea is you've got a
bag that carries government mail
883
00:39:35,244 --> 00:39:39,314
and it closes with a kind
of a belt that then locks,
884
00:39:39,416 --> 00:39:42,551
you know, a padlock goes through a hasp.
885
00:39:42,653 --> 00:39:44,521
So how did Houdini get out?
886
00:39:44,623 --> 00:39:45,881
Well, none of them got it right.
887
00:39:45,891 --> 00:39:48,960
But how he got out was he
had the key to the padlock
888
00:39:49,062 --> 00:39:52,331
on a very long string and he stuck it out
889
00:39:52,433 --> 00:39:54,768
through the narrow opening
at the top of the bag,
890
00:39:54,870 --> 00:39:57,071
and then he felt the key on the other side.
891
00:39:57,173 --> 00:39:59,073
And he got the lock from the other side,
892
00:39:59,175 --> 00:40:01,710
and he monkeyed around
until he got it open.
893
00:40:01,812 --> 00:40:03,446
That's very simple.
894
00:40:03,548 --> 00:40:04,607
These stunts were a brilliant ploy
895
00:40:04,617 --> 00:40:07,218
to drum up publicity.
896
00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:11,590
Houdini was a skilled self
promoter and a master of hype.
897
00:40:11,692 --> 00:40:13,285
I'm not sure that he was the
greatest magician or inventor
898
00:40:13,295 --> 00:40:16,097
of magic in the world, probably not.
899
00:40:16,199 --> 00:40:20,135
But I think he was probably
the best marketer, for sure.
900
00:40:20,237 --> 00:40:22,972
Houdini was the first
person to really understand
901
00:40:23,074 --> 00:40:25,676
that if you did something off
stage that was amazing that got
902
00:40:25,778 --> 00:40:29,147
people talking about you, it
would get them in the theater.
903
00:40:29,249 --> 00:40:31,042
If I go to a police station and
say to them your cells cannot
904
00:40:31,052 --> 00:40:34,888
hold me, and he could actually
burst out of the cells,
905
00:40:34,990 --> 00:40:36,657
then people would talk about that.
906
00:40:36,759 --> 00:40:38,594
You have to remember that back then there
907
00:40:38,696 --> 00:40:41,198
was no TV, no internet.
908
00:40:41,300 --> 00:40:43,935
You know, your legend became
bigger just by word of mouth.
909
00:40:44,037 --> 00:40:46,471
He knew how to use newspapers
910
00:40:46,573 --> 00:40:47,806
to his own advantage.
911
00:40:47,908 --> 00:40:50,910
All Houdini ever had
to say to any publisher
912
00:40:51,012 --> 00:40:53,414
or any editor was give me a reporter,
913
00:40:53,516 --> 00:40:57,519
I'll give you a story because
they knew he always would.
914
00:40:57,621 --> 00:41:00,756
He lays the groundwork
for much of what comes later
915
00:41:00,859 --> 00:41:05,629
in spectacle, in news stories,
in all kinds of things,
916
00:41:05,731 --> 00:41:10,035
and in particular, he lays the
groundwork for a certain kind
917
00:41:10,137 --> 00:41:13,040
of self invented celebrity that
can be whatever he or she wants
918
00:41:13,142 --> 00:41:17,079
to be and can live very, very large.
919
00:41:17,181 --> 00:41:19,582
Houdini's promotional
campaigns extended far
920
00:41:19,684 --> 00:41:22,219
beyond the traditional press.
921
00:41:22,321 --> 00:41:23,479
When Houdini would appear in a town,
922
00:41:23,489 --> 00:41:27,058
he would publicize himself
the way a circus would.
923
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:33,300
I bought a little picture
of Houdini's advertising guys
924
00:41:33,402 --> 00:41:36,638
walking along a snowy street with signs,
925
00:41:36,740 --> 00:41:39,341
a whole line of signs,
that said Houdini this way.
926
00:41:39,443 --> 00:41:43,013
He hired a bunch of bald
guys to sit in a cafe each
927
00:41:43,115 --> 00:41:45,317
with a letter of Houdini on his head,
928
00:41:45,419 --> 00:41:48,488
and they held down their
heads and spelled out Houdini.
929
00:41:48,590 --> 00:41:50,958
Houdini's most
spectacular promotional stunts
930
00:41:51,060 --> 00:41:52,726
were his outdoor escapes.
931
00:41:52,828 --> 00:41:56,431
He was 33 when he introduced
the manacled bridge escape.
932
00:41:56,533 --> 00:41:59,402
For this trick, he trained
hard swimming distances
933
00:41:59,504 --> 00:42:02,139
and disciplining himself to hold his breath
934
00:42:02,374 --> 00:42:04,075
and endure freezing water.
935
00:42:04,177 --> 00:42:05,710
It's a very, very dangerous stunt.
936
00:42:05,812 --> 00:42:08,113
He would just get on a bridge high up,
937
00:42:08,215 --> 00:42:13,120
he had leg irons on and
handcuffs on, and jump off.
938
00:42:13,222 --> 00:42:15,448
And 30 seconds later, he'd
break through the water holding
939
00:42:15,458 --> 00:42:17,551
the handcuffs and the leg irons
in his hand above his head
940
00:42:17,561 --> 00:42:19,897
triumphantly.
941
00:42:19,999 --> 00:42:22,133
The risky jumps
didn't always go as he planned.
942
00:42:22,235 --> 00:42:24,703
Once in Atlantic City, he hit his head
943
00:42:24,805 --> 00:42:27,640
on the bottom of the beach
there when he jumped off
944
00:42:27,742 --> 00:42:29,509
a pier handcuffed.
945
00:42:29,612 --> 00:42:33,147
I think also in the Mississippi,
the current was very, very
946
00:42:33,249 --> 00:42:36,452
strong, and started
pulling him down and under,
947
00:42:36,554 --> 00:42:38,194
and he barely was able to really get out.
948
00:42:38,256 --> 00:42:40,190
With this wildly popular stunt,
949
00:42:40,292 --> 00:42:44,162
Houdini was again dogged
by rivals stealing his act.
950
00:42:44,264 --> 00:42:45,856
Some of them just used gimmicked handcuffs
951
00:42:45,866 --> 00:42:49,135
that were so really poorly made
that their trouble when they
952
00:42:49,237 --> 00:42:51,497
did a bridge jump or something
was keeping them from falling
953
00:42:51,507 --> 00:42:53,008
off.
954
00:42:53,110 --> 00:42:55,077
The constant imitation by hack magicians
955
00:42:55,179 --> 00:42:56,913
enraged Houdini.
956
00:42:57,049 --> 00:43:02,153
As flattering as it is, I
mean, when you're the innovator
957
00:43:02,255 --> 00:43:04,056
and everybody's stealing your act,
958
00:43:04,158 --> 00:43:05,358
you're fighting for your life.
959
00:43:05,393 --> 00:43:08,294
These rivalries can be very serious.
960
00:43:08,397 --> 00:43:10,398
They say it should be flattering.
961
00:43:10,500 --> 00:43:11,858
It's not the biggest form of flattery.
962
00:43:11,868 --> 00:43:14,336
It's the biggest form of thievery.
963
00:43:14,438 --> 00:43:15,704
Houdini's personal mantra
964
00:43:15,839 --> 00:43:18,908
was do others before they do you,
965
00:43:19,010 --> 00:43:21,545
and he did with a kind of malicious glee.
966
00:43:21,647 --> 00:43:23,748
Famous incident and an escape artist
967
00:43:23,850 --> 00:43:27,454
in Germany, who did a challenge
handcuff, which Houdini did,
968
00:43:27,556 --> 00:43:28,815
challenging anyone there
to bring handcuffs,
969
00:43:28,825 --> 00:43:30,758
and he would get out of it.
970
00:43:30,860 --> 00:43:32,820
The fact that he was really
stealing Houdini's challenge
971
00:43:32,830 --> 00:43:35,865
act drove Houdini crazy.
972
00:43:35,967 --> 00:43:38,636
So he went to the theater
where this guy was performing,
973
00:43:38,738 --> 00:43:41,306
and when the guy said, I challenge anyone
974
00:43:41,408 --> 00:43:44,076
in the audience to put me in handcuffs,
975
00:43:44,178 --> 00:43:47,046
Houdini came up with handcuffs
he was sure this guy could not
976
00:43:47,148 --> 00:43:50,417
possibly get out of, and handcuffed him.
977
00:43:50,519 --> 00:43:52,821
And the guy struggled on
stage for half an hour or so.
978
00:43:52,923 --> 00:43:54,657
Couldn't get out at all, and Houdini then
979
00:43:54,759 --> 00:43:57,127
got back on the stage,
and said to the audience,
980
00:43:57,229 --> 00:44:00,766
you see, he stole things
from the great Houdini
981
00:44:00,868 --> 00:44:03,302
and now he is reduced to nothing.
982
00:44:03,405 --> 00:44:06,841
One lifelong rival was
his loving brother Dash, known
983
00:44:06,976 --> 00:44:09,577
to the rest of the world as Hardeen.
984
00:44:09,679 --> 00:44:13,549
They would go town to town
and compete with one another,
985
00:44:13,651 --> 00:44:17,354
but the public would not
know that they were brothers.
986
00:44:17,456 --> 00:44:19,824
Of the five brothers, Houdini and Harden
987
00:44:19,926 --> 00:44:22,360
were the closest sharing this
common passion for magic.
988
00:44:22,463 --> 00:44:26,867
I remember my mom telling
me when they would go over
989
00:44:26,969 --> 00:44:29,036
on an afternoon, my grandfather and Houdini
990
00:44:29,139 --> 00:44:31,239
would be rolling coins in their fingers
991
00:44:31,341 --> 00:44:36,781
just to keep their fingers
nimble, supple, and practicing.
992
00:44:36,883 --> 00:44:39,217
And they would spend hours practicing.
993
00:44:39,319 --> 00:44:41,419
But they'd also steal each other's thunder.
994
00:44:41,523 --> 00:44:46,527
When Houdini and Hardeen both
appeared in Tacoma, Washington,
995
00:44:46,629 --> 00:44:49,164
and Houdini went to do his
straitjacket escape hanging
996
00:44:49,266 --> 00:44:51,801
from one of the public buildings,
997
00:44:51,903 --> 00:44:53,928
Hardeen decided that was a
good time to pass playbills
998
00:44:53,938 --> 00:44:57,107
out advertising Hardeen.
999
00:44:57,209 --> 00:45:02,881
So the public watching the show
thought Hardeen was up there.
1000
00:45:02,983 --> 00:45:04,543
I can only say that they didn't
talk for a couple of weeks
1001
00:45:04,553 --> 00:45:06,086
after that.
1002
00:45:06,189 --> 00:45:07,823
Even in the face of competition,
1003
00:45:07,991 --> 00:45:10,760
Harry Houdini was redefining
magic and the art of self
1004
00:45:10,862 --> 00:45:12,962
promotion.
1005
00:45:13,064 --> 00:45:16,835
He compulsively looked for new
adventure and bigger headlines,
1006
00:45:16,937 --> 00:45:19,037
and in the rapidly changing world,
1007
00:45:19,139 --> 00:45:21,440
Houdini would set his
sights on new challenges
1008
00:45:21,542 --> 00:45:23,243
far from the live stage.
1009
00:45:26,783 --> 00:45:28,103
The beginning of the 20th century
1010
00:45:28,151 --> 00:45:29,510
was a time of rapid
transformation in the United
1011
00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:31,520
States.
1012
00:45:31,622 --> 00:45:34,257
Thomas Edison, the Wright
brothers, and US Steel
1013
00:45:34,359 --> 00:45:36,527
were permanently changing the world,
1014
00:45:36,629 --> 00:45:39,899
and Harry Houdini was not
one to get left behind.
1015
00:45:40,001 --> 00:45:42,569
If innovation and technology
were the new wave,
1016
00:45:42,671 --> 00:45:45,607
Houdini was going to grab
his share of the spotlight.
1017
00:45:45,709 --> 00:45:48,544
Houdini is very much
a 20th century magician.
1018
00:45:48,646 --> 00:45:54,050
So much of his fame depended
on the city, the skyscraper,
1019
00:45:54,152 --> 00:45:56,654
and airplanes, which he learned how to fly.
1020
00:45:56,756 --> 00:46:00,158
He was a very modern kind of personality.
1021
00:46:00,261 --> 00:46:03,763
Houdini saw his first
airplane in 1909, six years
1022
00:46:03,866 --> 00:46:06,166
after the Wright brothers
first successful flight.
1023
00:46:06,269 --> 00:46:10,105
All around him, courageous
pilots were making headlines.
1024
00:46:10,208 --> 00:46:13,444
On a tour in Europe in
1910, 36-year-old Houdini
1025
00:46:13,546 --> 00:46:16,949
paid $5,000 for a French made
biplane and hired a mechanic
1026
00:46:17,051 --> 00:46:18,951
to teach him to fly.
1027
00:46:19,086 --> 00:46:21,688
Crating the plane for passage to Australia,
1028
00:46:21,790 --> 00:46:24,025
he was determined to make
some history himself.
1029
00:46:24,127 --> 00:46:26,762
Houdini wanted to be the first person
1030
00:46:26,864 --> 00:46:31,000
to fly in Australia because that
was the only continent where
1031
00:46:31,102 --> 00:46:32,603
nobody had ever flown.
1032
00:46:32,838 --> 00:46:36,007
While performing
his magic act in Melbourne,
1033
00:46:36,109 --> 00:46:39,011
Houdini would take off after his
show for a nearby army parade
1034
00:46:39,113 --> 00:46:41,447
field to attempt piloting his plane.
1035
00:46:41,549 --> 00:46:42,829
There was criteria by that time.
1036
00:46:46,056 --> 00:46:47,890
then you had to perform some maneuvers,
1037
00:46:47,992 --> 00:46:50,560
including the figure eight.
1038
00:46:50,662 --> 00:46:52,296
You had to fly a pattern, and you had
1039
00:46:52,398 --> 00:46:53,564
to make a successful landing.
1040
00:46:53,666 --> 00:46:55,667
Houdini was faced with bad weather
1041
00:46:55,769 --> 00:46:58,004
and mechanical problems.
1042
00:46:58,106 --> 00:46:59,826
On one attempt, Houdini managed to lift off
1043
00:46:59,841 --> 00:47:03,077
several feet in the air, but
the plane nosed to the ground
1044
00:47:03,179 --> 00:47:04,612
and broke the propeller.
1045
00:47:04,715 --> 00:47:06,881
And then he faced something much worse,
1046
00:47:06,984 --> 00:47:09,051
a rival competing for the record.
1047
00:47:09,153 --> 00:47:13,457
About a day before Houdini was able to get
1048
00:47:13,559 --> 00:47:20,301
into the air in Australia,
a fellow flew a monoplane
1049
00:47:20,403 --> 00:47:23,138
and apparently had a successful
flight during which he met most
1050
00:47:23,240 --> 00:47:26,208
of that criteria.
1051
00:47:26,311 --> 00:47:30,714
But he did it in the predawn
and only a few neighbors
1052
00:47:30,816 --> 00:47:36,489
saw him take off, whereas
Houdini, a day later, had
1053
00:47:36,591 --> 00:47:39,126
the newsreels there, and there
was just all of this coverage.
1054
00:47:42,031 --> 00:47:43,898
Generally speaking, the Australians
1055
00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:47,436
give him the credit for making
the first successful airplane
1056
00:47:47,538 --> 00:47:49,018
flight on the continent of Australia,
1057
00:47:52,545 --> 00:47:54,405
Houdini understood
the value of getting his stunts
1058
00:47:54,415 --> 00:47:57,250
on newsreels thinking
film would be his best
1059
00:47:57,352 --> 00:47:58,552
bet to achieve immortality.
1060
00:47:58,654 --> 00:48:03,224
He first shows up in the
movies as early as 1901.
1061
00:48:03,326 --> 00:48:06,495
Pathe Newsreels got a
shot of him diving off
1062
00:48:06,597 --> 00:48:08,932
the wall of the Paris Morgans in the Seine.
1063
00:48:09,034 --> 00:48:11,602
Then in 1908, he does a short film,
1064
00:48:11,704 --> 00:48:14,073
and he does an escape from
being tied to a chair.
1065
00:48:20,783 --> 00:48:24,052
In 1916, after a long
fascination with the motion
1066
00:48:24,154 --> 00:48:27,524
picture camera, he formed
a film development company.
1067
00:48:27,626 --> 00:48:32,163
He buys a patent from Germany
that will allow motion picture
1068
00:48:32,265 --> 00:48:35,201
film to be developed overnight.
1069
00:48:35,303 --> 00:48:37,971
There was no such thing as
dailies in American film,
1070
00:48:38,073 --> 00:48:39,553
so he tried to bring that to America.
1071
00:48:39,576 --> 00:48:41,876
It was a failed business venture.
1072
00:48:41,978 --> 00:48:45,114
He somehow gave the
impression that it didn't matter
1073
00:48:45,216 --> 00:48:47,476
how badly you shot it, he would
be able to develop it fine
1074
00:48:47,486 --> 00:48:48,953
and that was never true.
1075
00:48:49,055 --> 00:48:51,388
But in 1918, at age 44,
1076
00:48:51,491 --> 00:48:53,458
a different kind of Hollywood opportunity
1077
00:48:53,560 --> 00:48:56,529
came his way, this time
in front of the camera.
1078
00:48:56,631 --> 00:48:59,733
He got an offer from a producer BA Rolfe
1079
00:48:59,835 --> 00:49:03,572
to star in a 15 chapter serial,
but he does this 15 chapter
1080
00:49:03,674 --> 00:49:05,976
serial, and it's a worldwide hit.
1081
00:49:06,078 --> 00:49:09,113
The success of this
serial, "The Master Mystery,"
1082
00:49:09,215 --> 00:49:11,116
led to leading roles in Hollywood.
1083
00:49:11,218 --> 00:49:13,485
It landed him in a new world entirely,
1084
00:49:13,587 --> 00:49:15,655
and he got to know people like Chaplin,
1085
00:49:15,757 --> 00:49:18,392
and he met a lot of the stars.
1086
00:49:18,494 --> 00:49:21,763
You see him posed with starlets
and the important actresses.
1087
00:49:21,865 --> 00:49:25,034
His most remarkable film, "The Grim Game,"
1088
00:49:25,136 --> 00:49:28,639
was shot in 1919 and dubbed the
greatest thrill picture ever
1089
00:49:28,741 --> 00:49:29,941
made.
1090
00:49:30,043 --> 00:49:32,844
It was filled with his
usual heart stopping stunts,
1091
00:49:32,946 --> 00:49:35,982
but its most memorable moment
didn't even feature Houdini.
1092
00:49:36,084 --> 00:49:40,055
Houdini's on the wings of
a biplane and another plane
1093
00:49:40,157 --> 00:49:44,794
passes underneath it and Houdini
lowers himself from the biplane
1094
00:49:44,896 --> 00:49:46,430
to the plane underneath.
1095
00:49:46,532 --> 00:49:48,866
I mean, that's a really
great bit of moviemaking.
1096
00:49:48,969 --> 00:49:51,403
Turns out though that it
really wasn't Houdini.
1097
00:49:51,505 --> 00:49:53,739
It was a stuntman named Robert Kennedy.
1098
00:49:53,841 --> 00:49:57,711
A gust of wind blows the lower
plane into the upper plane.
1099
00:49:57,813 --> 00:50:01,784
There's footage of it,
and they can't untangle,
1100
00:50:01,886 --> 00:50:04,821
and they start spinning
down toward the ground.
1101
00:50:04,923 --> 00:50:09,995
And eventually, just as they're
getting down to ground level,
1102
00:50:10,097 --> 00:50:12,799
they separate and they
both make safe landings.
1103
00:50:12,901 --> 00:50:15,903
Houdini's stunt double
crash landed and was dragged
1104
00:50:16,005 --> 00:50:19,474
through a bean field, roughed up but alive.
1105
00:50:19,576 --> 00:50:23,981
Houdini appropriated the story
into his act offering $1,000
1106
00:50:24,083 --> 00:50:27,018
to anyone who could prove
the scene wasn't real.
1107
00:50:27,187 --> 00:50:29,520
He failed to mention that
while the stunt was real,
1108
00:50:29,656 --> 00:50:31,690
it didn't actually feature him.
1109
00:50:31,792 --> 00:50:34,194
But time came during one performance
1110
00:50:34,296 --> 00:50:36,664
when there was someone in the
audience who knew the truth.
1111
00:50:36,766 --> 00:50:40,869
He called for a committee
to put him in a straitjacket
1112
00:50:40,971 --> 00:50:43,131
or something, and among the
people who came up on stage
1113
00:50:43,142 --> 00:50:46,344
was the pilot of one of the planes.
1114
00:50:46,446 --> 00:50:53,687
Now, the pilot of that plane
could have blown him out
1115
00:50:53,789 --> 00:50:55,623
of the water.
1116
00:50:55,725 --> 00:50:57,358
Houdini barely missed a beat.
1117
00:50:57,460 --> 00:51:02,165
He recognized him, put his
arm around the pilot's shoulder,
1118
00:51:02,267 --> 00:51:05,136
walked him to the footlights,
and said, ladies and gentlemen,
1119
00:51:05,271 --> 00:51:07,738
this is the man who saved my life.
1120
00:51:07,840 --> 00:51:10,175
And the pilot kept Houdini's secret.
1121
00:51:10,277 --> 00:51:13,980
Houdini followed up "The Grim
Game" with "Terror Island,"
1122
00:51:14,082 --> 00:51:15,917
which pitted Houdini
against hundreds of spear
1123
00:51:16,019 --> 00:51:17,653
waving natives.
1124
00:51:17,755 --> 00:51:20,957
Audiences found "Terror Island"
overly melodramatic and even
1125
00:51:21,060 --> 00:51:22,060
laughable.
1126
00:51:24,331 --> 00:51:25,029
All righty, right here.
1127
00:51:25,131 --> 00:51:27,333
Two "Terror Island," Very cool.
1128
00:51:27,435 --> 00:51:28,300
What are we going to start there at $500.
1129
00:51:28,402 --> 00:51:29,501
Then go.
1130
00:51:29,603 --> 00:51:33,039
$600, $600, $650
now. $650, $700?
1131
00:51:33,175 --> 00:51:35,609
$700. $750 to you,
sir. $800 now.
1132
00:51:35,712 --> 00:51:36,712
$800 now.
1133
00:51:38,782 --> 00:51:40,350
Now $900.
1134
00:51:40,618 --> 00:51:42,118
$950 to you, sir.
1135
00:51:42,220 --> 00:51:45,589
$1,000 now. $1,000
now. $950, $1,000.
1136
00:51:45,725 --> 00:51:46,858
$1,100. $1,100. $1,100.
1137
00:51:47,094 --> 00:51:48,094
11.
1138
00:51:48,128 --> 00:51:49,696
12 to bid now. $1,100. $1,200.
1139
00:51:49,865 --> 00:51:50,865
12.
1140
00:51:50,966 --> 00:51:51,732
12.
13.
1141
00:51:51,834 --> 00:51:52,734
Bid of 13.
1142
00:51:52,836 --> 00:51:53,434
14. $1,500.
1143
00:51:53,536 --> 00:51:53,935
15, $1,600.
1144
00:51:54,237 --> 00:51:54,936
16.
1145
00:51:55,138 --> 00:51:56,171
17.
1146
00:51:56,273 --> 00:51:57,539
16, now $1,700.
1147
00:51:57,641 --> 00:51:59,042
16, now $1,700.
1148
00:51:59,144 --> 00:52:03,147
Any advance on 16 with $1,700?
1149
00:52:03,249 --> 00:52:04,915
Sold $1,600.
1150
00:52:05,017 --> 00:52:05,350
509.
1151
00:52:05,452 --> 00:52:06,452
509.
1152
00:52:06,487 --> 00:52:07,686
There you go right there.
1153
00:52:13,129 --> 00:52:15,130
Houdini made a few
other films, but none of them
1154
00:52:15,232 --> 00:52:16,531
were successful.
1155
00:52:16,633 --> 00:52:18,000
Houdini's charisma on stage didn't
1156
00:52:18,102 --> 00:52:20,536
seem to translate to film.
1157
00:52:20,638 --> 00:52:22,340
He wasn't a very good leading man.
1158
00:52:22,442 --> 00:52:24,468
He had not that much interest
in the leading ladies.
1159
00:52:24,478 --> 00:52:25,944
He was very awkward.
1160
00:52:26,046 --> 00:52:27,981
The fight scenes he was quite good at,
1161
00:52:28,116 --> 00:52:30,450
and there are a couple of
excerpts where you see him
1162
00:52:30,553 --> 00:52:33,989
undoing restraints with his
toes where he's fantastic,
1163
00:52:34,091 --> 00:52:36,224
but he wasn't able to master the medium.
1164
00:52:36,326 --> 00:52:38,795
Houdini recognized films
were very dangerous for him
1165
00:52:38,897 --> 00:52:40,798
because if you perform a miracle,
1166
00:52:40,900 --> 00:52:44,202
the audience always suspects camera magic.
1167
00:52:44,304 --> 00:52:45,862
Houdini was in touch
with all that was changing
1168
00:52:45,872 --> 00:52:49,843
in the American culture, but
he was a man of contradiction.
1169
00:52:49,945 --> 00:52:51,665
While his interests were thoroughly modern,
1170
00:52:51,680 --> 00:52:54,882
his values were deeply traditional.
1171
00:52:54,984 --> 00:52:56,645
He was a loving family man
and was absolutely devoted
1172
00:52:56,655 --> 00:52:58,188
to his wife Bess.
1173
00:52:58,290 --> 00:53:02,427
Every anniversary they would
have some kind of sentimental
1174
00:53:02,529 --> 00:53:05,832
picture taking back at Coney
Island where they were married.
1175
00:53:05,934 --> 00:53:07,459
One of the best things
I've ever seen in my life
1176
00:53:07,469 --> 00:53:10,337
is a portrait of him and Bess, very old.
1177
00:53:10,439 --> 00:53:15,144
And it was signed Harry Handcuff
Houdini in matrimony, the one
1178
00:53:15,246 --> 00:53:18,281
set of shackles he does not wish to escape.
1179
00:53:18,383 --> 00:53:20,650
If Bess was the love of his life,
1180
00:53:20,752 --> 00:53:23,855
then his mother Cecilia
was his rock of Gibraltar.
1181
00:53:23,957 --> 00:53:26,091
When Houdini did his
first bridge jump, which
1182
00:53:26,193 --> 00:53:28,661
was from a bridge in New
Jersey, he wrote in his diary
1183
00:53:28,763 --> 00:53:30,999
not about the success of the jump,
1184
00:53:31,101 --> 00:53:35,004
but he wrote Ma saw me
jump, exclamation point.
1185
00:53:35,106 --> 00:53:38,141
And I think his mother often
figured as his audience
1186
00:53:38,244 --> 00:53:40,564
in his head, that he was always
sort of performing for her.
1187
00:53:40,614 --> 00:53:44,984
This a photograph of him
with his arm around his wife
1188
00:53:45,086 --> 00:53:46,577
Bess and another arm around his mother,
1189
00:53:46,587 --> 00:53:49,089
and he calls them my two girlfriends.
1190
00:53:49,191 --> 00:53:53,128
In July 1913, Houdini set sail
1191
00:53:53,230 --> 00:53:56,299
for a command performance
before the King of Sweden.
1192
00:53:56,401 --> 00:53:58,059
His mother called to him from
the dock asking him to bring
1193
00:53:58,069 --> 00:54:00,404
her a pair of woolen slippers.
1194
00:54:00,506 --> 00:54:02,541
Days later, she suffered a stroke
1195
00:54:02,643 --> 00:54:06,647
and died before he could return.
1196
00:54:06,782 --> 00:54:09,784
It took him completely apart.
1197
00:54:09,886 --> 00:54:11,786
He lost all of his energy.
1198
00:54:11,888 --> 00:54:15,158
He kept on performing
because that's what you do,
1199
00:54:15,294 --> 00:54:16,893
you keep performing.
1200
00:54:16,995 --> 00:54:20,064
Stark reminders of Houdini's great loss
1201
00:54:20,166 --> 00:54:22,366
are seen in the letters from
Sydney Radner's collection.
1202
00:54:22,436 --> 00:54:24,771
I bought one letter that I
was very much in love with.
1203
00:54:24,873 --> 00:54:29,977
It's the first letter that
Houdini sent his brother
1204
00:54:30,079 --> 00:54:33,815
on his brand new stationery,
which had a black border
1205
00:54:33,917 --> 00:54:35,618
because his mother had died.
1206
00:54:35,720 --> 00:54:37,455
Dash, it's tough.
1207
00:54:37,557 --> 00:54:40,124
I can't seem to get over it.
1208
00:54:40,226 --> 00:54:42,661
Sometimes I feel all right,
but when a calm moment arrives,
1209
00:54:42,763 --> 00:54:45,065
I'm as bad as ever.
1210
00:54:45,167 --> 00:54:46,766
Time heals all wounds but a long time
1211
00:54:46,869 --> 00:54:49,770
will have to pass before it
will heal the terrible blow.
1212
00:54:49,872 --> 00:54:52,741
Houdini called it the
shock from which he could not
1213
00:54:52,843 --> 00:54:54,143
recover.
1214
00:54:54,245 --> 00:54:56,947
The enormous pain of his mother's death
1215
00:54:57,049 --> 00:54:59,584
would propel him into the most
bizarre act of his career.
1216
00:55:05,828 --> 00:55:06,919
The second great act of Houdini's career
1217
00:55:06,929 --> 00:55:09,865
came with the end of
World War I and took him
1218
00:55:09,967 --> 00:55:12,168
from the entertainment
pages to the front page.
1219
00:55:12,270 --> 00:55:15,305
It all began with a 60-year-old
religious movement called
1220
00:55:15,408 --> 00:55:18,309
Spiritualism that professed
to use seances and spirit
1221
00:55:18,411 --> 00:55:20,612
mediums to contact the dead.
1222
00:55:20,714 --> 00:55:23,783
People who had lost sons,
husbands, daughters, and loved
1223
00:55:23,885 --> 00:55:26,654
ones in the war were interested
in trying to contact them.
1224
00:55:26,756 --> 00:55:29,157
With all the great technological advances
1225
00:55:29,259 --> 00:55:32,328
at the turn of the century,
raising spirits of lost loved
1226
00:55:32,430 --> 00:55:34,865
ones was sold not only
as possible but based
1227
00:55:34,967 --> 00:55:35,967
in real science.
1228
00:55:39,572 --> 00:55:44,111
the inside of your skeleton,
why not talk to the dead?
1229
00:55:44,213 --> 00:55:46,439
When we look at that right now,
we think, oh my God, how naive.
1230
00:55:46,449 --> 00:55:47,949
But no.
1231
00:55:48,052 --> 00:55:52,955
People are torn between
the old modalities of living
1232
00:55:53,058 --> 00:55:55,959
and the new world with
technology and cities
1233
00:55:56,062 --> 00:55:58,163
and factories and cars, and this is making
1234
00:55:58,265 --> 00:56:00,099
people question their religion.
1235
00:56:00,201 --> 00:56:02,201
Do I believe in religion?
1236
00:56:02,303 --> 00:56:03,437
Do I believe in science?
1237
00:56:03,539 --> 00:56:06,908
Isn't there some way I can believe in both?
1238
00:56:07,010 --> 00:56:11,046
Spiritualism gives you that answer.
1239
00:56:11,148 --> 00:56:12,148
Sort of.
1240
00:56:14,886 --> 00:56:17,022
to the beyond conducted
seances in which they summoned
1241
00:56:17,124 --> 00:56:19,625
supernatural phenomena to demonstrate
1242
00:56:19,761 --> 00:56:21,861
the presence of real spirits.
1243
00:56:21,964 --> 00:56:23,797
Spirits of the dead would come back
1244
00:56:23,899 --> 00:56:28,938
some time as luminous presences,
sometimes as voices, sometimes
1245
00:56:29,040 --> 00:56:31,240
they would touch the people sitting
1246
00:56:31,342 --> 00:56:33,677
around the seance table.
1247
00:56:33,779 --> 00:56:35,446
The mediums would go to great lengths
1248
00:56:35,548 --> 00:56:37,883
to prove there were spirits in the room.
1249
00:56:37,985 --> 00:56:40,619
Candlesticks would levitate,
ghostly images and objects
1250
00:56:40,721 --> 00:56:41,721
would appear.
1251
00:56:43,859 --> 00:56:46,460
substance called ectoplasm.
1252
00:56:46,562 --> 00:56:48,563
Houdini knew better.
1253
00:56:48,665 --> 00:56:49,957
He recognized their magicians tricks.
1254
00:56:49,967 --> 00:56:52,636
He saw around him these spiritualists
1255
00:56:52,738 --> 00:56:55,940
performing effects where they
were obviously, to Houdini,
1256
00:56:56,042 --> 00:56:58,778
getting out of the cuffs,
getting out of the ropes,
1257
00:56:58,880 --> 00:57:01,882
getting out of the binds that hold them.
1258
00:57:01,984 --> 00:57:03,109
There was a book called
"Revelations of a Spirit
1259
00:57:03,119 --> 00:57:05,620
Medium" that was sort of a Bible to him
1260
00:57:05,722 --> 00:57:08,390
and that had a lot of that,
you know, being tied up
1261
00:57:08,492 --> 00:57:11,494
and escaping and getting back
in before the lights came on.
1262
00:57:11,596 --> 00:57:15,232
And of course, we see
that in the Metamorphosis.
1263
00:57:15,334 --> 00:57:18,804
He gets out of a rope tie, his
wife gets into the rope tie.
1264
00:57:18,906 --> 00:57:20,206
Throughout his career, Houdini
1265
00:57:20,308 --> 00:57:22,108
was wary of the spiritualists.
1266
00:57:22,211 --> 00:57:26,048
Distancing his acts of illusion
from their supernatural claims,
1267
00:57:26,150 --> 00:57:28,819
which he knew used some of the same tricks.
1268
00:57:28,921 --> 00:57:32,623
But in 1922, an incident
involving his friend Sir Arthur
1269
00:57:32,725 --> 00:57:34,692
Conan Doyle, author of the
Sherlock Holmes novels,
1270
00:57:34,794 --> 00:57:36,562
launched him into action.
1271
00:57:36,664 --> 00:57:39,999
Arthur Conan Doyle lost a
son in the First World War,
1272
00:57:40,101 --> 00:57:41,936
killed in action, and he went to see
1273
00:57:42,038 --> 00:57:44,806
a medium who produced his son.
1274
00:57:44,908 --> 00:57:47,342
The son came into the room and
kissed him on the forehead.
1275
00:57:47,444 --> 00:57:49,645
Houdini and Conan Doyle were friends,
1276
00:57:49,747 --> 00:57:52,182
yet this was something they
fought about all the time,
1277
00:57:52,284 --> 00:57:55,887
was whether the psychic
phenomena was real or not.
1278
00:57:55,989 --> 00:57:58,491
Conan Doyle even believed
that the way Houdini got out
1279
00:57:58,594 --> 00:58:02,029
of his Metamorphoses trunk,
escaped from the binds
1280
00:58:02,131 --> 00:58:05,701
and from the box was that he dematerialized
1281
00:58:05,803 --> 00:58:08,338
and re-materialized outside the box.
1282
00:58:08,440 --> 00:58:11,642
Lady Doyle was a spiritualist and did
1283
00:58:11,744 --> 00:58:13,645
what we call spirit writing.
1284
00:58:13,747 --> 00:58:16,816
And on one occasion in Atlantic City,
1285
00:58:16,918 --> 00:58:19,151
she offered to do the seance for Houdini.
1286
00:58:19,255 --> 00:58:22,523
She purported to bring
Houdini's mother back
1287
00:58:22,626 --> 00:58:24,726
and she made some fairly severe mistakes,
1288
00:58:24,828 --> 00:58:27,129
like writing in English
and putting a cross on it.
1289
00:58:27,231 --> 00:58:30,166
And since his mother didn't speak English
1290
00:58:30,269 --> 00:58:33,205
and was the wife of a rabbi,
these seem fairly inappropriate
1291
00:58:33,307 --> 00:58:34,339
things to do.
1292
00:58:34,441 --> 00:58:36,910
Houdini held his tongue with Lady Doyle,
1293
00:58:37,012 --> 00:58:39,947
but his fury had been unleashed.
1294
00:58:40,049 --> 00:58:41,689
The only voices he heard were the calling
1295
00:58:41,752 --> 00:58:45,354
to expose the so-called spirit mediums.
1296
00:58:45,456 --> 00:58:49,559
I do think that he felt very
acutely the grief of people who
1297
00:58:49,662 --> 00:58:54,566
had lost relatives and that did
make him resent very strongly
1298
00:58:54,669 --> 00:58:56,302
people who were exploiting that grief.
1299
00:58:56,404 --> 00:58:59,005
Houdini went to great
lengths against these mediums.
1300
00:58:59,107 --> 00:59:01,943
He would bust up seances.
1301
00:59:02,045 --> 00:59:03,779
He would come in with
local police sometimes
1302
00:59:03,881 --> 00:59:05,615
or he would come with reporters.
1303
00:59:05,717 --> 00:59:07,284
People were falsifying this evidence
1304
00:59:07,386 --> 00:59:09,286
and giving people the
wrong image of the world.
1305
00:59:09,388 --> 00:59:12,223
They were giving them bad
information about life.
1306
00:59:12,326 --> 00:59:14,660
They were taking away the precious memories
1307
00:59:14,762 --> 00:59:16,797
of dead people and replacing them
1308
00:59:16,899 --> 00:59:22,036
with silly prattling of little
voices in darkened rooms.
1309
00:59:22,138 --> 00:59:24,473
He despised these people
and was very zealous in trying
1310
00:59:24,575 --> 00:59:26,209
to expose them all.
1311
00:59:26,311 --> 00:59:28,311
Some of the mediums were
extremely clever though.
1312
00:59:28,413 --> 00:59:29,933
I mean, Houdini was very aware that he
1313
00:59:30,016 --> 00:59:34,252
was up against some
diabolically clever people.
1314
00:59:34,355 --> 00:59:35,688
There was one headline where he
1315
00:59:35,790 --> 00:59:38,359
had taken a reporter and a photographer
1316
00:59:38,462 --> 00:59:41,229
to this local medium's seance.
1317
00:59:41,331 --> 00:59:43,132
Well, in the dark, the medium was supposed
1318
00:59:43,234 --> 00:59:46,370
to have her hands being held
by the people on either side
1319
00:59:46,472 --> 00:59:49,040
of her, and they had their
feet resting on her feet
1320
00:59:49,142 --> 00:59:51,110
so that she couldn't move.
1321
00:59:51,212 --> 00:59:54,381
But he had the photographer take
a flash picture in the dark,
1322
00:59:54,483 --> 00:59:55,982
and there she was leaning backwards
1323
00:59:56,084 --> 01:00:02,290
with a megaphone up to her
lips making ghostly sounds.
1324
01:00:02,493 --> 01:00:04,093
Even the respected journal
1325
01:00:04,195 --> 01:00:06,662
"Scientific American" took
an interest in spiritualism.
1326
01:00:06,765 --> 01:00:09,066
"Scientific American Magazine,"
1327
01:00:09,168 --> 01:00:12,271
which was hardly naive, offered a prize
1328
01:00:12,373 --> 01:00:17,045
for any medium who could show definitely
1329
01:00:17,147 --> 01:00:19,547
kinds of psychic phenomena.
1330
01:00:19,650 --> 01:00:22,751
Houdini got on the committee and
exposed really all the mediums
1331
01:00:22,854 --> 01:00:23,987
who tried out for the prize.
1332
01:00:27,126 --> 01:00:28,692
who knew a lot about deception.
1333
01:00:28,795 --> 01:00:30,254
I mean, there's nobody in the world who
1334
01:00:30,264 --> 01:00:31,963
knew as much about deception.
1335
01:00:32,066 --> 01:00:34,500
You know, he kind of needed an adversary,
1336
01:00:34,602 --> 01:00:36,603
and they were made to order.
1337
01:00:36,705 --> 01:00:39,707
Mediums, who would allow
themselves to be tied and then
1338
01:00:39,810 --> 01:00:42,411
still produce a bouquet
of flowers on the table
1339
01:00:42,513 --> 01:00:44,346
from the other world,
Houdini would say, well,
1340
01:00:44,449 --> 01:00:46,651
let me tie you.
1341
01:00:46,753 --> 01:00:49,488
And he would tie the
medium and no more flowers.
1342
01:00:49,590 --> 01:00:52,425
I mean, once Houdini tied
somebody that was it.
1343
01:00:52,527 --> 01:00:53,887
Nobody was going to get out of it.
1344
01:00:55,765 --> 01:00:59,167
When he was playing Chicago,
he wasn't getting headlines
1345
01:00:59,269 --> 01:01:00,435
on the entertainment page.
1346
01:01:00,537 --> 01:01:02,572
He was getting front page headlines.
1347
01:01:02,674 --> 01:01:06,677
By 1923, Houdini's feud
with the spiritualist
1348
01:01:06,779 --> 01:01:09,581
had become so well publicized
that the spirit mediums were
1349
01:01:09,683 --> 01:01:11,150
on the lookout for his visits.
1350
01:01:11,252 --> 01:01:15,122
He needed to find a new way to expose them.
1351
01:01:15,224 --> 01:01:18,025
He had a detective
named Rose Mackenberg, who
1352
01:01:18,128 --> 01:01:21,264
would be in the next city and
she would be going to mediums.
1353
01:01:21,366 --> 01:01:23,901
And she would give them
this story, you know,
1354
01:01:24,003 --> 01:01:27,038
I want to hear from my
son, my son who passed on.
1355
01:01:27,141 --> 01:01:30,877
Well, she didn't have a
son, and then she would also
1356
01:01:30,979 --> 01:01:34,181
try to get herself ordained in
a local spiritualistic church.
1357
01:01:34,283 --> 01:01:35,363
Maybe you heard about that.
1358
01:01:38,788 --> 01:01:41,624
F. Raud, fraud.
1359
01:01:41,726 --> 01:01:44,961
And so now Houdini gets to town
and he's got a little dossier
1360
01:01:45,063 --> 01:01:49,968
on the phony mediums in town,
and he has an emissary present
1361
01:01:50,070 --> 01:01:51,370
them with tickets to the show.
1362
01:01:51,472 --> 01:01:52,832
And he said, Mr Houdini
intends to talk about you,
1363
01:01:52,842 --> 01:01:54,910
so they would arrive all fired up.
1364
01:01:55,012 --> 01:01:57,271
And they would also maybe arrive
thinking that they were going
1365
01:01:57,281 --> 01:01:59,815
to be able to defend themselves,
and Houdini would just
1366
01:01:59,918 --> 01:02:01,585
eat them alive.
1367
01:02:01,687 --> 01:02:05,190
Lot number 370, lobby
display, Jail for medium.
1368
01:02:05,292 --> 01:02:06,292
Who'll say $500.
1369
01:02:06,393 --> 01:02:07,158
Thank you. $500.
1370
01:02:07,260 --> 01:02:09,495
I have for it, and $750?
1371
01:02:09,597 --> 01:02:10,597
Going to make it now.
1372
01:02:11,099 --> 01:02:12,099
Got to give him $750.
1373
01:02:12,167 --> 01:02:13,066
We're now at $750.
1374
01:02:13,168 --> 01:02:14,235
Got to say it now. $750.
1375
01:02:14,337 --> 01:02:16,871
And $1 $800.
1376
01:02:16,974 --> 01:02:17,974
$1,100.
1377
01:02:18,008 --> 01:02:19,008
$1,100 on the net.
1378
01:02:21,446 --> 01:02:22,111
15 you got to give.
1379
01:02:22,214 --> 01:02:25,349
I'm at $1,100. $1,100 for it?
1380
01:02:25,451 --> 01:02:30,390
All in and all out, sold
for $1,100 to the net.
1381
01:02:30,492 --> 01:02:32,392
But proving low rent spirit mediums
1382
01:02:32,494 --> 01:02:35,396
were duping their believers
was easy for Houdini.
1383
01:02:35,498 --> 01:02:37,900
The ultimate test for him
and the Scientific American
1384
01:02:38,002 --> 01:02:40,737
Committee lay ahead, a respected woman
1385
01:02:40,839 --> 01:02:44,742
from Boston's high society
said to possess a psychic gift.
1386
01:02:44,844 --> 01:02:47,346
It seemed as if the
great Houdini had finally
1387
01:02:47,448 --> 01:02:48,448
met his match.
1388
01:02:53,055 --> 01:02:55,156
In 1924, an attractive society woman
1389
01:02:55,259 --> 01:02:58,427
married to one of Boston's
most respected surgeons
1390
01:02:58,529 --> 01:03:01,231
began holding seances free of charge.
1391
01:03:01,334 --> 01:03:04,637
Tables jumped, and the dead spoke out loud.
1392
01:03:04,739 --> 01:03:08,241
Houdini heard reports of
the mysterious Margery
1393
01:03:08,343 --> 01:03:12,647
and grabbed the first train to Boston.
1394
01:03:12,815 --> 01:03:14,441
Margery, the medium, was a Boston socialite
1395
01:03:14,451 --> 01:03:16,685
named Mina Crandon.
1396
01:03:16,787 --> 01:03:18,987
Her husband taught at the
Harvard Medical School, seemed
1397
01:03:19,024 --> 01:03:22,993
to be a very reputable person.
1398
01:03:23,095 --> 01:03:25,030
Unlike other mediums who
charged a lot of money
1399
01:03:25,232 --> 01:03:26,966
for their seances, Margery did not.
1400
01:03:27,068 --> 01:03:29,435
Most mediums demonstrated
1401
01:03:29,537 --> 01:03:31,271
either psychic or physical phenomena.
1402
01:03:31,373 --> 01:03:32,939
Margery produced both.
1403
01:03:33,043 --> 01:03:35,878
Guests to her evening soirees
witnessed flashing lights,
1404
01:03:35,980 --> 01:03:41,952
ectoplasm, levitation, and most
memorably her spirit voice.
1405
01:03:42,055 --> 01:03:44,556
She channeled her older
brother, who had died,
1406
01:03:44,658 --> 01:03:45,758
named Walter.
1407
01:03:45,860 --> 01:03:48,227
Walter was a rowdy presence
1408
01:03:48,330 --> 01:03:50,931
in the seance, ridiculing
guests with limericks
1409
01:03:51,067 --> 01:03:52,734
and witty putdowns.
1410
01:03:52,836 --> 01:03:55,271
He spoke through Margery
or as a disembodied voice.
1411
01:03:55,373 --> 01:03:58,542
The husband, Dr. Crandon,
and the circle of friends
1412
01:03:58,644 --> 01:04:01,612
took it all very seriously, and
they began to get attention.
1413
01:04:01,715 --> 01:04:03,981
Boston Society turned out
1414
01:04:04,084 --> 01:04:06,986
for Margery's seances, which
seemed provocative even
1415
01:04:07,089 --> 01:04:08,089
by today's standards.
1416
01:04:10,326 --> 01:04:13,462
She'd have to wear a kimono,
a female member of the group
1417
01:04:13,564 --> 01:04:16,132
would check her to make sure
that she wasn't carrying
1418
01:04:16,234 --> 01:04:17,660
anything on her person
underneath the kimono,
1419
01:04:17,670 --> 01:04:19,103
and it's all kind of scandalous.
1420
01:04:19,205 --> 01:04:21,940
It kind of reminds me
a little bit of Houdini,
1421
01:04:22,042 --> 01:04:26,112
stripping as bare as a radish
and being locked in a jail
1422
01:04:26,214 --> 01:04:28,148
cell.
1423
01:04:28,283 --> 01:04:30,118
The guests would assemble in a special room
1424
01:04:30,286 --> 01:04:32,420
and sit around a small table.
1425
01:04:32,522 --> 01:04:34,890
My great grandmother
would go into a trance,
1426
01:04:34,992 --> 01:04:36,432
and they would all be holding hands,
1427
01:04:36,495 --> 01:04:38,194
and she would have her feet bound
1428
01:04:38,296 --> 01:04:41,767
to the people next to her,
and various different types
1429
01:04:41,869 --> 01:04:42,935
of things would happen.
1430
01:04:43,037 --> 01:04:43,703
The table would move.
1431
01:04:43,805 --> 01:04:45,304
Things on the table would move.
1432
01:04:45,407 --> 01:04:48,509
And her hands are being held and her wrists
1433
01:04:48,611 --> 01:04:52,815
are taped to the arm chair and
they're controlling her legs,
1434
01:04:52,917 --> 01:04:55,752
and she produced a pigeon.
1435
01:04:55,854 --> 01:04:57,694
One of the things that's
kind of funny when you
1436
01:04:58,691 --> 01:05:00,691
is that she was really
very witty and very earthy.
1437
01:05:00,794 --> 01:05:03,328
You have her as Walter sort of
making fun of all the people
1438
01:05:03,431 --> 01:05:05,551
around the table and sort
of taking them down a notch,
1439
01:05:05,567 --> 01:05:07,467
or sort of playing with them.
1440
01:05:07,569 --> 01:05:10,104
She managed to fool a whole bunch of guys,
1441
01:05:10,206 --> 01:05:12,441
educated men that maybe
should have known better.
1442
01:05:12,543 --> 01:05:14,678
They weren't looking for parlor tricks.
1443
01:05:14,780 --> 01:05:16,439
They were looking for something
profound, and they found it.
1444
01:05:16,449 --> 01:05:19,184
The writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
1445
01:05:19,286 --> 01:05:22,955
and others were ready to award
Margery the $5,000 Scientific
1446
01:05:23,057 --> 01:05:26,693
American prize and the
credibility that went with it.
1447
01:05:26,795 --> 01:05:29,130
Houdini was determined to
debunk the so-called medium.
1448
01:05:29,232 --> 01:05:30,732
The "Scientific American" staff
1449
01:05:30,835 --> 01:05:32,334
wanted to believe that she was real,
1450
01:05:32,436 --> 01:05:34,170
wanted to give her the award.
1451
01:05:34,272 --> 01:05:36,740
Houdini was very distressed by this,
1452
01:05:36,843 --> 01:05:39,323
didn't believe she was real and
went on a crusade to the debunk
1453
01:05:39,412 --> 01:05:40,479
her.
1454
01:05:40,581 --> 01:05:44,050
Margery's milieu was that
of the educated people,
1455
01:05:44,152 --> 01:05:46,887
and the Scientific
American crew that he went
1456
01:05:46,989 --> 01:05:48,515
and investigated with, these were all these
1457
01:05:48,525 --> 01:05:51,160
like terribly educated college professors.
1458
01:05:51,262 --> 01:05:55,165
And he was out to say, I may
just be a self-taught guy,
1459
01:05:55,267 --> 01:05:57,768
but you guys are the ones
who were the suckers.
1460
01:05:57,871 --> 01:06:00,172
And I think that chip was
always on his shoulder
1461
01:06:00,274 --> 01:06:01,874
and always driving him.
1462
01:06:01,977 --> 01:06:03,810
The tension was thick when
1463
01:06:03,912 --> 01:06:06,914
Houdini arrived for the first of
his five seances with Margery.
1464
01:06:07,016 --> 01:06:10,018
In the first, a bell box mysteriously rang
1465
01:06:10,120 --> 01:06:12,488
and the spirit tossed a
megaphone at his feet.
1466
01:06:12,590 --> 01:06:15,425
In the second, the table rocked
violently, knocking the bell
1467
01:06:15,528 --> 01:06:17,962
box to the floor.
1468
01:06:18,064 --> 01:06:20,031
Nothing, of course, fooled Houdini,
1469
01:06:20,133 --> 01:06:23,303
who after a lifetime of
manipulating escape apparatus
1470
01:06:23,405 --> 01:06:25,873
with his toes and mouth,
recognized a true parlor
1471
01:06:25,975 --> 01:06:27,208
magician.
1472
01:06:27,311 --> 01:06:30,580
Houdini made his case to the
Scientific American committee
1473
01:06:30,682 --> 01:06:33,283
but Margery had the support of
many sophisticated and educated
1474
01:06:33,385 --> 01:06:34,385
Undeterred, people.
1475
01:06:37,190 --> 01:06:39,016
built that would allow
contact with other sitters
1476
01:06:39,026 --> 01:06:41,694
but would restrict her ability
to use her head or feet.
1477
01:06:41,796 --> 01:06:43,964
With her credibility on the line,
1478
01:06:44,066 --> 01:06:45,866
Margery agreed to the box.
1479
01:06:45,968 --> 01:06:48,136
One of the things that I
find the most interesting
1480
01:06:48,238 --> 01:06:51,640
is that there would be
these scientific discussions
1481
01:06:51,742 --> 01:06:54,377
of, well, to really prove this
beyond a shadow of a doubt,
1482
01:06:54,480 --> 01:06:57,215
what we need to see is X.
Well, she would then produce X
1483
01:06:57,318 --> 01:06:59,252
two days later.
1484
01:06:59,354 --> 01:07:00,712
Houdini had published a book showing
1485
01:07:00,722 --> 01:07:04,391
how although her legs would be tied up,
1486
01:07:04,493 --> 01:07:07,796
she was able to move the calf up and down,
1487
01:07:07,898 --> 01:07:11,400
to use her toes to do something.
1488
01:07:11,502 --> 01:07:14,071
She had used a free
hand to ease the megaphone
1489
01:07:14,173 --> 01:07:17,108
onto her head like a dunce cap, and then
1490
01:07:17,210 --> 01:07:21,113
jerked her head so it would
fly off in Houdini's direction.
1491
01:07:21,216 --> 01:07:24,418
Her way of making the table
levitate in the darkness
1492
01:07:24,520 --> 01:07:28,858
was that she had a long and flexible neck,
1493
01:07:28,960 --> 01:07:31,462
and while people were
holding her arms and legs,
1494
01:07:31,564 --> 01:07:33,330
she was able to get her neck way down
1495
01:07:33,432 --> 01:07:35,112
onto the ledge of the table and lift it up
1496
01:07:35,135 --> 01:07:37,703
on the back of her head.
1497
01:07:37,805 --> 01:07:40,774
In early 1925, Houdini
took his battle to the people.
1498
01:07:40,876 --> 01:07:43,210
He staged a showdown
in front of an audience
1499
01:07:43,345 --> 01:07:47,182
offering $10,000 to Margery to
prove her paranormal abilities.
1500
01:07:47,284 --> 01:07:50,353
Margery never appeared, so
he entertained the audience
1501
01:07:50,455 --> 01:07:53,357
with demonstrations of her
alleged psychic skills.
1502
01:07:53,459 --> 01:07:57,829
Lot number 369 is a large
lobby display, the $10,000
1503
01:07:57,931 --> 01:07:58,931
Challenge.
1504
01:08:00,301 --> 01:08:01,935
Thank you, Jimmy.
1505
01:08:02,038 --> 01:08:02,537
10,000.
1506
01:08:02,639 --> 01:08:05,173
15,000. $20,000 now.
1507
01:08:05,275 --> 01:08:06,108
$20,000, going to make it now.
1508
01:08:06,210 --> 01:08:08,077
20, got to give him 20.
1509
01:08:08,179 --> 01:08:09,179
You got 25.
1510
01:08:10,949 --> 01:08:11,648
$30,000.
1511
01:08:11,750 --> 01:08:12,750
Now $30,000.
1512
01:08:12,786 --> 01:08:14,919
$35,000.
1513
01:08:15,021 --> 01:08:18,190
$40,000 I got here.
$45,000 I got there.
1514
01:08:18,293 --> 01:08:19,025
$50,000 if you want it at $50,000.
1515
01:08:19,127 --> 01:08:21,929
All in, all out.
1516
01:08:22,031 --> 01:08:27,069
Any more at $45,000?
1517
01:08:27,171 --> 01:08:28,071
$45,000.
1518
01:08:28,173 --> 01:08:36,173
Thank you, sir, for
your bidding. $45,000.
1519
01:08:36,951 --> 01:08:38,819
I definitely don't think
that it was something
1520
01:08:38,921 --> 01:08:41,489
that she meant to unleash.
1521
01:08:41,591 --> 01:08:44,860
I think it was something that so
many people got involved with,
1522
01:08:44,962 --> 01:08:49,466
and so many people had such
high stakes in that it became
1523
01:08:49,568 --> 01:08:53,972
its own beast.
1524
01:08:54,074 --> 01:08:55,532
In time, Houdini's battle with Margery
1525
01:08:55,542 --> 01:08:57,877
faded, but his battle with spiritualism
1526
01:08:57,979 --> 01:09:00,781
took him all the way to Washington DC.
1527
01:09:00,883 --> 01:09:02,963
In 1926, Houdini appeared
before Senate and the House
1528
01:09:03,019 --> 01:09:05,420
subcommittees to testify on behalf
1529
01:09:05,522 --> 01:09:07,890
of an anti-fortunetelling bill.
1530
01:09:07,992 --> 01:09:10,695
Hundreds of angry spiritualists turned out
1531
01:09:10,797 --> 01:09:12,798
and the hearings nearly turned into a riot
1532
01:09:12,900 --> 01:09:15,668
when Houdini called
mediums mental degenerates.
1533
01:09:15,771 --> 01:09:17,291
When he was testifying before Congress
1534
01:09:17,305 --> 01:09:22,878
against the spiritualists,
he was asked whether indeed,
1535
01:09:22,980 --> 01:09:25,181
the things he did on stage were actually
1536
01:09:25,283 --> 01:09:27,683
done by psychic powers.
1537
01:09:27,786 --> 01:09:31,389
And Houdini's response to this was just
1538
01:09:31,491 --> 01:09:34,760
simultaneously so honest and so self
1539
01:09:34,862 --> 01:09:38,231
promoting that it makes me proud.
1540
01:09:38,333 --> 01:09:39,866
He said, some of the spiritualists
1541
01:09:39,968 --> 01:09:41,269
say that I'm psychic.
1542
01:09:41,371 --> 01:09:43,639
I'm not.
1543
01:09:43,741 --> 01:09:46,176
Everything I do is by natural means,
1544
01:09:46,278 --> 01:09:49,513
but I do tricks that nobody can figure out.
1545
01:09:49,615 --> 01:09:51,883
That was always a big thing for Houdini.
1546
01:09:51,985 --> 01:09:54,787
I mean, that there were no
supernatural powers in him
1547
01:09:54,889 --> 01:09:58,325
or in any other magician or human being,
1548
01:09:58,427 --> 01:10:02,363
that everything could be explained.
1549
01:10:02,465 --> 01:10:04,233
There was no supernatural.
1550
01:10:04,335 --> 01:10:05,626
The protection of freedom of speech
1551
01:10:05,636 --> 01:10:07,129
prevented the anti-fortunetelling bill
1552
01:10:07,139 --> 01:10:10,708
from passage, but Houdini's
persistent campaign
1553
01:10:10,810 --> 01:10:14,079
against spiritualism had
damaged the movement.
1554
01:10:14,181 --> 01:10:16,209
He was still not ready to
step out of the spotlight.
1555
01:10:16,219 --> 01:10:18,385
He had one last great act
up his magician's sleeve.
1556
01:10:24,529 --> 01:10:27,664
After 26 years of
breathtaking escapes on city
1557
01:10:27,766 --> 01:10:31,236
streets and in vaudeville
halls around the world,
1558
01:10:31,338 --> 01:10:34,240
Houdini made his bid for
class and respectability
1559
01:10:34,342 --> 01:10:37,577
opening a three act extravaganza
on the Great White Way, New
1560
01:10:37,680 --> 01:10:40,681
York City's Broadway, playing
alongside shows by George
1561
01:10:40,783 --> 01:10:43,752
Bernard Shaw and Henri Gibson.
1562
01:10:43,854 --> 01:10:44,687
What mattered to Houdini very, very much
1563
01:10:44,789 --> 01:10:47,324
was that it played on Broadway.
1564
01:10:47,426 --> 01:10:50,730
Houdini always longed for real
theatrical respectability.
1565
01:10:50,832 --> 01:10:53,567
He saw himself as part of the theater.
1566
01:10:53,669 --> 01:10:55,494
For this kind of wonderful
return to magic that
1567
01:10:55,504 --> 01:10:58,006
he has at the end of his career.
1568
01:10:58,108 --> 01:10:59,901
The show covered the
entire span of Houdini's life
1569
01:10:59,911 --> 01:11:01,610
in magic.
1570
01:11:01,712 --> 01:11:05,382
Houdini's last season, he was
doing a show that was basically
1571
01:11:05,484 --> 01:11:06,617
all him.
1572
01:11:06,719 --> 01:11:09,655
The first part he did magic tricks.
1573
01:11:09,757 --> 01:11:12,291
Houdini was a great historian of magic.
1574
01:11:12,393 --> 01:11:14,994
A lot of the tricks that he did
were tricks that had been made
1575
01:11:15,096 --> 01:11:17,598
famous by earlier magicians and
he was sort of paying homage
1576
01:11:17,700 --> 01:11:21,770
to his predecessors.
1577
01:11:21,872 --> 01:11:27,278
Houdini opened his Broadway show in 1926.
1578
01:11:27,380 --> 01:11:30,015
Dorothy Young, at the age of
17, was his youngest stage
1579
01:11:30,117 --> 01:11:32,118
assistant.
1580
01:11:32,220 --> 01:11:35,756
Houdini would bring me out
in this little burlap slave
1581
01:11:35,858 --> 01:11:40,529
costume with my hands tied behind me,
1582
01:11:40,631 --> 01:11:43,766
and Houdini said, she's
been a naughty girl.
1583
01:11:43,868 --> 01:11:45,903
We have to tie her up.
1584
01:11:46,005 --> 01:11:50,075
So I stood at the pole, he
tied me with ropes from here
1585
01:11:50,277 --> 01:11:53,079
to my ankles.
1586
01:11:53,181 --> 01:11:56,183
And he would say, now
we'll put her in darkness,
1587
01:11:56,285 --> 01:11:58,387
and the curtain would drop to the floor.
1588
01:11:58,489 --> 01:12:00,957
And the minute it would drop to the floor,
1589
01:12:01,059 --> 01:12:05,529
I would come out in a beautiful
butterfly costume on my toes.
1590
01:12:05,631 --> 01:12:06,751
The second act would feature
1591
01:12:09,704 --> 01:12:12,138
of his great escapes.
1592
01:12:12,240 --> 01:12:14,675
But the real highlight was
an expose of spiritualism.
1593
01:12:14,777 --> 01:12:17,812
He called it do spirits return?
1594
01:12:17,914 --> 01:12:20,649
He would talk about spiritualism,
1595
01:12:20,752 --> 01:12:23,587
and he would engage in debates
with mediums, who had been
1596
01:12:23,689 --> 01:12:25,556
given free tickets to the show.
1597
01:12:25,658 --> 01:12:27,225
He would sit on the stage with a table,
1598
01:12:27,327 --> 01:12:29,661
have a person in the audience come up,
1599
01:12:29,764 --> 01:12:31,598
and they would do the seance.
1600
01:12:31,700 --> 01:12:33,359
He would be handling things
underneath with his feet
1601
01:12:33,369 --> 01:12:35,303
underneath the table and doing switches.
1602
01:12:35,406 --> 01:12:37,372
The audience would see what was going on.
1603
01:12:37,474 --> 01:12:40,443
I was told by people who
saw that full evening show
1604
01:12:40,545 --> 01:12:43,781
that the third part of
the show where he debated
1605
01:12:43,883 --> 01:12:47,653
with the mediums and baited the mediums
1606
01:12:47,755 --> 01:12:49,075
was worth the price of admission.
1607
01:12:49,090 --> 01:12:51,324
I mean, it was just terrific.
1608
01:12:51,427 --> 01:12:55,129
So here we are 26 years
after he becomes a star,
1609
01:12:55,231 --> 01:12:58,867
and he's still got a
way to grab an audience.
1610
01:12:58,969 --> 01:13:01,204
That show was the dream of his life.
1611
01:13:01,306 --> 01:13:05,744
OK, 368, large lobby display right there.
1612
01:13:05,846 --> 01:13:07,072
Ivan, how much for that one there?
1613
01:13:07,082 --> 01:13:09,515
He'll say $20,000 I have for it.
1614
01:13:09,617 --> 01:13:13,521
$25,000 is going to make it
now. $25,000 you've got to give.
1615
01:13:13,623 --> 01:13:14,915
25 I have, and 27 and a
half going to make it now.
1616
01:13:14,925 --> 01:13:15,925
27 and 1/2.
1617
01:13:16,494 --> 01:13:17,893
I got $30,000.
1618
01:13:17,995 --> 01:13:19,329
32 and 1/2 you got to give him.
1619
01:13:19,431 --> 01:13:20,931
32 and 1/2, yes or no?
1620
01:13:21,033 --> 01:13:22,265
Any more than $30,000?
1621
01:13:22,367 --> 01:13:23,267
You're all done at $30,000 for it?
1622
01:13:23,369 --> 01:13:24,369
32 and a 1/2.
1623
01:13:24,437 --> 01:13:24,669
32 and 1/2.
1624
01:13:25,305 --> 01:13:26,338
I got...
1625
01:13:26,440 --> 01:13:27,440
37.
1626
01:13:29,344 --> 01:13:30,344
40,000 to you.
1627
01:13:30,445 --> 01:13:32,012
I need $40,000.
1628
01:13:32,115 --> 01:13:33,115
$40,000 I got for it.
Yep.
1629
01:13:36,220 --> 01:13:37,453
You got 41.
1630
01:13:37,622 --> 01:13:38,187
It's still yours at 41.
1631
01:13:38,289 --> 01:13:38,922
$41,000, in or out.
1632
01:13:39,024 --> 01:13:41,291
He's out at $40,000.
1633
01:13:41,393 --> 01:13:43,186
It goes to your bidder,
Gary, here at $40,000.
1634
01:13:43,196 --> 01:13:44,395
You got it.
1635
01:13:44,498 --> 01:13:49,703
567.
1636
01:13:49,805 --> 01:13:51,939
But even in triumph, Houdini still
1637
01:13:52,041 --> 01:13:54,008
loved a challenge, and
he found it in and up
1638
01:13:54,110 --> 01:13:56,411
and coming magician named Rahmin Bey.
1639
01:13:56,514 --> 01:14:00,483
Not long before Houdini died,
and it may have contributed
1640
01:14:00,586 --> 01:14:05,891
to his early demise, there
was this Egyptian mystic named
1641
01:14:05,993 --> 01:14:08,895
Rahmin Bey, and Rahmin Bey
was getting a lot of attention
1642
01:14:09,030 --> 01:14:10,698
around New York, and he was being booked
1643
01:14:10,800 --> 01:14:12,240
to play some of the society parties,
1644
01:14:12,302 --> 01:14:14,837
and he was getting theater bookings.
1645
01:14:14,939 --> 01:14:18,308
And he was doing publicity stunts that
1646
01:14:18,410 --> 01:14:20,811
were very much like the
sorts of things Houdini did,
1647
01:14:20,914 --> 01:14:24,650
and he had himself placed in a metal coffin
1648
01:14:24,752 --> 01:14:27,887
and held underwater for an hour.
1649
01:14:27,989 --> 01:14:29,982
And he said that he accomplished
this by putting himself
1650
01:14:29,992 --> 01:14:33,728
into a trance.
1651
01:14:33,830 --> 01:14:35,998
Houdini didn't believe
in the power of Rahmin Bey's
1652
01:14:36,100 --> 01:14:37,100
trance.
1653
01:14:37,202 --> 01:14:39,903
He had done many of the same stunts
1654
01:14:40,005 --> 01:14:41,739
and had exposed those
tricks in his writing.
1655
01:14:41,841 --> 01:14:44,945
He offered to duplicate the
underwater stunt without going
1656
01:14:45,047 --> 01:14:48,014
into Bey's so-called trance.
1657
01:14:48,117 --> 01:14:50,351
He had an identical coffin made,
1658
01:14:50,453 --> 01:14:53,488
scientists had said there
was enough air for about
1659
01:14:53,591 --> 01:14:54,991
five minutes.
1660
01:14:55,093 --> 01:14:58,429
Well, that's how much good air
there was, but by staying calm,
1661
01:14:58,531 --> 01:15:00,564
he managed to live on the bad air.
1662
01:15:00,666 --> 01:15:02,601
But Houdini was not in the same shape
1663
01:15:02,703 --> 01:15:04,971
as he was 20 years earlier.
1664
01:15:05,073 --> 01:15:08,408
At 50 minutes, he was
having trouble breathing.
1665
01:15:08,510 --> 01:15:11,412
The temperature inside the
coffin rose above 99 degrees.
1666
01:15:11,514 --> 01:15:14,416
At an hour and 28 minutes, he began
1667
01:15:14,518 --> 01:15:18,489
seeing yellow lights, a sign
of severe oxygen deprivation.
1668
01:15:18,591 --> 01:15:20,311
He stayed in it for an hour and 31 minutes,
1669
01:15:20,327 --> 01:15:23,563
beat the guy's time by 31 minutes.
1670
01:15:23,665 --> 01:15:26,767
He triumphed, but had Houdini finally taken
1671
01:15:26,869 --> 01:15:29,236
a death defying stunt too far?
1672
01:15:29,339 --> 01:15:32,975
When he came out of the box, he looked bad.
1673
01:15:33,077 --> 01:15:35,378
Being in a soldered coffin underwater
1674
01:15:35,480 --> 01:15:39,017
for an hour and a half, I
mean, very, very risky stuff.
1675
01:15:39,119 --> 01:15:41,319
Following the underwater coffin stunt,
1676
01:15:41,421 --> 01:15:43,622
Houdini took his Broadway show on the road.
1677
01:15:43,724 --> 01:15:45,725
He was slowing down,
but was looking forward
1678
01:15:45,827 --> 01:15:47,460
to playing legitimate theaters.
1679
01:15:47,562 --> 01:15:50,131
After a few engagements on the East Coast,
1680
01:15:50,233 --> 01:15:53,970
Houdini arrived in Montreal
on October 18, 1926
1681
01:15:54,072 --> 01:15:56,840
for a three day engagement.
1682
01:15:56,942 --> 01:15:59,177
He had lectured earlier in
the week at McGill College
1683
01:15:59,279 --> 01:16:01,747
and some college students came by
1684
01:16:01,849 --> 01:16:03,916
to visit him between the
matinee and evening show.
1685
01:16:04,018 --> 01:16:07,955
So he was lying on the little
couch in his dressing room,
1686
01:16:08,058 --> 01:16:11,193
and one of the boys, a fellow
named Sam Smilovitz was doing
1687
01:16:11,295 --> 01:16:12,828
some sketches of him.
1688
01:16:12,930 --> 01:16:15,665
And then another boy
came in named Whitehead.
1689
01:16:15,767 --> 01:16:18,336
According to legend, Houdini had always
1690
01:16:18,471 --> 01:16:21,606
bragged that he could withstand
any blow to the abdomen.
1691
01:16:21,709 --> 01:16:23,810
The 6 foot 1" Whitehead challenged
1692
01:16:23,945 --> 01:16:26,213
the 52-year-old illusionist.
1693
01:16:26,315 --> 01:16:28,883
Houdini got up from the
lounge where he was resting
1694
01:16:29,019 --> 01:16:31,259
and said, go ahead, you can
punch me as hard as you want.
1695
01:16:31,322 --> 01:16:32,547
The guy hits him in the stomach.
1696
01:16:32,557 --> 01:16:34,358
Wow, it's really hard.
1697
01:16:34,460 --> 01:16:37,128
He hits him again and again
and again, because after all,
1698
01:16:37,230 --> 01:16:40,265
Houdini is a tough
guy. is Superman.
1699
01:16:40,368 --> 01:16:42,248
He didn't give him a
chance to flex his muscles.
1700
01:16:42,270 --> 01:16:45,539
Houdini took three
to four hard painful punches.
1701
01:16:45,641 --> 01:16:48,075
Doctors at the time said the
blows caused his appendix
1702
01:16:48,177 --> 01:16:48,977
to rupture.
1703
01:16:49,079 --> 01:16:51,981
Later, experts, medical experts
1704
01:16:52,083 --> 01:16:54,550
think that Houdini was
suffering from appendicitis
1705
01:16:54,652 --> 01:16:56,687
during his tour.
1706
01:16:56,789 --> 01:16:59,625
That the appendix would not have
ruptured unless it had already
1707
01:16:59,727 --> 01:17:01,228
been inflamed.
1708
01:17:01,330 --> 01:17:03,697
And as sick as he was
and in agonizing as was he
1709
01:17:03,799 --> 01:17:05,967
went on that night.
1710
01:17:06,069 --> 01:17:08,871
He got through the show that night
1711
01:17:08,973 --> 01:17:13,343
and another magician Max Malini
and Max's teenage son Ozzie
1712
01:17:13,445 --> 01:17:15,212
saw Houdini to the train.
1713
01:17:15,314 --> 01:17:17,282
And as he was getting on the train,
1714
01:17:17,384 --> 01:17:20,386
Houdini said to Max Malini, who he'd
1715
01:17:20,488 --> 01:17:22,422
known for most of his life.
1716
01:17:22,524 --> 01:17:25,292
He said, I led a college kid
punch me in the stomach today
1717
01:17:25,394 --> 01:17:27,114
and he caught me wrong,
and it's killing me.
1718
01:17:27,130 --> 01:17:30,933
By the time he got to
Detroit, the appendix had really
1719
01:17:31,035 --> 01:17:32,335
ruptured.
1720
01:17:32,438 --> 01:17:38,577
He has got a monumental staph infection
1721
01:17:38,679 --> 01:17:43,417
of the peritoneal cavity, and
there are no sulfa drugs then.
1722
01:17:43,519 --> 01:17:46,555
There's absolutely nothing
that can save him at this time.
1723
01:17:46,657 --> 01:17:50,626
So he gets to Detroit on
Sunday, and they've got a doctor
1724
01:17:50,728 --> 01:17:51,820
waiting to see him at the show.
1725
01:17:51,830 --> 01:17:53,430
The doctor comes down to the theater
1726
01:17:53,532 --> 01:17:57,735
and has Houdini stretch
out in a prop room floor,
1727
01:17:57,838 --> 01:18:00,539
and he feels his lower abdomen.
1728
01:18:00,641 --> 01:18:02,034
He says, you've got an appendicitis.
1729
01:18:02,044 --> 01:18:03,977
You've got to go to the hospital right now.
1730
01:18:04,079 --> 01:18:05,647
And Houdini gave him the classic line,
1731
01:18:05,749 --> 01:18:07,483
no, those people are here to see me.
1732
01:18:07,585 --> 01:18:08,618
Houdini took to the stage
1733
01:18:08,720 --> 01:18:11,121
with a temperature of 104.
1734
01:18:11,224 --> 01:18:13,624
He collapsed after the first act,
1735
01:18:13,726 --> 01:18:18,097
was revived, finished the
show, and collapsed again.
1736
01:18:18,199 --> 01:18:21,068
There were some magicians in the audience.
1737
01:18:21,170 --> 01:18:23,470
One guy had only seen Houdini once before,
1738
01:18:23,572 --> 01:18:25,665
and he was with a friend who'd
seen Houdini eight times.
1739
01:18:25,675 --> 01:18:27,001
And all through the show, the friend who'd
1740
01:18:27,011 --> 01:18:30,180
seen Houdini eight times, was
saying there's something wrong.
1741
01:18:30,282 --> 01:18:31,707
The fellow who had only
seen Houdini once before
1742
01:18:31,717 --> 01:18:33,551
thought it was a good show.
1743
01:18:33,653 --> 01:18:35,853
Houdini refused to go to the hospital.
1744
01:18:35,955 --> 01:18:37,856
It wasn't till 4 o'clock in the morning
1745
01:18:37,958 --> 01:18:40,361
that his New York doctor
persuaded him to go to Grace
1746
01:18:40,463 --> 01:18:43,231
Hospital, and they operated on him,
1747
01:18:43,333 --> 01:18:46,469
and they gave him eight hours to live.
1748
01:18:46,571 --> 01:18:48,437
Oh, and he was in agony.
1749
01:18:48,540 --> 01:18:49,606
Agony.
1750
01:18:49,708 --> 01:18:52,210
But he didn't die immediately.
1751
01:18:52,312 --> 01:18:54,237
He should have been dead, but
because he was so powerful,
1752
01:18:54,247 --> 01:18:58,017
he was such a strong man,
he lived for seven days.
1753
01:18:58,119 --> 01:19:01,388
A relative of his, who was a doctor,
1754
01:19:01,490 --> 01:19:07,930
came in and was praising Houdini's career,
1755
01:19:08,033 --> 01:19:13,038
and Houdini said back to him, everything
1756
01:19:13,173 --> 01:19:15,441
that I do is more or less as a fake.
1757
01:19:15,543 --> 01:19:17,744
You're the one who really does things.
1758
01:19:17,846 --> 01:19:20,748
That's real heroism, and
I think ultimately Houdini
1759
01:19:20,850 --> 01:19:23,551
was aware of that and sort of made
1760
01:19:23,653 --> 01:19:27,824
that clear in this deathbed sort of scene.
1761
01:19:27,926 --> 01:19:30,861
He said, I'm going to lick this.
1762
01:19:30,964 --> 01:19:34,566
I'm going to lick it, and
then finally, after a week,
1763
01:19:34,668 --> 01:19:37,270
he said, it's finished.
1764
01:19:37,372 --> 01:19:38,972
That's what he said.
1765
01:19:39,074 --> 01:19:40,507
It's finished.
1766
01:19:40,610 --> 01:19:43,278
That's it.
1767
01:19:43,447 --> 01:19:47,184
Houdini died on October 31, 1926.
1768
01:19:47,286 --> 01:19:50,455
He was only 52 years old.
1769
01:19:50,557 --> 01:19:52,215
He had been a performer
for most of his life
1770
01:19:52,225 --> 01:19:55,595
and in the spotlight for
more than half of it,
1771
01:19:55,697 --> 01:19:58,733
but even after his death his
fans wouldn't forget him.
1772
01:20:05,644 --> 01:20:08,245
Throughout his career, Houdini
had cheated death nightly
1773
01:20:08,347 --> 01:20:10,347
and before adoring audiences.
1774
01:20:10,449 --> 01:20:13,952
His fans were not about to forsake him.
1775
01:20:14,054 --> 01:20:16,255
For nearly 80 years, his followers
1776
01:20:16,357 --> 01:20:18,392
have gathered on the
anniversary of his death
1777
01:20:18,494 --> 01:20:22,831
on Halloween of all days
to try and raise his ghost.
1778
01:20:22,967 --> 01:20:24,734
We'll all place our hands on the table
1779
01:20:24,836 --> 01:20:28,239
in the position of mediums.
1780
01:20:28,341 --> 01:20:30,709
We ask you to come through now.
1781
01:20:30,811 --> 01:20:33,980
Come through in the show
business capital of the world.
1782
01:20:34,115 --> 01:20:37,284
Prove once and for all that you can break
1783
01:20:37,386 --> 01:20:39,520
through the veil of death.
1784
01:20:39,622 --> 01:20:44,026
Show that it is possible.
1785
01:20:44,128 --> 01:20:48,532
In death, as in
life, Houdini drew huge crowds.
1786
01:20:48,634 --> 01:20:51,035
Thousands attended his
funeral in Times Square
1787
01:20:51,137 --> 01:20:54,140
on November 4, 1926.
1788
01:20:54,242 --> 01:20:58,212
He was buried beside his beloved
mother in Queens, New York.
1789
01:20:58,314 --> 01:21:00,782
As he instructed, her letters to him
1790
01:21:00,884 --> 01:21:04,053
were bundled together and
placed beneath his head.
1791
01:21:04,155 --> 01:21:08,727
Across America, newspapers led
with the story of his passing.
1792
01:21:08,829 --> 01:21:12,865
Headlines proclaimed tricks
go to grave with magician,
1793
01:21:12,967 --> 01:21:15,702
but his secrets were very
much alive and in the hands
1794
01:21:15,804 --> 01:21:17,964
of his brother Hardeen, who
performed Houdini's escapes
1795
01:21:18,041 --> 01:21:21,110
for years to come.
1796
01:21:21,212 --> 01:21:25,415
His wife Bess had her own way
of keeping his memory alive.
1797
01:21:25,517 --> 01:21:27,318
During his years debunking psychics,
1798
01:21:27,420 --> 01:21:29,340
Houdini had warned Bess
that spirit mediums would
1799
01:21:29,356 --> 01:21:30,857
try to raise his ghost.
1800
01:21:30,959 --> 01:21:33,126
To protect against this fraud, Bess
1801
01:21:33,228 --> 01:21:36,029
was to conduct seances of her own armed
1802
01:21:36,132 --> 01:21:37,791
with special codes which
they arranged between them
1803
01:21:37,801 --> 01:21:39,801
before his death.
1804
01:21:39,936 --> 01:21:43,607
It was a letter from Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle to him,
1805
01:21:43,709 --> 01:21:48,346
and he circled 10 words in this
letter, put them in an envelope
1806
01:21:48,448 --> 01:21:51,450
and had a code made up of
10 words, which I carry
1807
01:21:51,552 --> 01:21:55,922
in my pocket, and those
10 words plus the words
1808
01:21:56,025 --> 01:21:59,059
inside this envelope were to be
the message that he would bring
1809
01:21:59,196 --> 01:22:01,531
back if he could come back.
1810
01:22:01,633 --> 01:22:04,134
Bess held seances every Halloween,
1811
01:22:04,236 --> 01:22:06,638
the anniversary of Houdini's passing.
1812
01:22:06,740 --> 01:22:10,276
On the 10th anniversary of Houdini's death,
1813
01:22:10,378 --> 01:22:13,280
she held a seance in
the Knickerbocker Hotel
1814
01:22:13,382 --> 01:22:14,948
on the rooftop.
1815
01:22:15,051 --> 01:22:17,552
There was a worldwide radio broadcast.
1816
01:22:17,654 --> 01:22:21,424
The seance in Los Angeles was
Bessie and her manager Edward
1817
01:22:21,526 --> 01:22:22,625
Saint.
1818
01:22:22,727 --> 01:22:24,085
Edward Saint wan an old carny man,
1819
01:22:24,095 --> 01:22:25,529
and he really makes a pitch.
1820
01:22:25,631 --> 01:22:27,598
Speak, Harry.
1821
01:22:27,701 --> 01:22:29,601
Speak through the trumpet.
1822
01:22:29,703 --> 01:22:31,037
Open the handcuffs, Harry.
1823
01:22:31,139 --> 01:22:32,738
Ring the bell.
1824
01:22:32,841 --> 01:22:36,411
And he goes on like that and
really gives it the college
1825
01:22:36,513 --> 01:22:40,684
try, and he doesn't
manage to contact Houdini.
1826
01:22:40,786 --> 01:22:44,088
And Bessie said, my last hope is gone.
1827
01:22:44,190 --> 01:22:46,859
10 years is long enough
to wait for any man.
1828
01:22:46,961 --> 01:22:50,597
For 10 years, the light
has burned faithfully
1829
01:22:50,699 --> 01:22:51,699
in the Houdini shrine.
1830
01:22:53,736 --> 01:22:56,838
And with that,
Bess laid her Houdini seances
1831
01:22:56,940 --> 01:22:58,673
to rest.
1832
01:22:58,809 --> 01:23:01,644
But other magicians picked
up where she left off.
1833
01:23:01,779 --> 01:23:04,448
Sidney Radner, a protege of
Houdini's brother Hardeen,
1834
01:23:04,550 --> 01:23:07,853
began doing seances in the
1930s and has continued them
1835
01:23:07,955 --> 01:23:09,489
to this day.
1836
01:23:09,591 --> 01:23:12,260
Each year, Mr. Radner
gathers top magicians,
1837
01:23:12,362 --> 01:23:15,697
like Penn Jillette and his partner Teller,
1838
01:23:15,833 --> 01:23:17,073
to the official Houdini seance.
1839
01:23:17,167 --> 01:23:19,535
An inner circle of Houdini enthusiasts
1840
01:23:19,638 --> 01:23:22,039
conduct the yearly event
according to the safeguards
1841
01:23:22,141 --> 01:23:25,143
devised by Houdini and Bess decades ago.
1842
01:23:25,245 --> 01:23:27,712
They haven't gotten it right yet.
1843
01:23:27,814 --> 01:23:29,615
They are a room full of skeptics,
1844
01:23:29,717 --> 01:23:32,686
yet every one of them got
started in magic because they
1845
01:23:32,788 --> 01:23:34,079
wanted to believe, and every one of them
1846
01:23:34,089 --> 01:23:37,325
would love to hear from
Houdini on this night.
1847
01:23:37,461 --> 01:23:38,727
Would he finally answer them?
1848
01:23:38,829 --> 01:23:40,697
Please, come through tonight.
1849
01:23:40,799 --> 01:23:43,534
Prove it can be done.
1850
01:23:43,636 --> 01:23:46,973
This is your one chance to pull
the greatest stunt of all time.
1851
01:23:47,075 --> 01:23:50,244
Make the table vibrate if you can do that.
1852
01:23:50,346 --> 01:23:55,116
All of us that are in the magic
world were influenced by you.
1853
01:23:55,218 --> 01:23:57,687
You took magic to a greater place
1854
01:23:57,789 --> 01:24:00,557
that it had ever been before.
1855
01:24:00,659 --> 01:24:02,760
Shall we all chant when I count to three?
1856
01:24:02,862 --> 01:24:03,494
Harry come back.
1857
01:24:03,663 --> 01:24:05,663
1, 2, 3.
1858
01:24:05,765 --> 01:24:08,500
Harry come back.
1859
01:24:08,602 --> 01:24:09,970
Harry come back.
1860
01:24:10,072 --> 01:24:11,072
Harry come back.
1861
01:24:15,045 --> 01:24:19,149
Well, my friends, I think
we have to admit something
1862
01:24:19,251 --> 01:24:23,955
that on every seance people
have had to sadly conclude,
1863
01:24:24,057 --> 01:24:28,929
including the widow of Harry
Houdini, Bess, who very sadly
1864
01:24:29,031 --> 01:24:31,733
said at the Knickerbocker
Hotel many, many years ago,
1865
01:24:31,835 --> 01:24:34,536
Harry isn't coming back.
1866
01:24:34,638 --> 01:24:35,638
Switch off the light.
1867
01:24:35,673 --> 01:24:38,008
It isn't going to happen.
1868
01:24:38,110 --> 01:24:38,808
For the whole set.
1869
01:24:38,910 --> 01:24:40,377
How much for the whole set?
1870
01:24:40,479 --> 01:24:42,680
The collectors at this auction
1871
01:24:42,782 --> 01:24:46,551
are also trying to hold on to
memories of the great Houdini.
1872
01:24:46,653 --> 01:24:48,789
Houdini was a collector as well.
1873
01:24:48,891 --> 01:24:50,417
He collected everything
about the history of magic,
1874
01:24:50,427 --> 01:24:53,161
and then anything associated with it.
1875
01:24:53,263 --> 01:24:55,189
He built one of the great
theater libraries in the world.
1876
01:24:55,199 --> 01:24:57,768
I mean, it's supposedly the
third largest theater library
1877
01:24:57,870 --> 01:24:59,136
collection.
1878
01:24:59,238 --> 01:25:01,973
I think that's now at Harvard
in the Harvard Library.
1879
01:25:02,075 --> 01:25:03,834
His house got quite
cluttered before he died.
1880
01:25:03,844 --> 01:25:05,377
I mean, he had everything.
1881
01:25:05,479 --> 01:25:07,914
To an extent, it was because
he was doing research,
1882
01:25:08,016 --> 01:25:11,085
but any collector knows that research
1883
01:25:11,187 --> 01:25:13,080
is a sort of a handy excuse
for having a lot of stuff
1884
01:25:13,090 --> 01:25:15,390
around you.
1885
01:25:15,492 --> 01:25:18,027
It is interesting that he,
a collector his whole life,
1886
01:25:18,129 --> 01:25:21,065
has now engendered this auction of effects.
1887
01:25:21,167 --> 01:25:23,569
It's kind of a big, weird full circle.
1888
01:25:23,671 --> 01:25:24,036
900 your way, young man.
1889
01:25:24,138 --> 01:25:25,605
There we go.
1890
01:25:25,707 --> 01:25:28,041
Ladies and gentlemen,
the water torture cell.
1891
01:25:28,143 --> 01:25:30,545
This is the most famous trick.
1892
01:25:30,647 --> 01:25:31,647
There is a museum.
1893
01:25:34,018 --> 01:25:35,444
It's going to go on permanent display
1894
01:25:35,454 --> 01:25:37,387
or in someone's private collection,
1895
01:25:37,489 --> 01:25:38,489
that much I'll guarantee.
1896
01:25:40,893 --> 01:25:43,562
First caller $200,000 for it.
1897
01:25:43,664 --> 01:25:44,397
250, got to make it in 250.
1898
01:25:44,499 --> 01:25:45,198
Got to give him 250.
1899
01:25:45,300 --> 01:25:45,765
Got to make it now.
1900
01:25:45,867 --> 01:25:48,535
I have 250, Gary.
1901
01:25:48,637 --> 01:25:49,695
275 we're going to make it now.
1902
01:25:49,705 --> 01:25:50,370
275?
1903
01:25:50,473 --> 01:25:51,172
275, if you're interested.
1904
01:25:51,274 --> 01:25:53,007
275 if he wants it.
1905
01:25:53,110 --> 01:25:54,577
It's at 250.
1906
01:25:54,679 --> 01:25:55,759
275 you got to make it now.
1907
01:25:55,781 --> 01:25:57,014
275 you've got to give.
1908
01:25:57,117 --> 01:25:58,216
Yeah.
1909
01:25:58,318 --> 01:26:00,586
And 285 we're going to make it now.
1910
01:26:00,688 --> 01:26:01,688
285 you got to give.
1911
01:26:02,556 --> 01:26:03,456
285 I got.
1912
01:26:03,558 --> 01:26:05,992
Now it's $300,000, who wants it?
1913
01:26:06,094 --> 01:26:07,795
It's $300,000 now.
1914
01:26:07,897 --> 01:26:08,662
Anyone 285?
1915
01:26:08,764 --> 01:26:10,499
It's $300,000 you got to give.
1916
01:26:10,601 --> 01:26:11,366
You want it at 300?
1917
01:26:11,468 --> 01:26:11,700
Yes or no?
1918
01:26:11,802 --> 01:26:13,769
300.
1919
01:26:13,872 --> 01:26:14,872
$300,000 I have for it.
1920
01:26:14,939 --> 01:26:16,640
$300,000 I have.
1921
01:26:16,742 --> 01:26:19,077
I have $300,000.
1922
01:26:19,179 --> 01:26:22,414
Any more than $300,000?
1923
01:26:22,517 --> 01:26:23,349
Bang.
1924
01:26:23,451 --> 01:26:28,155
It's sold at $300,000.
1925
01:26:28,257 --> 01:26:31,326
It's sold at $300,000.
1926
01:26:31,428 --> 01:26:33,329
The great Houdini auction
1927
01:26:33,431 --> 01:26:35,032
was a tremendous success.
1928
01:26:35,134 --> 01:26:40,372
More than 450 lots sold totaling
over $1.1 million in bids
1929
01:26:40,474 --> 01:26:44,177
from magicians and collectors
all over the world.
1930
01:26:44,279 --> 01:26:47,782
David Copperfield walked away
with some of the biggest items.
1931
01:26:47,884 --> 01:26:50,018
If Houdini walked into this room now,
1932
01:26:50,120 --> 01:26:52,454
he would feel like amazing,
like he was home again.
1933
01:26:52,557 --> 01:26:54,191
His awards are over there.
1934
01:26:54,293 --> 01:26:55,525
His baby shoes over there.
1935
01:26:55,627 --> 01:26:56,993
His first magic wand.
1936
01:26:57,096 --> 01:26:59,897
His most famous escapes, the milk
1937
01:26:59,999 --> 01:27:04,438
can, the water torture cell,
the Iron Maiden, strait-jacket,
1938
01:27:04,540 --> 01:27:07,442
substitution trunk, even his
keys, so it's pretty good.
1939
01:27:07,578 --> 01:27:10,112
For nearly 80 years, magicians
1940
01:27:10,215 --> 01:27:12,181
have tried to recapture his magic
1941
01:27:12,283 --> 01:27:16,354
and unlock the secrets of
his incomparable career.
1942
01:27:16,456 --> 01:27:19,391
Tonight I'd like to present
Houdini's most famous escape,
1943
01:27:19,493 --> 01:27:22,161
the Houdini strait-jacket escape.
1944
01:27:22,263 --> 01:27:24,764
This is the trick he did the
longest throughout his career.
1945
01:27:24,866 --> 01:27:27,501
This is the trick that made Houdini famous.
1946
01:27:27,604 --> 01:27:29,805
Now to do this, I'm going to
need a little bit of help,
1947
01:27:29,907 --> 01:27:32,809
and we have with us
tonight Mr. Sid Radner.
1948
01:27:32,911 --> 01:27:33,543
Sid, how are you?
1949
01:27:33,645 --> 01:27:34,645
Fine, thank you.
1950
01:27:34,713 --> 01:27:35,713
How are you?
1951
01:27:35,781 --> 01:27:36,848
Thank you very much.
1952
01:27:36,950 --> 01:27:39,385
Now, Sid, the jacket goes
on like a normal jacket
1953
01:27:39,487 --> 01:27:42,122
only backwards.
1954
01:27:42,224 --> 01:27:44,759
And if you can just help pull
that up onto my shoulders.
1955
01:27:44,894 --> 01:27:46,628
There you go.
1956
01:27:46,730 --> 01:27:48,623
Now, Sid, you'll notice up
here on my left shoulder,
1957
01:27:48,633 --> 01:27:50,353
there's a bucket, and on my right shoulder,
1958
01:27:50,434 --> 01:27:51,868
there's a strap.
1959
01:27:51,970 --> 01:27:55,239
Place that strap right into the buckle.
1960
01:27:55,341 --> 01:27:56,974
And that's it.
1961
01:27:57,076 --> 01:27:59,845
Buckle it right in just like
a belt. Just start at the top
1962
01:27:59,947 --> 01:28:02,415
and work your way down to
the bottom of the jacket.
1963
01:28:02,517 --> 01:28:04,985
Now the straight jacket was originally
1964
01:28:05,087 --> 01:28:09,157
designed to restrain the criminally insane.
1965
01:28:09,259 --> 01:28:10,427
How are you doing there, Sid?
1966
01:28:10,529 --> 01:28:10,594
Get Fine.
1967
01:28:11,430 --> 01:28:12,596
Great.
1968
01:28:12,698 --> 01:28:14,357
Now, Sid, you'll notice
there's an extra buckle down
1969
01:28:14,367 --> 01:28:15,967
at the bottom of the jacket.
1970
01:28:16,069 --> 01:28:18,003
You see that?
1971
01:28:18,139 --> 01:28:20,640
You see that strap between my legs?
1972
01:28:20,742 --> 01:28:21,742
Don't grab.
1973
01:28:23,880 --> 01:28:25,914
Last come the arms.
1974
01:28:26,016 --> 01:28:29,152
They cross in the front.
1975
01:28:29,254 --> 01:28:31,954
Sid, there's a strap right
there on this sleeve,
1976
01:28:32,057 --> 01:28:33,349
and there's a buckle on that sleeve.
1977
01:28:33,359 --> 01:28:36,127
Go ahead and put that strap
right into the buckle.
1978
01:28:36,229 --> 01:28:40,666
I want you to make this one as
tight as you possibly can, OK?
1979
01:28:40,768 --> 01:28:44,706
I don't think Houdini himself
could have done a better job.
1980
01:28:44,808 --> 01:28:46,475
OK.
1981
01:28:46,644 --> 01:28:49,879
You've seen the buckling in process.
1982
01:28:49,981 --> 01:28:54,285
Now comes the hard part
escaping from the straitjacket.
1983
01:28:54,421 --> 01:28:57,957
And as I do this I'm going
to explain exactly what I'm
1984
01:28:58,059 --> 01:28:59,425
doing every step of the way.
1985
01:28:59,527 --> 01:29:02,429
If you ever find yourself
in this predicament,
1986
01:29:02,531 --> 01:29:04,733
you'll know what to do.
1987
01:29:04,835 --> 01:29:09,772
The first step is to force one
of your arms up over your head.
1988
01:29:13,646 --> 01:29:16,750
They say Houdini could actually
dislocate both of his shoulders
1989
01:29:16,852 --> 01:29:19,854
to do this.
1990
01:29:19,956 --> 01:29:21,996
I don't know if that's true,
but it sure would help.
1991
01:29:29,635 --> 01:29:33,972
The next step is to work
on the buckles in the back.
1992
01:30:02,045 --> 01:30:03,978
The Houdini straight jacket.
1993
01:30:07,151 --> 01:30:10,855
Nothing could hold
Harry Houdini, whether slipping
1994
01:30:10,957 --> 01:30:12,824
free from his Chinese water torture cell
1995
01:30:12,926 --> 01:30:14,660
or breaking loose from a steamer trunk
1996
01:30:14,762 --> 01:30:18,498
dropped in the Potomac River, he faced his,
1997
01:30:18,600 --> 01:30:25,708
and by extension, society's
greatest fears and triumphed.
1998
01:30:25,810 --> 01:30:27,269
Harry Houdini inspired
generations of magicians,
1999
01:30:27,279 --> 01:30:28,912
including me.
2000
01:30:29,014 --> 01:30:31,449
As Bess Houdini once said, every magician
2001
01:30:31,551 --> 01:30:33,652
knows where the trap door lies.
2002
01:30:33,788 --> 01:30:38,124
The magic was in this man's personality.
2003
01:30:38,227 --> 01:30:40,428
I'm Lance Burton for The History Channel.
2004
01:30:40,530 --> 01:30:42,063
Thanks for watching.
2004
01:30:43,305 --> 01:31:43,333
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