The Truth About Houdini

The Truth About Houdini (1971)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

This here is a pretty good documentary by the BBC on the life and times of Harry Houdini. The documentary starts off talking that myth and Hollywood has created some things that aren't exactly true about the legend and the purpose of this is to get to the actual truth.

If you're a fan of Houdini then you'll certainly want to check this out as it does a pretty good job at talking about the popularity of Houdini as well as going over his best known tricks including the straight jacket. We also get some nice footage of the real man doing some of his tricks and there are also clips from his movie serial. While there's nothing ground-breaking here there are enough interesting moments to make it worth watching by fans of the legend.

This came out in 1971,so a lot of the editing will remind you of old newscasts. However, this is still a fascinating look at one of the most amazing entertainers of his or any age. All of the basics are covered, from Houdini's career in vaudeville, to his mastery of escapeology, his marriage, his debunking of spiritualism, his penchant for self promotion, and even his careers in both aviation and silent movies.

Particularly impressive is The Amazing Randi, who still has dark hair here (!) and talks at length about Houdini's showmanship, professionalism, and compassion. Also, this includes footage from some of Houdini's silent films, which I'd never seen before. Fascinating!

One last thing: this is currently streaming on Amazon Prime under the title The Magic of Houdini, which is also the name of another documentary about Houdini that debuted in 1998.