Houdini magic movie#

This act turned him against former friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who believed deeply in spiritualism and Margery's sight. Most notably, he debunked renowned medium Mina Crandon, better known as Margery. Houdini's publishing career didn't end with his literary takedown of Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, either, as he later wrote Miracle Mongers and Their Methods (1920) and A Magician Among the Spirits (1924).Īs president of the Society of American Magicians, Houdini was a vigorous campaigner against fraudulent psychic mediums. In 1923, Houdini became president of Martinka & Co., America's oldest magic company. In New York, he started his own production company, Houdini Picture Corporation, and a film lab called The Film Development Corporation, but neither was a success. He starred in several subsequent films, including The Master Mystery, The Grim Game and Terror Island.

Houdini magic movie#

Houdini also launched a movie career, releasing his first film in 1901, Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini Paris, which documented his escapes. The performance was so daring and such a crowd-pleaser that it remained in his act until his death in 1926. In it, Houdini was suspended by his feet and lowered upside-down in a locked glass cabinet filled with water, requiring him to hold his breath for more than three minutes to escape. He was able to escape because of both his uncanny strength and his equally uncanny ability to pick locks. In 1912, his act reached its pinnacle, the Chinese Water Torture Cell, which would be the hallmark of his career. Houdini continued his act in the United States in the early 1900s, constantly upping the ante from handcuffs and straightjackets to locked, water-filled tanks and nailed packing crates. The show was a huge sensation, and he soon became the highest-paid performer in American vaudeville.

Houdini's feats would involve the local police, who would strip search him, place him in shackles and lock him in their jails. In 1899, Houdini's act caught the attention of Martin Beck, an entertainment manager who soon got him booked at some of the best vaudeville venues in the country, followed by a tour of Europe.