Houdini

loknload

loknload

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Anyone watching the Houdini series on the History channel.
Seems to be pretty good and well done. Second episode tonight.
 
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I got into it more as the night went on. We'll record tonight and catch up later. His snookering the Czar was great.
 
Going to play catch up later, "History Channel On Demand".

But I did see Tony Curtis back in the 50's..
 
Oops didn't realize it was a mini series. Watched part of one and set one to record, might have to record a bunch of em and figure it out.

I wonder how much of the story is based on what really happened vs what someone aimed happen vs what no one knew had happened but was reveals much later etc. from what I did see, it seem to be a dramatization of his life rather than a documentary so it would be interesting to know how much is embellishment or speculation versus reenactment of historical events for which there are corroborating accounts.
 
I enjoyed it and thought it was well done, have to see though if he did indeed spy for the U.S. and the Brits during WW I. That's a piece of history I was unaware of.
 
I haven't seen part 2 yet but I'm guessing he dies!

I believe the spying was true, I've heard rumors of it for years.

Edit: Oops, apparently not true:
Was Houdini a spy?
Houdini was friendly with law enforcement and took great interest in the methods and practices of criminals and con-men. He even penned a book on the subject in 1906 called The Right Way To Do Wrong. While he might have communicated with William Melville of Scotland Yard about what he was observing in Germany and Russia (and even the "evidence" for this is paper thin), to show him working as a full blown spy and using his magic act as "cover" is ludicrous. In fact, MI5 didn't even exist during Houdini's first tour of Europe. Of all the fictionalizations in the Houdini miniseries, this is by far the worst, and trying to work it into the story is one of the reasons the movie so badly mangles the facts of his early career. (Read: Experts weigh-in on 'Secret Life' spy revelation.)

In fact, much of the movie is baloney: http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2014/09/fact-checking-historys-houdini-night-one.html
 
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zzzippper said:
I haven't seen part 2 yet but I'm guessing he dies!

I believe the spying was true, I've heard rumors of it for years.

Edit: Oops, apparently not true:
Was Houdini a spy?
Houdini was friendly with law enforcement and took great interest in the methods and practices of criminals and con-men. He even penned a book on the subject in 1906 called The Right Way To Do Wrong. While he might have communicated with William Melville of Scotland Yard about what he was observing in Germany and Russia (and even the "evidence" for this is paper thin), to show him working as a full blown spy and using his magic act as "cover" is ludicrous. In fact, MI5 didn't even exist during Houdini's first tour of Europe. Of all the fictionalizations in the Houdini miniseries, this is by far the worst, and trying to work it into the story is one of the reasons the movie so badly mangles the facts of his early career. (Read: Experts weigh-in on 'Secret Life' spy revelation.)

In fact, much of the movie is baloney: WILD ABOUT HARRY: Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Night One
Click to expand...

Spoiler alert. You're correct. I figured the spying bits were exaggerated.

The actress that played Houdini's wife was worth the time lost watching the mini-series.
 
I particularly liked the magnet on the ramrod tip to extract the lead bullet from the barrel.
 
I also think the actress who plays the wife is really hot!!!! Yes, hot. I haven't seen part 2, but it is recorded.
 
The second greatest myth....

zzzippper said:
While he might have communicated with William Melville of Scotland Yard about what he was observing in Germany and Russia (and even the "evidence" for this is paper thin), to show him working as a full blown spy and using his magic act as "cover" is ludicrous. In fact, MI5 didn't even exist during Houdini's first tour of Europe. Of all the fictionalizations in the Houdini miniseries, this is by far the worst, and trying to work it into the story is one of the reasons the movie so badly mangles the facts of his early career. (Read: Experts weigh-in on 'Secret Life' spy revelation.)

In fact, much of the movie is baloney: WILD ABOUT HARRY: Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Night One
Click to expand...

The second greatest myth is that people believe H actually died in the upside down water escape tank.
 
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The second greatest myth....

zzzippper said:
While he might have communicated with William Melville of Scotland Yard about what he was observing in Germany and Russia (and even the "evidence" for this is paper thin), to show him working as a full blown spy and using his magic act as "cover" is ludicrous. In fact, MI5 didn't even exist during Houdini's first tour of Europe. Of all the fictionalizations in the Houdini miniseries, this is by far the worst, and trying to work it into the story is one of the reasons the movie so badly mangles the facts of his early career. (Read: Experts weigh-in on 'Secret Life' spy revelation.)

In fact, much of the movie is baloney: WILD ABOUT HARRY: Fact checking HISTORY's Houdini - Night One
Click to expand...

The second greatest myth is that people believe H actually died in the upside down water escape tank.

Some celebrities that did perform in the spy role in WWII were Marlene Dietrich, Hedy Lamarr and Josephine Baker. Julia Child (Yes the 'French Chef') did research with OSS and operated an office in China.
 
The whole movie had lots of fabrications of the truth.

He and Bess didn't go flying together as all planes at that time were one seaters and were not a reliable mode of transportation.

He wasn't a spy, never got locked into the Kaiser's safe.

Movie make believe ****.

Just like Cecil Gaines (The Butler) did not have a son that died in Viet Nam. He only had one son, not two.

Had they told the story of his real life adventures would have sufficed, cuz the guy really was interesting.

Reading Houdini's auto-biography back in grade school inspired me to learn the inner working of locks and how to open them without a key, something I still do today.

And the guy that punched him in the gut, rupturing his appendix was a college kid, not some spiteful dude.
 
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I've been interested in magic since I was a child and yes, most of the mini series was hooey.

As mentioned, if they had stuck to the facts, it would have been intersting all on its own.

The link that zzzipper provided gives the real scoop on Houdini.

My grandmother told me about going in to downtown Baltimore as a child and watching Houdini escape upside down from a straitjacket while suspended from a building. This occurred in 1914 and she would have been about 12.
 
So now we know the rest of the story.
I've always like to see a show like this and then pick up on a book to read the truth. the last book I ever read about Houdini was a lottttta years ago. ;)
 
The "story" was OK I guess, however the first night seemed to me to be endless commercials, frankly watching my car rust would be just as entertaining as I take no pleasure in paying the cable company to deliver advertising to me.

terry
 
I just wished they hadn't put part 2 on Tuesday night. No Counting Cars. I wanted to see the magical transformation of rusty cars to beautiful specimens.
 
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