Once more, Houdini and his wife Bessie mysteriously exchange places in a locked trunk-in three seconds!Īnd Houdini the man is not ignored. Again, in this book, Houdini walks through a brick wall, vanishes a 10,000-pound elephant and is buried alive. Included are the famous escapes: escapes from a padlocked milk can filled with water from locked jail cells from a water-filled Chinese torture cell while suspended upside down from packing cases weighted under water. The spectacular highlights of Houdini's career are described-and explained-here. It is with the aid of Houdini's own scrapbooks and notes that this book was written. Walter Gibson, co-author, was in close touch with Harry Houdini for a number of years before his death and worked with the master magician in preparing material for the book. Incredible escapes, fantastic sleight-of-hand-Houdini's most challenging performances are dramatically portrayed in Houdini's Fabulous Magic. Four pieces of the Penn & Teller repertoire were directly inspired by Houdini's Fabulous Magic.” Teller of Penn & Teller Please click here to contribute to your hyper-local blog.★★★★★ “ I have loved this book for sixty years. (It’s no mystery that “06880” relies on readers’ support. ( Click here, then scroll down to see the Facebook post.) Now - thanks, the Facebook post says, to “David Copperfield and the Westport Museum for History & Culture” - that mystery has finally been solved. The “wizard” was shackled, nailed in a packing case, dumped in the water … and then he re-appeared. This will be Houdini’s first appearance in the state of Connecticut and his last public appearance in America for some time.Īs the film shows, that’s exactly what happened. Houdini wagers that he will appear on the surface two minutes after the case has been submerged. Lewis’ boathouse will carry the box out over the water and drop it into the Sound. Shackeled hand and foot, placed in a packing case which is securely nailed and sealed by a committee and after the box is weighted a huge crane which is being placed on the landing pier of Mr. The fearless magician will perform what he calls the ‘submarine submerged box mystery.'” He was expected to “make a new experiment which is filled with excitement and daring. There would be elephants, stage stars - and “one of the really sensational engagements … the wizard Houdini.” Parts of it are recognizable today, as the Inn at Longshore. Workmen and architects are transforming the Lewis estate into a veritable fairly land tents are being put in place for the society circus, side shows, concessions and charity booths, while the boat house will be utilized as a petite theatre … and for moving pictures.įrederick Lewis’ palatial home. Nearly every woman of prominence in the shore colony is busily engaged in the arrangements, which will continue throughout the week. It purports to show his escape too (though according to a YouTube commenter, that footage was spliced in from Houdini’s film “The Master Mystery”).īut there is no mystery about the gala affair in Westport.Ī Bridgeport Times story previewed it 3 days earlier: The film shows Houdini being lowered into Long Island Sound, at what is now Longshore. The escape took pace on June 30, 1917, during a Red Cross And Allied War charities drive at Lewis’s home. Now - thanks to a letter at David Copperfield’s International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts - the back story is known. It covers all things Houdini.įor nearly a century, the date and location of the film - edited by the magician/ stunt performer’s brother Hardeen - has been a mystery. The information comes from John Cox’s “W ild About Harry” blog. On the “Westport, Connecticut: Old Photos from the Westport of Our Youth” page, Colabella - the young Representative Town Meeting member who was not even alive when the Longshore bathhouses were torn down - posted what is said to be the only surviving film of Houdini doing his “overboard box escape.” Lewis’ private estate.īut now - thanks to Facebook - you can see both. You’ve also probably never seen a movie of Longshore, back in the day when it was Frederick E. You’ve probably never seen a movie of Harry Houdini.
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