#HOUDINI MOVIE 1998 TV#

Even the Fox tell-alls generated bigger Nielsens than any of their mutant cousins in the “world’s scariest animal crashes” genre. Specials showcasing magicians and illusionists unfailingly pull impressive ratings.

#HOUDINI MOVIE 1998 TV#

In light of all this, it would seem TV viewers would be a tough room. This is to say nothing of those Fox exposs on how magic tricks are done. Viewers accustomed to trick camerawork and special effects know that it is impossible to believe what you see. That is, of course, the essence of Houdini - a man whose life revolved around death.Īs for the man who became Houdini? “I won’t be able to escape him,” said Schaech.The appeal of magic on television is as baffling as Harry Houdini’s art. So I took it all, formulated it, and then just pretty much worked off Johnathon.”

“I didn’t really have what I felt was accurate material. But what was interesting about Bess and Harry was had their own version of how things happened.

“There were a few books that I was able to read that had a little bit of information about Bess. I wanted to have a drink watching do these things. “What kind of human he was, what kind of love relationship did he have? How could another person fall in love with somebody who was so driven and stay fascinating to him throughout his whole life?”Ĭommenting on her character as well as the production, Edwards said, “I understand why Bess turned to drink. It’s their love story that is at the heart of this “Houdini.” “That’s really the key to it,” said the director. That applies, too, to his relationship with his wife, Bess, played by Stacy Edwards (“Chicago Hope”). Said Densham, “The thing about Houdini’s whole life was that he embraced subterfuge.” As a result, he said, “No one really knows what the truth is.” “I will write my own history,” he says early in Densham’s film. There are many theories about Houdini, who was proud of starting many himself. And I think, in some ways, that influenced some of the writing and things that went into the way I treated the story of Houdini.”ĭensham calls Houdini, who died on Halloween in 1926, “the Evel Knievel, Barnum and Mick Jagger of his time.”

And like Houdini, he said, “My father went to seances - to psychics and things - and I saw this as a kid. “When I was young, my mother died,” said Densham. The death sparked an unusually strong relationship between Houdini and his mother, Cecilia Steiner Weiss - one that drove the world-famous magician and propels this movie reincarnation of his life. The larger-than-life Houdini, born Ehrich Weiss in Budapest in 1874, moved to Appleton, Wis., when he was just 4 and began reinventing himself as Houdini in 1893, the year after his father died. (Adding to the mix are some fine supporting actors, including Paul Sorvino, George Segal, Rhea Perlman, David Warner, Ron Perlman, Grace Zabriskie and Mark Ruffalo.) And at the same time, we also tried to capture a human being, and I think that’s really the key to it.” “We tried to capture, for our modern audience, the excitement, that thrill. “We tried to give you the experience that an unsophisticated audience of 1899 would have gotten watching the same thing,” said Densham. Schaech’s participation clearly bolsters the winning combination of movie and Houdini magic - his famous Milk Can Escape, his Chinese Water Torture Cell - that puts this TNT project over the top.

Houdini movie 1998