Houdini

Worthy biopic of the world's greatest daredevil
HOUDINI first aired as a "TNT Original Movie" on December 6, 1998. While not the best of the Houdini biopics (I still have a soft spot for the 1953 Houdini), it still has much to recommend it.

Notably, production design and the musical score is magnificent. HOUDINI is also the first Houdini biopic to dramatize Houdini's egotism...maybe too much so. Johnathon Schaech's over-the-top, manic Houdini is far different from Tony Curtis or Paul Michael Glaser. This makes him less likable. But as his wife Bess (Stacy Edwards) says in the film, "I fell in love with Ehrich Weiss. I put up with Houdini."

While HOUDINI takes plenty of dramatic license (Houdini's mother never kissed or held him???), it still does a good job of weaving in real Houdini history. It is the first Houdini film to give an accurate account of how he and Bess met. We also get to see the death bed promise young Ehrich made to his...





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