Houdini

Narrated by Mandy Patinkin, this entry from the PBS-aired American Experience series profiles Budapest-born Ehrich Weiss, who moved with his impoverished family to America, where--through sheer will, confidence, and courage--Weiss forged a new identity as magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, eventually hailed as America's “greatest showman.” Growing up in early-20th-century New York, where almost every block was marked by vaudeville houses and dime museums, the young Houdini--possessing a natural athletic ability and a shrewd, self-promoting personality--became known as the “king of handcuffs.” Helped by a wife who became his assistant, he quickly graduated to performing elaborate escapes, working his way out of coffins and milk cans, even surviving chained immersions in rivers. Although one commentator here dismisses the stunts as “one big hype,” many of them clearly involved real pain. Written and directed by Nancy Porter, the documentary covers the role of tabloid newspapers and newsreels in promoting Houdini; his numerous “challenges” and gimmicks; his yearning to be accepted as an intellectual; his dislike of the spiritualist craze, which he regarded as a fraud perpetrated on desperate people; and his death on Halloween night in 1926 as a result of a ruptured appendix. Archival film footage and photographs supplement comments from magicians David Copperfield and The Amazing Randi, as well as novelist E.L. Doctorow. A fine biographical portrait of a man whose reputation helped usher in America's media-driven popular culture, this is recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)