Houdini: The Movie Star

Most people don't think of Harry Houdini as a movie star, but during his heyday the famed escape artist headlined a number of films designed to highlight his amazing ability to wriggle out of precarious predicaments. This three-disc collection brings together the surviving prints of Houdini's films, including the 1919 serial The Master Mystery and a trio of features (Terror Island from 1920, The Man from Beyond from 1922 and Haldane of the Secret Service from 1923). Unfortunately, these are desultory adventure flicks in which the ridiculously dismal action pauses every now and then so that Houdini can be imprisoned in elaborate restraints (from which, needless to say, he routinely escapes with speed and agility). Actually, the real gems of this collection are the special features, particularly the correspondence between Houdini's producers and the New York Censor Board, as well as a very rare 1914 audio recording of Houdini introducing his “Water Torture Cell.” But the most astonishing extra here doesn't involve the escape artist: it's a surviving five-minute fragment of the 1919 feature The Grim Game that shows a genuine mid-air collision of two airplanes (the film's script was hastily revised to incorporate the grisly accident into its feverish plot). Silent movie aficionados and libraries with larger silent film collections will definitely want to consider purchasing Houdini: The Movie Star, which is optional for others. (P. Hall)