![]() They billed themselves as "The Brothers Houdini". In dire life-threatening poverty? No, but it makes for good copy.īy the time his father died, Harry and his younger brother, Theo (known as "Dash") had chucked their day jobs (Harry had been a garment worker) and were working as professional magicians in and around New York. Harry also had the leisure to practice and perfect his magic act, and he had enough of a healthy lifestye that he became a competitive cross country runner (but of the plethora of medals in the famous photo, Harry won only one). ![]() But when his father died at age 63 in 1892, Harry was eighteen, and the older brothers were in their twenties - scarcely young waifs. So the family moved to New York where we have the picture of Harry growing up in abject poverty supporting a widowed mother. But he was not rehired after four years service. Harry's pop, Samuel, was the rabbi of the synagogue in Appleton. So it may be his American boyhood chums dubbed him Harry. At the same time, there is a natural Americanization from Ehrich to Eric to Erie. After all, Harry Houdini certainly sounds better (to American ears) than Ehrich Houdini or Harry Weisz. Reading early biographies you would think he picked his first name because of it's alliteration with his stage surname. How Ehrich Weisz became Harry Houdini isn't clear. ![]() It wasn't unheard of for naturalized US citizens to return to a visit to their native country and then get slapped in the old country's army. When he began his international travels, Harry knew that being noted as a native born American on his passport had advantages. The deception was probably less his parents fault than his. It's now well-established that Harry was born Ehrich Weisz on Main Budapest, Hungary, not in Appleton, Wisconsin, as earlier biographies stated. Few people read his biographies or see the (inaccurate) movies and docudramas. The big question is why and how? The conjuring profession that made Harry Houdini famous has largely vanished. ![]() In the end, it is true, Houdini was able to escape everything but his own ambition.That a vaudeville performer who was born in 1874 and who died in 1926 is still part of everyday culture of the Twenty-First Century is amazing. Never liked the Curtis film but I did read Houdini's autobiography, so I empathize with the angry reviews in this list. ![]() (With Hatfields/McCoys, which I reviewed here, they nailed it AND were factually accurate to boot). If you bring no expectations to this film, it is entertaining, although truth be told I think the History Channel should set its standards a bit higher. Here he does the best he can with what he was given. In fact, Brody is one of those actors who seems to be merely tolerated by his audience during his actual career but, I suspect, will become a cult idol to nextgen viewers. That she can, speaks to the weakness of the script, and meandering self-indulgent arc that passes for a plot. The bad news is that, as interesting as Connolly is, she should really not be able to steal the entire film. I don't mean to make light of this, it is very unusual, and very effective. It is a good thing because over the course of the 2-parter you start to realize that the intensity comes not from the escapes, but rather from Connolly simultaneously delivering her dialog with that machine-gun rasp of hers, at the same time those extra-wide "cartoon" eyes pause for emphasis. ![]()
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