Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Houdini The Movie Star (1918-1923)

Contents: The Master Mystery (1918-1919), The Grim Game (1919) {surviving footage}, Terror Island (1920), The Man from Beyond (1922) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923), with Slippery Jim (1910).

Famous illusionist Harry Houdini is the focus of this collection of his surviving films, made before his premature 31 October 1926 death.

This DVD collection offers the serial The Master Mystery (1918-1919), an incomplete but reconstructed version from 35mm footage once held by Douris UK Ltd. (now held by the Cohen Media Group); the surviving 35mm footage from The Grim Game (1919) held by George Eastman Museum (5 minutes); Terror Island (1920) from an excellent but incomplete 35mm print (missing reels three and four) held by the Library of Congress; the best available edition (of several) of The Man from Beyond (1922), having been mastered from the Library of Congress preservation version prepared from surviving 16mm print materials; and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923) from a very-good 35mm print held by Cinema Arts.

The films are accompanied by music scores performed by Jon C. Mirsalis, Ben Model, Stuart Oderman and Clark Wilson.

The supplemental material includes documentary footage of Houdini escapes (circa 1907 through 1923), an audio recording of Houdini introducing his “Water Torture Cell” (1914), Slippery Jim (1910) a Houdini-inspired comedy, an examination of film scenes censored by the New York State Censor Board with correspondence, Houdini’s illusion “Metamorphosis” performed by Houdini’s brother Hardeen (4 minutes), image galleries, and film notes.

For our comparative reviews of the individual films in this collection, see our Haldane of the Secret Service on home video, The Man from Beyond on home video, The Master Mystery on home video, Slippery Jim on home video and Terror Island on home video pages.

This collection is recommended.

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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

Other SHORT COMEDY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.