Houdini

When the Houdinis and the reporter are being driven to the séance, the same rear projection loop is continually run in the car's back window, repeatedly showing the same background traffic, with the splice where the loop begins plainly visible each time.

Near the end, when Bess is in the empty theatre, begging Harry not to do the trick, she is clapping.

You can hear the loud claps, although she is wearing gloves on both hands.

You would never hear the claps, only muted thuds.

Close-up of front page of Variety shows two photos of Houdini making elephant disappear; in era when this story was set, Variety never ran photos, except in ads.

Newspaper editor looks over layout for "whatever happened to Houdini?" article, then assigns a reporter to go out and investigate the story.

This is absolutely backwards - a story of such a speculative nature would always be written first, with layout following after the fact.

When Houdini is doing the "levitation" trick on the stage, watch as Tony Curtis passes the hoop around Janet Leigh's bodytwice you can see the split in the hoop "catch" on the lifting frame behind her body.

As Harry and Bess are hurriedly leaving after meeting Harry's mother, a photographic flash can be seen as they reach the door.

There's a revealing jump cut in the authentic sawing-woman-in-half act.

In the clip when Houdini is in London demonstrating his escape from a trunk, he gets 2 sailors to check the trunk.

On the sailors' blue collars are stars.

The Royal Navy did not have stars on their collars.

.... I was 9 years old when I saw it.

Spectacular biography , Excellent movie. The chemistry and timing between Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis makes this movie believable.

Spectacular biography of famed escape artist dealing with the Great Houdini. At the outset, he had little success he performed in dime sideshows, and even doubled as "The Wild Man .

I give this movie a 9 out of 10 for accuracy. The movie was not accurate but it was an awesome entertainment film.

I and I'm sure many people have heard about some of the tricks, illusions, and stunts by the most famous escape artist, and I had already watched the two-part miniseries with Adrien Brody, I was looking forward to a Hollywood made biopic, directed by George Marshall (Pack Up Your Troubles, Towed in the Hole, Destry Rides Again). Basically, in the 1890s, at a Coney Island carnival, naive onlooker Bess (Janet Leigh) is attending a sideshow.

Belief and proof, that is the theme of this likable biography of one of America's entertainers, combination magician and escape artist. There's no doubt in my mind that this is a totally sanitized biography.

Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh turn in wonderful performances as Harry and Bess Houdini in "Houdini," a 1953 film. And why shouldn't romance be the centerpiece?

Houdini (1953)You might think this is an odd pairing in an odd biopic, Tony Curtis as the brilliant escape artist and Janet Leigh as his assistant and wife. But it works.

"Houdini" is a biopic of the magician and escapologist Harry Houdini, played here by Tony Curtis. Janet Leigh, the real life Mrs Curtis, plays Mrs Houdini; this was one of five movies they made together during their eleven-year marriage.