Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1976
The Great Houdini (film)
Buy The Great Houdini (film) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'The Great Houdinis' 'The Great Houdini' is a 1976 American made-for-television biographical film which is a fictionalized account of the life of the Hungarian-American escape artist and entertainer Harry Houdini. The film was written and directed by Melville Shavelson and features Paul Michael Glaser ('Starsky & Hutch') and Sally Struthers ('All in the Family') and originally aired on ABC on October 8, 1976.
Overview
The movie features the early career of Houdini, the relationship between his wife and mother, and his and his wife's attempts to reach "the other side", with him attempting to contact his deceased mother and her attempting to contact Houdini himself after his death. Although the film portrays a strained relationship between Houdini's wife and mother, in reality they got along relatively well.
Some notable performances were turned in by Vivian Vance as Bess Houdini's nurse (and the narrator), Ruth Gordon as Houdini's mother, Peter Cushing as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Bill Bixby as Rev. Arthur Ford.
When the film was rebroadcast on April 6, 1977, the title was changed to 'The Great Houdini'.
Cast
*Paul Michael Glaser as Harry Houdini (Erich Weiss)
*Sally Struthers as Bess Houdini
*Ruth Gordon as Cecilia Weiss
*Vivian Vance as Minnie (Nurse)
*Adrienne Barbeau as Daisy White
*Bill Bixby as Rev. Arthur Ford
*Jack Carter as Theo Weiss
*Peter Cushing as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
*Nina Foch as Rev. Le Veyne
*Wilfrid Hyde-White as Supt. Melville
*Geoffrey Lewis as Dr. Crandon
*Maureen O'Sullivan as Lady Conan Doyle
*Clive Revill as Dundas Slater
References
Buy The Great Houdini (film) now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1976