Entertaining, superficial biopic of the escape artist, featuring Mr & Mrs Curtis Janet Leigh together for the first time (they made four other films together). Philip Yordan's screenplay turns slushy at end as Houdini searches for way to connect to his dead mother, is caught out by the Halloween curse. In the supporting cast, Sig Ruman makes the best impression as his carnival act boss.
Of the escapes, I think my favourite is the one when he's on trial in Germany and is locked up in a safe in court. He opens it easily. His wife explains to her mother-in-law, "They're expecting you to try and open it from the outside".
Photographed by Ernest Laszlo, edited by George Tomasini, music by Roy Webb (who must have realised RKO's days were numbered).
Houdini himself did appear in a couple of Paramount silent films, one of which, The Grim Game (1919) has been restored.
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