Houdini's Death Defying Acts (DVD, 2008)

This was an OK movie, I was really hoping for more of the Magic he did but it still was an interesting movie. I can safely say that this movie is very different then the Tony Curtis movie.

I rated this GOOD and not better due to historical inaccuracy on 3 counts - the ending was generally correct but technically in the wrong venue on 2 counts. And Houdini was, yes, not perhaps a faithful husband - but the alleged affair was with Jack London's very aggressive wife - on the west coast. And to his credit there were a number of female pursuers who tried mightily to woo him but failed. OK enough nit picking, by a magic scholar with 15 Houdini books on the shelf.
BUT !!! The cinematography was excellent and beautiful. Catherine Zeta-Jones looked about 27 here and is an incredibly photogenic and fine actress. Guy Pearce captures Houdini's manner, and appearance very well - (though he is taller than Houdini) and got his mannerisms down perfectly. There do exist 3 movies starring Houdini (silent)and two brief voice recordings - (just as well he did not nail the voice). A lovely tale, and the little girl steals every scene she is in. All players were very generous with one another. You will be greatly entertained and time just flies in this film. No bad language and is a very mild PG13. If you enjoy this genre - I recommend HANUSSEN, also available on Ebay, and accurate to a shocking fault.

Features actors: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Guy Pierce, Timothy Spall, Saoirse Ronan.
This mother(Mary)& daughter(Benji) duo, have a few tricks up their sleeves.Being a single mom she is forced to do shows, that leads the people that attend the shows to think she is a psychic.This "show business, helps feed this single mom and daughter.Her daughter Benji had the actual gift when she was younger to have some psychic abilities, her mom told her it would go away as she got older, and she told her mom it did.When the great Harry Houdini comes to their town with the challenge to win $10,000 to anyone who can says his mothers dying words she said to him,Mary accepts his offer.When Harry first sees Mary you can see the instant attraction.It then becomes a struggle for mary,to go with love or expose all of Harry Houdini's secret.But in the end is it Benji who has the final secret to Harry's soon future??
Good movie, with great actors.The young girl in this movie is extradorinary!It has some slow parts but towards the end it picks up.Would recommend to rent.Hope this helps you decide.please click YES at the bottom! Thanks for taking the time to read this. :)

This movie is a Hollywood idea of what Houdini might have done in a bad dream. Except for the fact that he did not believe in Spiritualism and did his best to debunk it, nothing about this movie was nor could have been true. He ALWAYS traveled with his wife (who was his on-stage assistant) and unless he had an affair NO ONE knew about, the whole movie is a joke. Oh well, Michael Douglas' wife is lovely as aways and there is a SLIGHT kicker at the end of the movie, that I DIDN'T see coming. And in spite of the far-fetched storyline, the acting is good and the costumes are...well, period costumes. But save your money. "The Illusionist" tho not about Houdini, is MUCH better.