Houdini
1953 · Movie · NR · 106 min · ★ 6.6 · 80% critics
In the early 1900s, a celebrated escape artist rises from humble beginnings to international fame with ever-bolder feats involving shackles, ropes, and jail cells. As the pressure to outdo himself grows, his drive for proof and spectacle strains his personal life and pulls him toward darker questions beyond the stage.
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2 hours to watch.
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Details
- Years
- 1953
- Release date
- 1953-07-02
- Language
- English
- Rated
- NR
- Runtime
- 106 min
- Critic score
- 80/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.6/10 (76 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a lively, old-fashioned biopic focused on daring escapes and romance rather than strict accuracy; Not for you if you need a deeper, more factual portrait like Madame Curie.
Pros: colorful, fast-moving thrills; suspenseful escape set pieces; easy family-friendly watch | Cons: loose with real history; shallow character depth; dated romance and humor
Themes
- drowning
- escape
- magic
- magic show
- tricks
- biography
- houdini
Cast & crew
Tony Curtis
as Harry Houdini
Janet Leigh
as Bess Houdini
Torin Thatcher
as Otto
Angela Clarke
as Harry's Mother
Stefan Schnabel
as German Prosecuting Attorney
Ian Wolfe
as Malue
Sig Ruman
as Schultz
Michael Pate
as Dooley
Connie Gilchrist
as Mrs. Shultz
- MB
Malcolm Lee Beggs
as British Jail Warden
Directed by George Marshall