Thursday, November 7, 2013

A New Twist on the End of HOUDINI by Tony Curtis

 In the world of Houdini, one of the most beloved movies is the Paramount 1953 version with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. It also happens to be one of the most frustrating because of the ending. Magicians know that Houdini died from Peritonitis after having been punched in the stomach by J. Gordon Whitehead.

The HOUDINI movie with Tony Curtis shows a different end to Houdini's life. In the movie, he dies attempting the Pagoda Torture Cell Escape. So iconic was this ending that for many years lay people thought that was the way Houdini actually died.

That brings me to this little story. A close friend related the story of meeting Tony Curtis during one of his Art Gallery showings a few years before he died. They struck up a conversation and as is probably the case, the talk turned to his movies. My friend brought up the ending of the Houdini movie and why they chose to go with a fictitious ending.

Before I tell you what he said, I have heard many reasons. One, is that the students involved in the incident (when he was punched) were still alive and the studio feared being sued.  Another was that the studio wanted a more dramatic ending to the movie.

What I never heard is what Tony Curtis told my friend. He said "We shot the ending with the punch and it didn't play very strong for test audiences. So we shot the alternate ending where I die in the attempt of escaping from the big tank of water." I have never heard that before. I totally believe that he said it, but I'm not sure if I believe that it's true. IF it is true, that means that the movie many of us came to love had the potential to be a very different movie. In fact, still shots from other scenes have surfaced over the years, like the Milk Can, and the Airpline Transfer from the Grim Game.

Again, I must say I do believe Tony Curtis said it, but I'm not sure I believe it. I'm wondering if anyone else has heard this story?


  1. Interesting! But I'm skeptical. I'm not sure they did huge reshoots based on audience testing back then, and the whole second have of the movie is set-up for his death in the cell. I believe Joe Notaro has read the script. He'd be the man to ask.

  2. Dorothy Dietrich worked with Tony Curtis on the Home Box Office special "The World's Greatest Escapes" in which she was billed as Special Guest Star. Over the years they kept in touch. He was supposed to appear at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, to be booked along with an art exhibit at the Jewish Community Center. Sadly he died that year. He was not only a great actor but a great showman putting together some of the great star studded inside parties in Hollywood. As I recall he talked at one time to Dorothy about his Marilyn Monroe statement that kissing her was like kissing Hitler. He said it was just a flip line that he knew at the time would make a great sound bite and probably garner publicity. This Houdini statement could have been just such a thing. If you watch the movie, it is a great example of old time excellent screen writing, with each scene built upon the last leading to the exciting ending. However there seems to be a set of scenes that may have been cut about his bad luck on Halloween.

  3. I am in agreement with both of you! I totally believe he said it, but like John, I'm very skeptical, and for the same reason, I don't think they relied upon audience testing back then the same way they do today. I do appreciate the input though!

  4. Interesting story! I had not heard that. I can tell you that all of the screenplays that I read had Houdini doing the water cell on Halloween and then dying afterward. That said, the 1st preliminary green screenplay dated April 23, 1952 has Houdini getting punched in his dressing room by a college student and then later that evening performing the Water Torture Cell and then being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance with Bess at his side, where the dying Houdini says: “I’ll come back, Bess --- I’ll find a way”