1 00:00:02,963 --> 00:00:06,643 Tonight on "History's Greatest Mysteries"... 2 00:00:10,363 --> 00:00:12,483 He was the greatest escape artist of all time, 3 00:00:12,643 --> 00:00:17,043 and his name was the embodiment of mystery and wonder. 4 00:00:20,803 --> 00:00:22,803 I'm Laurence Fishburne. 5 00:00:22,963 --> 00:00:26,203 Even though Harry Houdini has been dead for nearly a century, 6 00:00:26,363 --> 00:00:28,763 key questions remain about his life. 7 00:00:28,923 --> 00:00:32,083 On tonight's mystery, Houdini's diaries, 8 00:00:32,243 --> 00:00:35,403 kept under lock and key in New York City, 9 00:00:35,563 --> 00:00:37,443 may answer some of those questions. 10 00:00:37,603 --> 00:00:40,043 It is the first time they have been made public. 11 00:00:42,883 --> 00:00:46,803 Goodwin: For the first time, we're getting to see Houdini in his own words, 12 00:00:46,963 --> 00:00:49,763 the most unfiltered version of the man. 13 00:00:51,563 --> 00:00:52,963 Fishburne: What do the diaries reveal 14 00:00:53,123 --> 00:00:55,603 about the real Harry Houdini, his background, 15 00:00:55,763 --> 00:00:58,163 and how he became the world's greatest showman? 16 00:00:59,923 --> 00:01:01,843 Caveney: Houdini wanted to be bigger than life 17 00:01:02,003 --> 00:01:05,523 and he would do anything towards that end. 18 00:01:05,683 --> 00:01:07,683 What was the secret of his mass appeal? 19 00:01:07,843 --> 00:01:12,603 Teller: Houdini was certainly the person who made the idea 20 00:01:12,763 --> 00:01:15,923 of an escape artist mean something to the world. 21 00:01:16,083 --> 00:01:18,843 Jilette: "I defy the jails of the world to hold me." 22 00:01:19,003 --> 00:01:22,083 That is a better slogan than "All you need is love." 23 00:01:22,243 --> 00:01:24,643 How much did he risk to stay famous? 24 00:01:24,803 --> 00:01:27,203 Cox: Up until this point, the stakes were 25 00:01:27,363 --> 00:01:29,363 if Houdini fails, it's humiliation. 26 00:01:29,523 --> 00:01:31,163 Now the stakes are life and death. 27 00:01:31,323 --> 00:01:33,803 Fishburne: And did his all‐out war 28 00:01:33,963 --> 00:01:36,403 against the people who claimed to speak to the dead 29 00:01:36,563 --> 00:01:38,683 get him killed? 30 00:01:38,843 --> 00:01:43,603 Were spiritualists bad enough to commit murder? 31 00:01:43,763 --> 00:01:49,123 Yes. Can a university student punch wicked hard? Yes. 32 00:01:49,283 --> 00:01:54,603 The legacy and life of a legend who cheated death until it found him. 33 00:01:54,763 --> 00:01:58,923 ( music playing ) 34 00:02:10,363 --> 00:02:14,043 The most famous magician today is Harry Houdini. 35 00:02:16,963 --> 00:02:19,163 The first magic name people can name? 36 00:02:19,323 --> 00:02:21,203 Harry Houdini. 37 00:02:21,363 --> 00:02:22,803 Kids on the street know his name 38 00:02:22,963 --> 00:02:25,123 when they don't know Penn and Teller. 39 00:02:26,763 --> 00:02:28,803 Culliton: In any famous person's life, 40 00:02:28,963 --> 00:02:33,203 there are at least three different stories for any one event. 41 00:02:33,363 --> 00:02:35,203 Except in Houdini's life, 42 00:02:35,363 --> 00:02:37,963 there are 10 stories to any one event. 43 00:02:41,563 --> 00:02:45,123 Fishburne: Harry Houdini kept diaries throughout his life. 44 00:02:45,283 --> 00:02:48,203 While some have been released, thousands of pages‐‐ 45 00:02:48,363 --> 00:02:49,883 some handwritten, some typed‐‐ 46 00:02:50,043 --> 00:02:53,883 have remained a mystery, hidden from public view. 47 00:02:54,043 --> 00:02:57,403 A handful of trusted magicians and Houdini scholars 48 00:02:57,563 --> 00:02:58,923 have been allowed to read them. 49 00:02:59,083 --> 00:03:03,003 At last, the custodian of the diaries, 50 00:03:03,163 --> 00:03:05,003 magic historian Bill Kalush 51 00:03:05,163 --> 00:03:08,803 has agreed to make them available. 52 00:03:08,963 --> 00:03:13,403 The diaries now being made available through this documentary 53 00:03:13,563 --> 00:03:14,843 is a really big thing. 54 00:03:15,003 --> 00:03:16,603 This would be the first time 55 00:03:16,763 --> 00:03:19,203 that we'll be able to peruse these diaries 56 00:03:19,363 --> 00:03:22,603 and learn more things about Houdini's life and career 57 00:03:22,763 --> 00:03:25,403 than we could ever have in any other way. 58 00:03:25,563 --> 00:03:29,883 Fishburne: The diaries have been organized to help decipher 59 00:03:30,043 --> 00:03:32,003 the key chapters in Houdini's life 60 00:03:32,163 --> 00:03:34,523 where secrets and questions remain‐‐ 61 00:03:34,683 --> 00:03:36,723 starting at the beginning. 62 00:03:42,643 --> 00:03:46,923 Culliton: Harry Houdini was a personality invented 63 00:03:47,083 --> 00:03:51,763 by a very ambitious young man named Erik Weisz. 64 00:03:53,243 --> 00:03:55,043 Fishburne: When he was 30 years old, 65 00:03:55,203 --> 00:04:00,003 Houdini lies about where he was born in his own diary. 66 00:04:00,163 --> 00:04:01,683 Cox: What's the first mystery of Houdini? 67 00:04:01,843 --> 00:04:03,483 And it starts with his birth. 68 00:04:03,643 --> 00:04:08,203 Houdini was born in Budapest, Hungary, on March 24th, 1874, 69 00:04:08,363 --> 00:04:11,203 yet his diary says, 70 00:04:11,363 --> 00:04:14,963 "Harry Houdini born April 6th, Appleton, Wisconsin." 71 00:04:15,123 --> 00:04:19,883 Kalush: Houdini absolutely knew he was born in Budapest, 72 00:04:20,043 --> 00:04:22,483 March 24th 1874. 73 00:04:22,643 --> 00:04:26,243 He knew he was four years old when he came to the U. S., 74 00:04:26,403 --> 00:04:29,323 so the question is why. 75 00:04:31,683 --> 00:04:35,203 Lynch: So, Houdini was born Erik Weisz and no one exactly knows 76 00:04:35,363 --> 00:04:38,323 why the family would move to Appleton. 77 00:04:38,483 --> 00:04:41,843 The legend that Houdini apparently would always tell 78 00:04:42,003 --> 00:04:43,803 was that his father got in a duel 79 00:04:43,963 --> 00:04:47,403 with some member of the Hungarian royal family 80 00:04:47,563 --> 00:04:51,203 and ended up killing him and had to flee to America. 81 00:04:51,363 --> 00:04:54,363 Fishburne: What is known for sure is that Erik's father 82 00:04:54,523 --> 00:04:59,723 has a respectable position waiting for him in Appleton. 83 00:04:59,883 --> 00:05:01,363 Kalush: They had a number of Jewish families, 84 00:05:01,523 --> 00:05:03,203 so they needed a rabbi, 85 00:05:03,363 --> 00:05:07,003 and that's what his father Rabbi Weisz did. 86 00:05:07,163 --> 00:05:10,803 He came of consciousness in this idyllic small town 87 00:05:10,963 --> 00:05:13,523 where his father is an honored man. 88 00:05:13,683 --> 00:05:16,283 There's beautiful fields, there's creeks to swim in. 89 00:05:16,443 --> 00:05:19,363 It is the American ideal, and that's the world 90 00:05:19,523 --> 00:05:21,883 Erik Weisz comes to know. 91 00:05:25,363 --> 00:05:27,803 Fishburne: Though life is initially good for the Weisz family, 92 00:05:27,963 --> 00:05:32,403 circumstances soon take a turn for the worse. 93 00:05:32,563 --> 00:05:36,003 Kalush: When Erik was not very old, 94 00:05:36,163 --> 00:05:39,203 they fired his father as the rabbi. 95 00:05:39,363 --> 00:05:43,203 And they left Appleton for Milwaukee, 96 00:05:43,363 --> 00:05:44,803 and things took a bad turn. 97 00:05:44,963 --> 00:05:46,443 They lived in poverty at that point. 98 00:05:46,603 --> 00:05:48,363 They lived very poorly. 99 00:05:48,523 --> 00:05:51,123 And it was a time that he wouldn't even recount. 100 00:05:51,283 --> 00:05:54,683 He wouldn't talk about his time in Milwaukee because it was so painful. 101 00:05:54,843 --> 00:05:59,203 Cox: Schooling falls out of the picture and he goes right to work. 102 00:05:59,363 --> 00:06:02,283 He understands very early, "I've gotta help. 103 00:06:02,443 --> 00:06:03,883 I've gotta help support this family." 104 00:06:04,043 --> 00:06:06,603 Kalush: He went out and did whatever it took 105 00:06:06,763 --> 00:06:08,643 when food needed to be on the table, 106 00:06:08,803 --> 00:06:11,043 from selling flowers to shining shoes, 107 00:06:11,203 --> 00:06:13,163 to selling papers or being a messenger boy. 108 00:06:13,323 --> 00:06:18,603 Work became all important and he was a workaholic his whole life. 109 00:06:18,763 --> 00:06:20,603 Zenon: It probably gave him that drive, that grit, 110 00:06:20,763 --> 00:06:22,723 and he was determined to make himself into something. 111 00:06:22,883 --> 00:06:25,283 But that lack of education was going to go on to haunt him. 112 00:06:29,563 --> 00:06:31,403 To help his son escape the harsh reality 113 00:06:31,563 --> 00:06:33,003 of the poverty they were living in now, 114 00:06:33,163 --> 00:06:35,603 Mayer Weisz took his son to see a magic show. 115 00:06:35,763 --> 00:06:38,123 It was a particular trick that Houdini remembered, 116 00:06:38,283 --> 00:06:40,403 throughout the rest of his life in fact. 117 00:06:40,563 --> 00:06:43,803 Kalush: He saw Dr. Lynn, who was a famous magician, 118 00:06:43,963 --> 00:06:46,683 and he did an effect called palingenesia, 119 00:06:46,843 --> 00:06:48,603 where it appeared as though he took a knife 120 00:06:48,763 --> 00:06:51,483 and cut the limbs off of a living person and then restored them. 121 00:06:51,643 --> 00:06:55,003 To a young, clearly imaginative young boy, 122 00:06:55,163 --> 00:07:00,843 seeing somebody perform this incredibly dark and macabre act, 123 00:07:01,003 --> 00:07:02,803 it would have just been captivating. 124 00:07:02,963 --> 00:07:05,003 It's going to fire his imagination. 125 00:07:05,163 --> 00:07:06,883 It's going to be the thing that he's talking about 126 00:07:07,043 --> 00:07:08,443 and will remember for the rest of his life. 127 00:07:11,363 --> 00:07:13,803 Fishburne: In one of the newly released diary entries, 128 00:07:13,963 --> 00:07:17,083 Houdini recounts the gruesome act. 129 00:07:17,243 --> 00:07:19,803 "I saw Dr. Lynn do it 30 years ago 130 00:07:19,963 --> 00:07:22,803 when I was ten years of age in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 131 00:07:22,963 --> 00:07:25,123 He pretended to use chloraform, 132 00:07:25,283 --> 00:07:27,203 and at the time I really believed 133 00:07:27,363 --> 00:07:31,403 that the man's arm, leg, and head were cut off." 134 00:07:31,563 --> 00:07:33,203 I think Dr. Lynn's palingenisia 135 00:07:33,363 --> 00:07:35,123 might have been quite formative for Houdini. 136 00:07:35,283 --> 00:07:37,003 My own experiences, when I was a kid 137 00:07:37,163 --> 00:07:39,203 I watched the "Twilight Zone" and Alfred Hitchcock, 138 00:07:39,363 --> 00:07:41,603 and ever since, I've wanted to do things 139 00:07:41,763 --> 00:07:43,603 that have to do with life and death and creepy stuff. 140 00:07:43,763 --> 00:07:45,403 So, I wouldn't be surprised if Houdini said, 141 00:07:45,563 --> 00:07:47,363 "Hmm, I want to do that." 142 00:07:47,523 --> 00:07:51,243 Zenon: After Milwaukee, Mayer Weisz moved the family 143 00:07:51,403 --> 00:07:52,923 to New York City to look for work 144 00:07:53,083 --> 00:07:54,803 and it was almost as though 145 00:07:54,963 --> 00:07:56,603 that was the place where the Houdini persona 146 00:07:56,763 --> 00:07:58,683 started to take shape in young Erik. 147 00:07:58,843 --> 00:08:00,803 Young Houdini's life in New York 148 00:08:00,963 --> 00:08:03,803 was what really opened up the possibilities to him. 149 00:08:03,963 --> 00:08:06,203 It was not until he got to Manhattan 150 00:08:06,363 --> 00:08:08,203 that I think he suddenly looked up 151 00:08:08,363 --> 00:08:10,323 and saw the potential of America 152 00:08:10,483 --> 00:08:12,523 and of making his name there. 153 00:08:12,683 --> 00:08:16,363 Cox: He becomes very, very interested in athletics. 154 00:08:16,523 --> 00:08:18,283 That really is a natural for him, 155 00:08:18,443 --> 00:08:21,003 for his competitive nature, for his love of physical fitness. 156 00:08:21,163 --> 00:08:23,483 He becomes a boxer. He becomes a champion runner. 157 00:08:23,643 --> 00:08:27,923 His drive was more like an athlete's drive than an entertainer's, 158 00:08:28,083 --> 00:08:31,003 and it really starts here in New York. 159 00:08:31,163 --> 00:08:32,803 Caveney: The great thing about athletics is 160 00:08:32,963 --> 00:08:35,723 if you win that race, you are the best, 161 00:08:35,883 --> 00:08:38,003 you are number one, 162 00:08:38,163 --> 00:08:41,123 and they give you a little medal to prove it. 163 00:08:41,283 --> 00:08:43,603 Cuiffo: I think that photograph of Houdini with all the medals 164 00:08:43,763 --> 00:08:47,003 is very telling of his earnest personality 165 00:08:47,163 --> 00:08:51,443 and desire for acceptance and success 166 00:08:51,603 --> 00:08:54,203 and showing people that he was 167 00:08:54,363 --> 00:08:56,803 not just another one of these nameless, 168 00:08:56,963 --> 00:08:59,283 faceless immigrants running around the city. 169 00:08:59,443 --> 00:09:03,683 On closer examination, some of them appear to be genuine medals 170 00:09:03,843 --> 00:09:06,603 and some of them are sort of milk bottle caps 171 00:09:06,763 --> 00:09:09,683 that he's fashioned into medals. 172 00:09:09,843 --> 00:09:12,603 Cuiffo: So not only did he have the medals that he'd earned, 173 00:09:12,763 --> 00:09:15,003 and there were quite a few of those, 174 00:09:15,163 --> 00:09:16,483 he'd had added a couple. 175 00:09:16,643 --> 00:09:19,363 He was a natural exaggerator. 176 00:09:19,523 --> 00:09:22,003 Clearly, Houdini wanted to be bigger than life 177 00:09:22,163 --> 00:09:25,803 and he would do anything towards that end. 178 00:09:28,443 --> 00:09:30,403 Fishburne: In 1889, 179 00:09:30,563 --> 00:09:34,523 a chance discovery changes everything. 180 00:09:34,683 --> 00:09:36,403 Zenon: So the young Erik in New York City stumbled 181 00:09:36,563 --> 00:09:38,443 across a book by Robert‐Houdin, 182 00:09:38,603 --> 00:09:40,403 "The Memoirs Of Robert‐Houdin," 183 00:09:40,563 --> 00:09:43,643 and that seems to have been a real turning point for him. 184 00:09:43,803 --> 00:09:45,163 It was about a fully rounded character, 185 00:09:45,323 --> 00:09:47,283 and that's what I think inspired him to create his own. 186 00:09:47,443 --> 00:09:50,803 Caveney: Robert‐Houdin is known as the father of modern magic. 187 00:09:50,963 --> 00:09:52,203 He was one of the first people 188 00:09:52,363 --> 00:09:55,403 to ever levitate another human being. 189 00:09:55,563 --> 00:09:57,723 And Robert‐Houdin levitated his little son, 190 00:09:57,883 --> 00:10:00,083 and he called it the ethereal suspension. 191 00:10:03,363 --> 00:10:05,603 And people believed it. 192 00:10:05,763 --> 00:10:09,403 Robert‐Houdin said that a magician is an actor 193 00:10:09,563 --> 00:10:11,963 playing the part of someone with real power. 194 00:10:12,123 --> 00:10:14,403 Zenon: Houdini took this on board I think 195 00:10:14,563 --> 00:10:17,203 and realized that he had to inhabit the character 100 percent. 196 00:10:17,363 --> 00:10:19,403 He had to be the character he created. 197 00:10:19,563 --> 00:10:21,443 Now that he'd got the blueprint for the persona, 198 00:10:21,603 --> 00:10:23,083 what he needed was a name for it. 199 00:10:26,963 --> 00:10:32,203 Cox: Erik Weisz gets a job at H. Richters and Sons‐‐ a tie factory. 200 00:10:32,363 --> 00:10:35,203 While he's working there, he meets a friend, Jacob Hyman. 201 00:10:35,363 --> 00:10:37,803 And the story goes that it was Jacob who said, 202 00:10:37,963 --> 00:10:43,003 "If you take the name Houdin and add an I on to the end, 203 00:10:43,163 --> 00:10:45,643 in French that means 'like Houdin'." 204 00:10:45,803 --> 00:10:47,203 And there it was. 205 00:10:47,363 --> 00:10:51,003 There it was, the name that you can never forget. 206 00:10:51,163 --> 00:10:54,403 One of the reasons people say his name so often 207 00:10:54,563 --> 00:10:57,003 is because it comes out so well. 208 00:10:57,163 --> 00:10:59,723 Houdini. Houdini. 209 00:11:01,963 --> 00:11:05,083 Lynch: Erik Weisz made his own destiny in becoming Houdini, 210 00:11:05,243 --> 00:11:08,123 and that was kind of the first stage in his transformation. 211 00:11:10,363 --> 00:11:13,563 Brandon: Erik Weisz was the boy who worked in a tie shop. 212 00:11:13,723 --> 00:11:16,803 And Houdini was the result of his decision 213 00:11:16,963 --> 00:11:19,003 that he was going to express himself. 214 00:11:19,163 --> 00:11:21,243 He wasn't Erik Weisz. He was Houdini. 215 00:11:23,963 --> 00:11:27,603 Fishburne: Erik Weisz now has a blueprint to change his life. 216 00:11:27,763 --> 00:11:29,403 He decides to commit himself 217 00:11:29,563 --> 00:11:31,763 to the character of Houdini completely, 218 00:11:31,923 --> 00:11:34,123 even if that means leaving his true past 219 00:11:34,283 --> 00:11:36,923 and his real birthplace behind. 220 00:11:37,083 --> 00:11:39,803 Cox: He always claimed that he was an American, 221 00:11:39,963 --> 00:11:44,203 because I think he felt like he was a product of this new America. 222 00:11:44,363 --> 00:11:48,403 In his own words he says, "Robert‐Houdin became my hero and guide. 223 00:11:48,563 --> 00:11:50,203 This book became my gospel." 224 00:11:50,363 --> 00:11:55,203 It gave him a path to fame and fortune 225 00:11:55,363 --> 00:11:57,923 and respectability through magic. 226 00:11:58,083 --> 00:11:59,603 Brandon: For a child like Houdini, 227 00:11:59,763 --> 00:12:02,283 who was extremely intelligent, 228 00:12:02,443 --> 00:12:03,803 who felt hemmed in, if you like, 229 00:12:03,963 --> 00:12:05,843 by his utter lack of education, 230 00:12:06,003 --> 00:12:08,443 there suddenly was his road of escape. 231 00:12:15,923 --> 00:12:19,083 Fishburne: By 1891, Erik Weisz has changed his name 232 00:12:19,243 --> 00:12:22,843 to Harry Houdini and is mapping out a route to the big time. 233 00:12:23,003 --> 00:12:26,643 Houdini decides to quit his very good job at the tie factory 234 00:12:26,803 --> 00:12:29,643 and go after the dream of becoming a magician. 235 00:12:29,803 --> 00:12:31,843 And actually, Jacob Hayman joins him 236 00:12:32,003 --> 00:12:34,803 and they form a partnership, the Brothers Houdini. 237 00:12:36,683 --> 00:12:40,443 Where they could get work at that time were dime museums. 238 00:12:40,603 --> 00:12:43,963 Culliton: The dime museums were entry‐level show business. 239 00:12:44,123 --> 00:12:46,643 You paid your dime and you went in, 240 00:12:46,803 --> 00:12:49,443 and there might be Cardo the Magician 241 00:12:49,603 --> 00:12:52,843 doing his card manipulations on one platform. 242 00:12:53,003 --> 00:12:57,603 On the next platform, there might be a performer who was eating fire. 243 00:12:57,763 --> 00:13:00,243 So, if the audience lost interest in you, 244 00:13:00,403 --> 00:13:03,603 they would just drift over to the fire‐eater or the comedians. 245 00:13:03,763 --> 00:13:07,803 You get to do the same thing over and over and over again. 246 00:13:07,963 --> 00:13:10,323 Sometimes, you know, 15, 20 times a day. 247 00:13:10,483 --> 00:13:13,643 If you've swallowed your needles and regurgitated them threaded 248 00:13:13,803 --> 00:13:18,243 15 times a day for two years, you're gonna get good at it. 249 00:13:20,323 --> 00:13:24,043 Fishburne: While honing his skills on the dime museum circuit, 250 00:13:24,203 --> 00:13:26,163 Houdini gets terrible news. 251 00:13:29,203 --> 00:13:33,243 So, Houdini was performing in New York in 1892, 252 00:13:33,403 --> 00:13:37,563 when somebody ran up and said, "Hey, magician, your father's dying." 253 00:13:37,723 --> 00:13:40,043 Cuiffo: The story goes, 254 00:13:40,203 --> 00:13:42,443 his father was almost waiting for Houdini. 255 00:13:42,603 --> 00:13:44,443 Everybody else was gathered around the bed, 256 00:13:44,603 --> 00:13:48,043 and his father made Houdini swear an oath 257 00:13:48,203 --> 00:13:49,923 to take care of his mother 258 00:13:50,083 --> 00:13:52,523 and take care of his family after he passed away. 259 00:13:55,483 --> 00:13:57,843 Cox: Erik Weisz took this very, very seriously, 260 00:13:58,003 --> 00:14:02,443 and spent the rest of his life honoring that oath 261 00:14:02,603 --> 00:14:04,323 to take care of his mother. 262 00:14:04,483 --> 00:14:05,643 And that drove him. 263 00:14:05,803 --> 00:14:08,643 That drove him his entire life. 264 00:14:08,803 --> 00:14:10,243 Zenon: There are countless entries in the diaries 265 00:14:10,403 --> 00:14:11,923 about how much money he's sending home. 266 00:14:12,083 --> 00:14:14,243 But the fact that he's writing it down kind of suggests 267 00:14:14,403 --> 00:14:16,843 that he's almost reassuring himself 268 00:14:17,003 --> 00:14:19,243 that he's doing what he should do. 269 00:14:19,403 --> 00:14:21,243 Kalush: He's trying to prove to himself 270 00:14:21,403 --> 00:14:24,243 that he's honoring his commitment to his passed father. 271 00:14:26,603 --> 00:14:28,043 Fishburne: But at this point in his life, 272 00:14:28,203 --> 00:14:29,443 Houdini doesn't have the skills 273 00:14:29,603 --> 00:14:31,963 to become a successful performer. 274 00:14:34,203 --> 00:14:38,683 Houdini was‐‐ like any other hack magician, really, you know, 275 00:14:38,843 --> 00:14:43,443 he was playing in dime museums trying to scrape a living. 276 00:14:43,603 --> 00:14:47,363 He's got no prospects, and he's going to go, potentially, broke. 277 00:14:47,523 --> 00:14:49,443 He goes back and lives with his mother 278 00:14:49,603 --> 00:14:51,323 on the Upper East Side in New York City. 279 00:14:51,483 --> 00:14:52,843 And he's desperate. 280 00:14:53,003 --> 00:14:54,763 He's willing to sell his best secrets. 281 00:14:54,923 --> 00:14:58,003 He's willing to sell anything he knows. 282 00:14:58,163 --> 00:15:00,043 And that doesn't work. There's no real demand. 283 00:15:00,203 --> 00:15:04,043 Fishburne: By 1898, the 24‐year‐old Houdini, 284 00:15:04,203 --> 00:15:08,403 now married to fellow performer Bess Rahner, is going nowhere. 285 00:15:10,403 --> 00:15:11,963 Yet within a year, 286 00:15:12,123 --> 00:15:14,603 he'll be the most famous magician who's ever lived. 287 00:15:14,763 --> 00:15:15,723 But how? 288 00:15:20,803 --> 00:15:26,243 Around 1899, Houdini has developed or bought a new act, 289 00:15:26,403 --> 00:15:28,843 which was escaping from handcuffs. 290 00:15:29,003 --> 00:15:33,203 He would challenge the audience to bring handcuffs to the theater, 291 00:15:33,363 --> 00:15:35,443 and he would escape from them. 292 00:15:35,603 --> 00:15:38,843 It was kind of Houdini's first step into the world of escapology. 293 00:15:39,003 --> 00:15:42,043 The problem is not many people own handcuffs. 294 00:15:42,203 --> 00:15:44,523 Then, very quick on his feet, 295 00:15:44,683 --> 00:15:46,043 he realized, well, who has handcuffs? 296 00:15:46,203 --> 00:15:47,763 And he starts going to the police departments. 297 00:15:47,923 --> 00:15:49,483 And he escapes from them, 298 00:15:49,643 --> 00:15:51,443 and this is a great calling card for the show. 299 00:15:51,603 --> 00:15:56,243 Jillette: "I defy the jails of the world to hold me." 300 00:15:56,403 --> 00:16:00,643 It is a literal celebration of freedom 301 00:16:00,803 --> 00:16:02,843 from all these people who were, uh, you know, 302 00:16:03,003 --> 00:16:05,483 first‐generation Americans. 303 00:16:05,643 --> 00:16:10,443 Fishburne: As he arrives to perform in Chicago in 1899, 304 00:16:10,603 --> 00:16:14,563 he has an idea that will change his fortunes forever. 305 00:16:15,883 --> 00:16:18,643 He went to the local police station 306 00:16:18,803 --> 00:16:22,283 and he challenged them to lock him up. 307 00:16:22,443 --> 00:16:24,443 And he took the press with him 308 00:16:24,603 --> 00:16:27,043 so that they could document what happened. 309 00:16:27,203 --> 00:16:30,163 Kalush: He gets put on the front page of the Chicago paper 310 00:16:30,323 --> 00:16:35,003 with a drawing of Houdini's face, which is a stepping off point. 311 00:16:35,163 --> 00:16:38,843 Houdini immediately understood how critical this was and how important this was. 312 00:16:39,003 --> 00:16:41,443 Caveney: The first time Houdini saw his name and his picture 313 00:16:41,603 --> 00:16:43,243 on the front page of a newspaper, 314 00:16:43,403 --> 00:16:46,643 this must have been like a drug to him. 315 00:16:46,803 --> 00:16:52,043 The incident in Chicago was arguably the greatest turning point 316 00:16:52,203 --> 00:16:54,843 of his entire career and created the blueprint 317 00:16:55,003 --> 00:16:58,123 of how his success evolved from then on. 318 00:16:58,283 --> 00:17:02,443 Fishburne: Just a few months later, Houdini met a man 319 00:17:02,603 --> 00:17:05,643 who would launch him into the big‐time. 320 00:17:05,803 --> 00:17:08,843 So, in St Paul, Minnesota, Houdini met a man 321 00:17:09,003 --> 00:17:11,643 who was probably the most influential person 322 00:17:11,803 --> 00:17:13,643 that he'd met in his life up until that point, 323 00:17:13,803 --> 00:17:15,643 and maybe ever actually. 324 00:17:15,803 --> 00:17:17,043 His name was Martin Beck. 325 00:17:17,203 --> 00:17:20,443 Beck was a vaudeville impresario 326 00:17:20,603 --> 00:17:23,243 and he ran the Orpheum circuit. 327 00:17:23,403 --> 00:17:25,443 Caveney: So, Martin Beck had a lot of clout, 328 00:17:25,603 --> 00:17:27,443 and he saw Houdini and he did his magic tricks, 329 00:17:27,603 --> 00:17:29,563 but he also did his escapes. 330 00:17:29,723 --> 00:17:31,523 And he thought that's something different. That's interesting. 331 00:17:31,683 --> 00:17:33,643 So Beck said, "Look, Houdini, 332 00:17:33,803 --> 00:17:36,843 I can put you into the Orpheum Theatre chain. 333 00:17:37,003 --> 00:17:39,283 But forget about the magic. Lose the magic. 334 00:17:39,443 --> 00:17:41,923 Just concentrate on escapes. 335 00:17:42,083 --> 00:17:44,643 Be the guy who can escape from anything." 336 00:17:44,803 --> 00:17:50,243 Goodwin: The advice that Beck gave Houdini in that moment 337 00:17:50,403 --> 00:17:52,923 was the thing that changed the course of history. 338 00:18:00,683 --> 00:18:02,843 Fishburne: By the summer of 1899, 339 00:18:03,003 --> 00:18:06,443 Houdini had been booked to play a chain of prestigious theaters 340 00:18:06,603 --> 00:18:08,323 all across the west coast of America. 341 00:18:08,483 --> 00:18:11,043 And every time he arrived somewhere new, 342 00:18:11,203 --> 00:18:13,643 Houdini makes a beeline for the police station. 343 00:18:13,803 --> 00:18:16,043 Each time he would arrive in a new city, 344 00:18:16,203 --> 00:18:18,643 he would go to the police department and challenge them. 345 00:18:18,803 --> 00:18:21,603 And of course, he made sure the newspaper reporter was with him. 346 00:18:23,403 --> 00:18:25,043 It was a great system 347 00:18:25,203 --> 00:18:27,803 to be able to walk into a police department 348 00:18:27,963 --> 00:18:31,363 and walk out with a front page newspaper story. 349 00:18:31,523 --> 00:18:34,683 Jillette: Houdini was really, really good 350 00:18:34,843 --> 00:18:37,643 at getting people to tell stories about him. 351 00:18:37,803 --> 00:18:41,443 Yeah, he was probably 352 00:18:41,603 --> 00:18:45,083 the first person to really use the press 353 00:18:45,243 --> 00:18:47,723 in a way that would be recognized today. 354 00:18:47,883 --> 00:18:52,643 Manipulating the press corresponded with his rise as a performer. 355 00:18:52,803 --> 00:18:55,563 They go hand in hand. You can't have one without the other. 356 00:18:57,763 --> 00:19:01,043 Fishburne: By 1900, 26‐year‐old Houdini, 357 00:19:01,203 --> 00:19:04,443 the man who could escape from anything, is a huge draw. 358 00:19:04,603 --> 00:19:07,563 And he's got a new strategy for getting attention‐‐ 359 00:19:07,723 --> 00:19:10,283 the legendary Houdini challenges. 360 00:19:14,803 --> 00:19:18,443 The challenges are critical to understanding Houdini. 361 00:19:18,603 --> 00:19:22,043 You can't understand Houdini and his fame, 362 00:19:22,203 --> 00:19:24,283 why he's enduring in our culture, 363 00:19:24,443 --> 00:19:25,843 you can't understand any of those things 364 00:19:26,003 --> 00:19:27,243 if you don't understand the challenges. 365 00:19:27,403 --> 00:19:29,843 Fishburne: In every town where he plays, 366 00:19:30,003 --> 00:19:34,243 Houdini lets himself be put to the test in some new way. 367 00:19:34,403 --> 00:19:36,443 Zenon: In one case it was a giant paper bag, 368 00:19:36,603 --> 00:19:38,043 which doesn't sound difficult to get out of, 369 00:19:38,203 --> 00:19:39,843 but he had to do it without tearing the bag. 370 00:19:40,003 --> 00:19:43,883 He would escape from inside a giant American football. 371 00:19:44,043 --> 00:19:45,843 Lots of safes as well. 372 00:19:46,003 --> 00:19:49,443 I believe there was one escape that he did from a large dead whale. 373 00:19:49,603 --> 00:19:50,923 Goodwin: Escapes are inherently boring, 374 00:19:51,083 --> 00:19:54,123 but the moment you put a human element to it, 375 00:19:54,283 --> 00:19:55,843 now all of a sudden there's stakes 376 00:19:56,003 --> 00:19:57,843 that the audience can relate to, 377 00:19:58,003 --> 00:20:00,043 and they're gonna pick a side. 378 00:20:00,203 --> 00:20:01,723 "Who's gonna win, Who do you want to win?" 379 00:20:01,883 --> 00:20:03,643 And it was really smart. 380 00:20:03,803 --> 00:20:06,843 Not only the things that he was doing were, you know, 381 00:20:07,003 --> 00:20:09,243 unique, and so would get new press attention. 382 00:20:09,403 --> 00:20:12,843 But at the same time, was our town 383 00:20:13,003 --> 00:20:15,323 going to be the town that beat Houdini? 384 00:20:15,483 --> 00:20:18,843 Fishburne: There's only one problem. 385 00:20:19,003 --> 00:20:21,363 In all these provincial towns, 386 00:20:21,523 --> 00:20:23,043 you might not have enough people 387 00:20:23,203 --> 00:20:25,043 to volunteer to do challenges 388 00:20:25,203 --> 00:20:27,243 or even to respond to you to do challenges 389 00:20:27,403 --> 00:20:28,803 to keep the show up every night. 390 00:20:30,403 --> 00:20:32,043 Fishburne: For years, people have wondered 391 00:20:32,203 --> 00:20:34,043 how these challenges came about. 392 00:20:34,203 --> 00:20:36,843 A lost diary entry provides the answer. 393 00:20:37,003 --> 00:20:40,643 Writing about a show in England, Houdini says, in a kind of gibberish, 394 00:20:40,803 --> 00:20:43,243 "Friday challenge, box built on stage. 395 00:20:43,403 --> 00:20:45,443 Had three men of Burrows sawmill, 396 00:20:45,603 --> 00:20:47,443 same firm as last time. 397 00:20:47,603 --> 00:20:50,043 Gave the foreman Cockburn pray pound. 398 00:20:50,203 --> 00:20:53,163 The other two men received 'be quick'." 399 00:20:53,323 --> 00:20:56,643 Kalush: There's something that I didn't understand until reading the diaries, 400 00:20:56,803 --> 00:20:59,843 and that's that Houdini would actually pay people 401 00:21:00,003 --> 00:21:02,203 to come up on stage and challenge him. 402 00:21:02,363 --> 00:21:05,443 He would write it in a secret code in his diary. 403 00:21:05,603 --> 00:21:10,243 I can't really explain why he would only put those bits in code. 404 00:21:10,403 --> 00:21:13,483 Maybe he just didn't like the idea that he paid. 405 00:21:13,643 --> 00:21:16,243 Challenges were really delivered to Houdini's door. 406 00:21:16,403 --> 00:21:18,843 He most often arranged the challenge 407 00:21:19,003 --> 00:21:20,803 and then dramatized it. 408 00:21:23,003 --> 00:21:25,843 Fishburne: Thanks to his formula, Houdini becomes a sensation 409 00:21:26,003 --> 00:21:27,883 throughout the United States and Europe. 410 00:21:28,043 --> 00:21:32,243 But it is in Russia that the persona of Harry Houdini, 411 00:21:32,403 --> 00:21:35,043 the man who could escape from any shackles, 412 00:21:35,203 --> 00:21:38,243 really sets fire to the imagination. 413 00:21:38,403 --> 00:21:40,643 When Houdini gets to Russia, he gets the idea 414 00:21:40,803 --> 00:21:42,763 to challenge the police to escape 415 00:21:42,923 --> 00:21:45,763 from the Siberian transport cell, 416 00:21:45,923 --> 00:21:51,043 which is the boxcar that you get thrown in and taken to Siberia. 417 00:21:51,203 --> 00:21:53,443 So, it has this lure around it as the ultimate, 418 00:21:53,603 --> 00:21:55,723 ultimate, you're done for. 419 00:21:55,883 --> 00:21:58,243 Well, they lock Houdini in and they're very diligent. 420 00:21:58,403 --> 00:22:01,043 They search him in every possible place you can imagine 421 00:22:01,203 --> 00:22:03,443 that could hide any sort of implements. 422 00:22:03,603 --> 00:22:06,563 And they lock him in and he escapes. 423 00:22:06,723 --> 00:22:11,243 The news of this just went across the country as fast as it could. 424 00:22:11,403 --> 00:22:13,643 Cuiffo: It immediately transported him 425 00:22:13,803 --> 00:22:18,763 to the status of iconic folk hero legend. 426 00:22:20,883 --> 00:22:23,043 The themes of his act really were relatable 427 00:22:23,203 --> 00:22:25,643 no matter where you were in the world. 428 00:22:25,803 --> 00:22:28,643 People in Russia and people in the UK 429 00:22:28,803 --> 00:22:29,963 and people in America, 430 00:22:30,123 --> 00:22:32,643 they all wanted to see somebody 431 00:22:32,803 --> 00:22:34,843 get one over on authority. 432 00:22:35,003 --> 00:22:37,443 They wanted to see the underdog succeed, 433 00:22:37,603 --> 00:22:39,683 and those are universal themes. 434 00:22:39,843 --> 00:22:42,843 He's now arguably the most famous man in Russia. 435 00:22:43,003 --> 00:22:47,243 He's the most famous person in Germany, London, and America. 436 00:22:47,403 --> 00:22:52,763 He's dotting his way to becoming the most famous performer in the world. 437 00:22:56,003 --> 00:22:59,243 Fishburne: In his diary, Houdini revels in how he's treated by fans, 438 00:22:59,403 --> 00:23:01,843 and possibly embellishes the details. 439 00:23:02,003 --> 00:23:05,243 He writes, "Was cheered over and over again as they sang, 440 00:23:05,403 --> 00:23:07,523 'And will you no come back again.'" 441 00:23:07,683 --> 00:23:11,643 In another, he writes, "Mob waited for me and took me shoulder high. 442 00:23:11,803 --> 00:23:16,243 Carried me home and upstairs. Had to make a speech from the window." 443 00:23:16,403 --> 00:23:21,843 It just seems very odd that the audience wouldn't go home, 444 00:23:22,003 --> 00:23:24,923 they would wait out in front of the theater for him to come out, 445 00:23:25,083 --> 00:23:29,923 and then pick him up on their shoulders and carry him to a hotel. 446 00:23:30,083 --> 00:23:33,123 It's just too much for me to buy into. 447 00:23:33,283 --> 00:23:36,363 Brandon: I think when Houdini wrote in his diary, 448 00:23:36,523 --> 00:23:40,363 it was a part of an ongoing fantasy life that he had, 449 00:23:40,523 --> 00:23:46,763 and part of that fantasy was an extreme exaggeration of what went on. 450 00:23:46,923 --> 00:23:52,523 It was how Houdini would have wanted reality to be, so he wrote it down. 451 00:23:52,683 --> 00:23:55,523 Because if it was in his diary, maybe it happened. 452 00:23:55,683 --> 00:23:59,643 Maybe in his imagination he was carried shoulder high around the town. 453 00:23:59,803 --> 00:24:03,643 Caveney: I have to think that he was writing these 454 00:24:03,803 --> 00:24:06,043 with the idea that in the future 455 00:24:06,203 --> 00:24:07,763 other people are gonna be reading this. 456 00:24:07,923 --> 00:24:13,403 And he wanted to make sure that they knew how great he was. 457 00:24:13,563 --> 00:24:16,283 For Houdini, it's all about legacy. 458 00:24:18,603 --> 00:24:21,803 Fishburne: By 1905, the transformation is complete. 459 00:24:21,963 --> 00:24:24,923 All traces of Erik Weisz have been destroyed. 460 00:24:25,083 --> 00:24:28,043 The persona of Houdini is a fresh start, 461 00:24:28,203 --> 00:24:33,123 a man without a past he could build a legend around. 462 00:24:33,283 --> 00:24:35,683 When you get to the point when you're as famous as Houdini 463 00:24:35,843 --> 00:24:38,603 and you have a narrative, it was really important for him that it was upheld. 464 00:24:38,763 --> 00:24:40,843 He knew the diaries were gonna be found. 465 00:24:41,003 --> 00:24:43,843 If you know your narrative will be told one day, 466 00:24:44,003 --> 00:24:45,363 why not try to control it while you're alive? 467 00:24:45,523 --> 00:24:47,403 He wanted to be the all‐American boy. 468 00:24:47,563 --> 00:24:53,363 That whole self‐liberation thing just maps right on 469 00:24:53,523 --> 00:24:55,763 to the way America saw itself. 470 00:24:55,923 --> 00:24:57,643 Erik Weisz might've been born in Budapest, 471 00:24:57,803 --> 00:25:00,723 but wasn't Houdini born in Appleton, Wisconsin? 472 00:25:10,723 --> 00:25:13,803 Fishburne: The 31‐year‐old Houdini return 473 00:25:13,963 --> 00:25:17,003 to reclaim his position as the country's greatest showman. 474 00:25:17,163 --> 00:25:20,203 And his diaries reveal 475 00:25:20,363 --> 00:25:22,003 he is prepared to stop at nothing 476 00:25:22,163 --> 00:25:24,283 to keep his seat on the throne. 477 00:25:26,963 --> 00:25:32,203 By about 1905, Houdini was hugely famous in Europe, 478 00:25:32,363 --> 00:25:35,883 but it came at the cost of his fame in America. 479 00:25:36,043 --> 00:25:39,643 Problem was, in the void of him being gone, what happens? 480 00:25:39,803 --> 00:25:41,803 A lot of copycats started to spring up, 481 00:25:41,963 --> 00:25:44,563 a lot of guys that were trying to do his act, 482 00:25:44,723 --> 00:25:46,643 and there were even guys that were copying his name. 483 00:25:46,803 --> 00:25:50,403 Goodwin: Everybody was the new Houdini, Boudini, Moudini, 484 00:25:50,563 --> 00:25:54,203 all of the different iterations of him. 485 00:25:54,363 --> 00:25:57,203 He showed up at people's performances and challenged them. 486 00:25:57,363 --> 00:26:01,803 Oh, really cleverly orchestrated to make great little stories, 487 00:26:01,963 --> 00:26:04,603 but I wouldn't have wanted‐‐ I would not have argued 488 00:26:04,763 --> 00:26:06,403 with Houdini over a parking spot. 489 00:26:06,563 --> 00:26:08,363 He was a scrappy little mother. 490 00:26:10,163 --> 00:26:11,403 Fishburne: In Houdini's lost diaries, 491 00:26:11,563 --> 00:26:14,603 for the first time we find evidence 492 00:26:14,763 --> 00:26:17,003 of a secret plan to destroy a fellow performer 493 00:26:17,163 --> 00:26:18,643 with calculated precision. 494 00:26:20,363 --> 00:26:23,203 "I'm going to make a rival act for 'Minerva' 495 00:26:23,363 --> 00:26:26,203 so have advertised for good swimmer females." 496 00:26:26,363 --> 00:26:30,003 Rehearsing Wanda Timm in Rose's office for the new act. 497 00:26:30,163 --> 00:26:33,403 Shall call her Oceana." 498 00:26:33,563 --> 00:26:37,203 Caveney: Minerva was a female escape artist. 499 00:26:37,363 --> 00:26:39,323 Houdini wanted the whole world to believe 500 00:26:39,483 --> 00:26:41,803 that he used his superhuman strength 501 00:26:41,963 --> 00:26:45,723 and ability and cunning to affect all of his escapes. 502 00:26:45,883 --> 00:26:49,203 Brandon: He was the symbol of indestructible virility. 503 00:26:49,363 --> 00:26:51,523 So if some small woman could do his act, 504 00:26:51,683 --> 00:26:55,803 that completely undermined this whole aspect of his character. 505 00:26:55,963 --> 00:26:58,763 He had to just destroy her career. 506 00:26:58,923 --> 00:27:02,403 And one way to do that was to find another woman 507 00:27:02,563 --> 00:27:05,243 that he could control and build her up, 508 00:27:05,403 --> 00:27:08,203 give her the advertising that she needed, 509 00:27:08,363 --> 00:27:11,203 and to get her in there to destroy Minerva. 510 00:27:13,883 --> 00:27:16,203 Houdini was a battler, he was a fighter, 511 00:27:16,363 --> 00:27:21,043 and that is a kind of person I don't understand. 512 00:27:21,203 --> 00:27:24,603 My heart is not with him on the jealousy 513 00:27:24,763 --> 00:27:27,243 and on the insecurity. 514 00:27:27,403 --> 00:27:32,883 That's just a part of him that is sad and I don't relate to. 515 00:27:33,043 --> 00:27:35,723 The only reason you could think that he feels threatened 516 00:27:35,883 --> 00:27:37,523 by these guys is his ego. 517 00:27:37,683 --> 00:27:41,803 It wasn't enough for Houdini to succeed. 518 00:27:41,963 --> 00:27:44,643 Everybody else had to fail. 519 00:27:47,363 --> 00:27:50,843 Fishburne: Houdini's vendetta doesn't stop with his peers. 520 00:27:51,003 --> 00:27:55,203 In 1908, he turns on the very man 521 00:27:55,363 --> 00:27:57,603 who gave him the blueprint for his persona, 522 00:27:57,763 --> 00:27:59,203 Robert Houdin. 523 00:27:59,363 --> 00:28:02,403 There was a point in his career where he was wealthy. 524 00:28:02,563 --> 00:28:04,403 He was famous all over the world. 525 00:28:04,563 --> 00:28:07,403 So he achieved that goal. So what's next? 526 00:28:07,563 --> 00:28:11,443 And I think for Houdini, something that he longed to be 527 00:28:11,603 --> 00:28:15,803 was recognized as a great scholar and a great writer. 528 00:28:17,203 --> 00:28:19,803 Sandford: He had a lifelong desire, 529 00:28:19,963 --> 00:28:22,123 almost a sort of pathological one, 530 00:28:22,283 --> 00:28:25,843 to be accepted on an intellectual level 531 00:28:26,003 --> 00:28:28,003 as a serious figure, 532 00:28:28,163 --> 00:28:30,963 as someone who was not just physically agile 533 00:28:31,123 --> 00:28:32,803 and a clever stageman, 534 00:28:32,963 --> 00:28:36,523 but also who was worth listening to. 535 00:28:38,243 --> 00:28:40,603 Zenon: And this probably harks back to his his childhood 536 00:28:40,763 --> 00:28:42,363 when he had to give up his education. 537 00:28:42,523 --> 00:28:44,803 His father had been an academic, 538 00:28:44,963 --> 00:28:47,003 and it really riled him that he didn't have that respect. 539 00:28:48,963 --> 00:28:51,923 Caveney: But you can't go back and redo all those years 540 00:28:52,083 --> 00:28:53,283 of schooling that he missed. 541 00:28:53,443 --> 00:28:55,403 So he thought the way to do this 542 00:28:55,563 --> 00:28:58,803 is to write this very scholarly history of magic. 543 00:28:58,963 --> 00:29:03,323 I think he thought, "That will be the crowning piece of my career." 544 00:29:03,483 --> 00:29:06,803 When Houdini got the idea to write this encyclopedia of magic, 545 00:29:06,963 --> 00:29:11,003 it was natural for him to want to go visit the source of it all, 546 00:29:11,163 --> 00:29:13,603 which would be the birthplace of Robert‐Houdin, 547 00:29:13,763 --> 00:29:17,363 his namesake, and attempt to see his family. 548 00:29:19,563 --> 00:29:22,603 Caveney: And he thinks he is gonna be welcomed with open arms. 549 00:29:22,763 --> 00:29:25,603 And they go, "What? Houdini's here? 550 00:29:25,763 --> 00:29:28,123 So what? What are we supposed to do?" 551 00:29:28,283 --> 00:29:29,523 And they didn't even want to talk to him. 552 00:29:29,683 --> 00:29:32,203 His daughter gave him the big brush‐off. 553 00:29:32,363 --> 00:29:34,283 She really wasn't interested. 554 00:29:34,443 --> 00:29:36,203 That was the one thing he couldn't take. 555 00:29:36,363 --> 00:29:39,003 He couldn't bear being dismissed. 556 00:29:39,163 --> 00:29:40,243 So, he got his own back. 557 00:29:42,563 --> 00:29:46,603 Cox: The Houdini approach is to turn everything into a wrestling match. 558 00:29:46,763 --> 00:29:48,603 Everything is a takedown. Everything is a challenge. 559 00:29:48,763 --> 00:29:50,283 That's what the public likes. 560 00:29:50,443 --> 00:29:52,363 So, hey, how about combining the history of magic 561 00:29:52,523 --> 00:29:56,243 with a takedown of the most famous magician of all time? 562 00:29:56,403 --> 00:29:58,723 That's a very Houdini thing to do. 563 00:29:58,883 --> 00:30:02,163 Cuiffo: He took on in full force to kind of assassinate 564 00:30:02,323 --> 00:30:03,723 the character of Robert‐Houdin, 565 00:30:03,883 --> 00:30:07,803 mainly by trying to show that a lot of the effects 566 00:30:07,963 --> 00:30:12,403 and things that Robert‐Houdin claimed to be his were not his, 567 00:30:12,563 --> 00:30:15,403 were created by others and stolen by Robert‐Houdin. 568 00:30:18,363 --> 00:30:22,803 Fishburne: Destroying the legacy of his former hero becomes an obsession. 569 00:30:22,963 --> 00:30:27,403 He writes, "Wrote material for magicians' biography all day. 570 00:30:27,563 --> 00:30:29,003 Did not even dress. 571 00:30:29,163 --> 00:30:32,403 Worked from 6 AM to 12 midnight." 572 00:30:32,563 --> 00:30:35,603 In 1908, Houdini releases his book, 573 00:30:35,763 --> 00:30:38,403 "The Unmasking Of Robert‐Houdin." 574 00:30:38,563 --> 00:30:41,203 But his takedown backfires. 575 00:30:41,363 --> 00:30:43,523 Caveney: Not only was the book saying Romero‐Houdin 576 00:30:43,683 --> 00:30:46,603 was not the father of modern magic, 577 00:30:46,763 --> 00:30:49,003 but the tone of it was just so intense. 578 00:30:49,163 --> 00:30:51,443 "The prince of pilferers," I think Houdini said. 579 00:30:51,603 --> 00:30:55,803 I think he hurt his argument by being so intense. 580 00:30:55,963 --> 00:30:59,563 I do think this was the biggest black eye Houdini ever suffered. 581 00:30:59,723 --> 00:31:01,803 And if Houdini were here with us today, 582 00:31:01,963 --> 00:31:03,283 I think he would agree. 583 00:31:05,363 --> 00:31:07,323 Kalush: He had to show the world how smart he was. 584 00:31:07,483 --> 00:31:11,803 And I think that this was just his ego crying out to say, 585 00:31:11,963 --> 00:31:13,643 "Look at me. I'm also intelligent." 586 00:31:13,803 --> 00:31:18,003 I think it was a shameful moment. 587 00:31:18,163 --> 00:31:21,083 Zenon: To further compound his woes about the reaction 588 00:31:21,243 --> 00:31:22,803 to his "The Unmasking Of Robert‐Houdin," 589 00:31:22,963 --> 00:31:25,163 his ticket sales had started to slow a bit as well. 590 00:31:27,683 --> 00:31:31,603 Terbosic: Harry's not playing those big, big theaters he was used to, 591 00:31:31,763 --> 00:31:34,243 and it might've been because people were starting 592 00:31:34,403 --> 00:31:37,043 to kind of be tired from his handcuff act. 593 00:31:37,203 --> 00:31:40,803 Fishburne: His lost diaries reveal Houdini's anger 594 00:31:40,963 --> 00:31:44,523 at not making it onto the posters for a Cleveland performance. 595 00:31:44,683 --> 00:31:48,203 He writes, "I did not want Ma to come to theater 596 00:31:48,363 --> 00:31:52,003 as I was ashamed to let her see the class of show I was with." 597 00:31:52,163 --> 00:31:55,003 In another he writes, "Am not featured. 598 00:31:55,163 --> 00:31:58,603 Is this week the first step toward oblivion?" 599 00:31:58,763 --> 00:32:01,803 Goodwin: I think that the diary entries really show 600 00:32:01,963 --> 00:32:04,403 that he understood that he'd had the success, 601 00:32:04,563 --> 00:32:06,083 but it was slipping out of his grasp. 602 00:32:06,243 --> 00:32:10,603 Houdini realized that he had one of two options. 603 00:32:10,763 --> 00:32:12,803 He could either reinvent himself, 604 00:32:12,963 --> 00:32:17,163 or he was on the downward trajectory of his career already. 605 00:32:26,163 --> 00:32:29,763 Fishburne: 1907. The appeal of Harry Houdini is faltering. 606 00:32:31,363 --> 00:32:33,403 Audiences are losing interest, 607 00:32:33,563 --> 00:32:36,723 so he needs to find a way to win them back. 608 00:32:36,883 --> 00:32:40,763 The option he picks is the most dangerous imaginable. 609 00:32:43,363 --> 00:32:48,403 The avenue that Houdini chose in order to broaden 610 00:32:48,563 --> 00:32:52,403 the scope of his appeal was jeopardy, was death. 611 00:32:52,563 --> 00:32:54,003 Cox: Houdini himself would say, 612 00:32:54,163 --> 00:32:55,203 "Human beings don't want to see 613 00:32:55,363 --> 00:32:56,683 another human being die, 614 00:32:56,843 --> 00:32:59,363 but they do love to be there when it happens." 615 00:32:59,523 --> 00:33:04,203 Smart magicians make life and death a central part of magic. 616 00:33:04,363 --> 00:33:06,203 Dumb magicians don't. 617 00:33:06,363 --> 00:33:08,403 If all you're doing is producing, you know, 618 00:33:08,563 --> 00:33:11,403 little bouquets and bunnies, 619 00:33:11,563 --> 00:33:14,803 you probably won't find your way deeply into the heart of the public. 620 00:33:17,963 --> 00:33:21,443 Goodwin: His bridge jumps were really the first introduction 621 00:33:21,603 --> 00:33:23,243 of danger and jeopardy 622 00:33:23,403 --> 00:33:26,003 into the Houdini cannon of performance. 623 00:33:26,163 --> 00:33:29,403 He would go to a bridge, highly publicized, 624 00:33:29,563 --> 00:33:31,363 surrounded by thousands of people 625 00:33:31,523 --> 00:33:32,843 that were coming to see him. 626 00:33:33,003 --> 00:33:38,003 And he would be restrained with handcuffs. 627 00:33:38,163 --> 00:33:41,803 And then he would jump into the river below. 628 00:33:44,963 --> 00:33:47,483 Terbosic: There are said to be 10,000 people 629 00:33:47,643 --> 00:33:49,603 on the banks of this river and on this bridge 630 00:33:49,763 --> 00:33:51,603 to see Harry to do this jump 631 00:33:51,763 --> 00:33:54,043 and to do this crazy, death‐defying escape. 632 00:33:54,203 --> 00:33:58,123 The thrill of watching somebody live or pass, 633 00:33:58,283 --> 00:34:00,323 I mean, that's a great story to have. 634 00:34:00,483 --> 00:34:04,003 Teller: What could be a more perfect dramatic gesture 635 00:34:04,163 --> 00:34:08,683 than leaping off a bridge in danger of drowning because you're manacled, 636 00:34:08,843 --> 00:34:12,403 pausing, and then emerging triumphant at the surface? 637 00:34:12,563 --> 00:34:15,003 It's a perfect symbol of resurrection. 638 00:34:25,363 --> 00:34:27,603 Fishburne: In a lost diary entry, Houdini reveals 639 00:34:27,763 --> 00:34:30,643 that the bridge jumps were not just to drive ticket sales, 640 00:34:30,803 --> 00:34:33,323 but to impress the person he loved most. 641 00:34:35,843 --> 00:34:38,003 "Bridge jump and mother along. 642 00:34:38,163 --> 00:34:39,603 I wanted to have her with me, 643 00:34:39,763 --> 00:34:41,043 it being my first big jump manacled. 644 00:34:41,203 --> 00:34:44,003 Ma saw me jump." 645 00:34:44,163 --> 00:34:47,443 The sentence that haunts me most 646 00:34:47,603 --> 00:34:49,603 about Houdini and his mother 647 00:34:49,763 --> 00:34:53,203 is when he was doing bridge jumps, 648 00:34:53,363 --> 00:34:55,723 and the entry he makes... 649 00:35:00,243 --> 00:35:02,523 ...is, "Ma saw me jump." 650 00:35:03,763 --> 00:35:05,923 And I think about that a lot. 651 00:35:07,363 --> 00:35:11,803 It seems like, at least in my experience, 652 00:35:11,963 --> 00:35:14,403 if you're a performer, there is a sense in which 653 00:35:14,563 --> 00:35:17,043 you're always performing for your parents. 654 00:35:20,163 --> 00:35:23,763 Terbosic: Harry's mother Cecelia was everything to Harry. 655 00:35:23,923 --> 00:35:25,403 I mean, he made an oath with his dad 656 00:35:25,563 --> 00:35:28,123 that he would forever look after his mother. 657 00:35:28,283 --> 00:35:33,243 And this moment in time was to show his mom that he'd done well for himself 658 00:35:33,403 --> 00:35:37,123 and lived up to what he said he was going to. 659 00:35:37,283 --> 00:35:39,803 Teller: He certainly idolized her. 660 00:35:39,963 --> 00:35:41,843 She was a very, very formidable figure 661 00:35:42,003 --> 00:35:44,963 that he was spending his entire life trying to impress. 662 00:35:45,123 --> 00:35:47,603 Fishburne: However, in the same entry, 663 00:35:47,763 --> 00:35:51,403 Houdini writes, "I thought something might happen." 664 00:35:51,563 --> 00:35:55,203 He knew that these jumps could easily prove fatal. 665 00:35:55,363 --> 00:35:58,403 Goodwin: The bridge jumps are without doubt, 666 00:35:58,563 --> 00:36:01,323 the most dangerous thing that he ever performed. 667 00:36:01,483 --> 00:36:04,883 If you hit the water wrong from thirty feet, 668 00:36:05,043 --> 00:36:08,803 then you could really, really hurt yourself or even die. 669 00:36:08,963 --> 00:36:11,403 Obviously, it's very difficult to swim when you're restrained. 670 00:36:11,563 --> 00:36:12,803 There could be a current. 671 00:36:12,963 --> 00:36:14,043 There could be something 672 00:36:14,203 --> 00:36:15,443 underneath the surface of the water 673 00:36:15,603 --> 00:36:17,283 that he's gonna hit and spike himself on. 674 00:36:19,003 --> 00:36:21,803 Fishburne: A lost diary entry Houdini made in 1910 675 00:36:21,963 --> 00:36:25,723 shows just how dangerous these jumps actually were. 676 00:36:25,883 --> 00:36:28,403 "Dived 31 feet manacled. 677 00:36:28,563 --> 00:36:30,603 Jumped. Made a bad jump. 678 00:36:30,763 --> 00:36:32,443 Received a terrible smash in the face 679 00:36:32,603 --> 00:36:35,403 from the water on right side and knocked the wind out of me 680 00:36:35,563 --> 00:36:37,483 and gave me a swollen cheek. 681 00:36:37,643 --> 00:36:40,403 Goodwin: What's really interesting about the diary entry, 682 00:36:40,563 --> 00:36:42,803 you can tell that that was something that had scared him. 683 00:36:42,963 --> 00:36:46,243 He's really taking his life in his hands. 684 00:36:46,403 --> 00:36:51,243 But at the same time, he knew that that was a level that he had to go to 685 00:36:51,403 --> 00:36:52,883 to make the public care. 686 00:36:53,043 --> 00:36:56,603 Up until this point, the handcuff act, 687 00:36:56,763 --> 00:37:00,123 the stakes were if Houdini fails, you know, it's humiliation. 688 00:37:00,283 --> 00:37:03,603 But now the stakes are life and death. 689 00:37:03,763 --> 00:37:05,003 Cuiffo: He's pushing the boundaries 690 00:37:05,163 --> 00:37:06,843 of what a human body can do. 691 00:37:07,003 --> 00:37:12,363 So, that naturally lifted his persona to another level. 692 00:37:12,523 --> 00:37:15,203 Zenon: Houdini was transforming himself 693 00:37:15,363 --> 00:37:17,563 into a superhero, a superman. 694 00:37:21,763 --> 00:37:26,003 But by 1909, he was kind of being eclipsed by a new type of daredevil. 695 00:37:26,163 --> 00:37:27,843 It was the early days of aviation 696 00:37:28,003 --> 00:37:30,403 and there was an obsession with it pretty much worldwide. 697 00:37:30,563 --> 00:37:32,803 Lots of people doing it and stealing the headlines, 698 00:37:32,963 --> 00:37:35,243 but it was still very, very dangerous at that point. 699 00:37:38,363 --> 00:37:40,843 Kalush: Flight had become a topical thing, 700 00:37:41,003 --> 00:37:42,203 and it was quite magical. 701 00:37:42,363 --> 00:37:43,803 I mean, people want to fly. 702 00:37:43,963 --> 00:37:46,243 That's just, I think, something that's in our nature. 703 00:37:46,403 --> 00:37:48,803 We all have something in us that wants to be able to do that. 704 00:37:48,963 --> 00:37:50,923 So, people are rooting for pilots. 705 00:37:53,963 --> 00:37:55,683 Caveney: And I'm sure that Houdini thought, 706 00:37:55,843 --> 00:37:58,563 "Hey, I should be getting all that acclaim. 707 00:37:58,723 --> 00:38:00,603 Why aren't you paying attention to me?" 708 00:38:00,763 --> 00:38:02,403 So, of course, what does he do? 709 00:38:02,563 --> 00:38:04,723 He buys an airplane and becomes a pilot. 710 00:38:06,763 --> 00:38:11,003 The very first pilots, these were real daredevils. 711 00:38:11,163 --> 00:38:13,283 I mean, these guys were dropping like flies. 712 00:38:13,443 --> 00:38:17,403 And there's lots of entries in his diary that show almost‐‐ 713 00:38:17,563 --> 00:38:19,003 you could say it's almost morbid, 714 00:38:19,163 --> 00:38:20,643 but he would keep track of people, 715 00:38:20,803 --> 00:38:23,763 and when they died, he'd mark "dead." 716 00:38:25,563 --> 00:38:27,003 Caveney: It does seem a little macabre 717 00:38:27,163 --> 00:38:28,803 that Houdini would cut these pictures out 718 00:38:28,963 --> 00:38:31,323 and stick them in his diary, 719 00:38:31,483 --> 00:38:35,803 as if he was trying to convince himself of how dangerous this was, 720 00:38:35,963 --> 00:38:39,283 and if he could succeed, 721 00:38:39,443 --> 00:38:42,323 he has now beaten all of these people who died trying. 722 00:38:44,963 --> 00:38:46,163 Zenon: His first flight was a disaster. 723 00:38:46,323 --> 00:38:47,563 He crashed quite badly. 724 00:38:47,723 --> 00:38:49,003 Although I think it's quite telling 725 00:38:49,163 --> 00:38:50,363 that in the diary entry for that 726 00:38:50,523 --> 00:38:51,803 he talks about the cost of the crash 727 00:38:51,963 --> 00:38:53,723 rather than the risk to his life. 728 00:38:55,283 --> 00:38:56,163 Fishburne: "Smashed machine, 729 00:38:56,323 --> 00:38:58,403 broke propeller all to hell. 730 00:38:58,563 --> 00:39:02,563 Have now paid 12,000 marks on machine biplane." 731 00:39:02,723 --> 00:39:05,203 Houdini's entire life 732 00:39:05,363 --> 00:39:09,403 was built around his being able to do 733 00:39:09,563 --> 00:39:12,203 any exploit better than anyone else. 734 00:39:12,363 --> 00:39:15,803 So, how could he possibly allow himself not to be 735 00:39:15,963 --> 00:39:19,003 the first person to break a flying record? 736 00:39:20,843 --> 00:39:24,403 Caveney: So, it's like Houdini had to find a country 737 00:39:24,563 --> 00:39:26,403 where no one had flown an airplane yet. 738 00:39:26,563 --> 00:39:29,003 It didn't matter which one it was, 739 00:39:29,163 --> 00:39:32,203 but Australia is the one that was available. 740 00:39:32,363 --> 00:39:34,323 So, off he went. 741 00:39:34,483 --> 00:39:37,803 Fishburne: In January 1910, Houdini, his wife, 742 00:39:37,963 --> 00:39:39,803 and his precious French biplane 743 00:39:39,963 --> 00:39:43,803 board a steamer and sail to Melbourne, Australia. 744 00:39:43,963 --> 00:39:47,003 The shock when Houdini got there was that various people 745 00:39:47,163 --> 00:39:49,683 are also trying for this prize to be the first, you know? 746 00:39:49,843 --> 00:39:52,203 Caveney: This drove Houdini crazy. 747 00:39:52,363 --> 00:39:54,003 He'd spent a lot of money and a lot of time 748 00:39:54,163 --> 00:39:56,403 and a lot of effort to own that crown, 749 00:39:56,563 --> 00:39:58,323 and now he was on the verge of losing it. 750 00:40:01,363 --> 00:40:02,923 Fishburne: From Houdini's diary, 751 00:40:03,083 --> 00:40:05,043 we learned how almost immediately after arriving, 752 00:40:05,203 --> 00:40:07,603 his competitor Ralph Banks 753 00:40:07,763 --> 00:40:10,803 experiences a terrifying crash. 754 00:40:10,963 --> 00:40:15,403 He writes, "Came down after a terrible dive, head first. 755 00:40:15,563 --> 00:40:17,003 Banks escaped with a blackened eye, 756 00:40:17,163 --> 00:40:19,403 torn lips, and a scratched limb. 757 00:40:19,563 --> 00:40:21,483 'Twas a miraculous escape." 758 00:40:21,643 --> 00:40:23,123 Caveney: What I take from that diary entry 759 00:40:23,283 --> 00:40:26,203 is that Houdini saw this as a great opportunity. 760 00:40:26,363 --> 00:40:30,683 The door was cracked open, and he still had the opportunity to be first. 761 00:40:30,843 --> 00:40:33,203 The only thing that would've made him happier 762 00:40:33,363 --> 00:40:36,083 is if Ralph Banks had crashed and killed himself. 763 00:40:41,123 --> 00:40:46,003 Fishburne: Two weeks later, Houdini manages to beat Banks to the prize. 764 00:40:46,163 --> 00:40:48,203 His diary records his delight. 765 00:40:48,363 --> 00:40:50,003 "First real flight in Australia. 766 00:40:50,163 --> 00:40:51,603 I went up three times. 767 00:40:51,763 --> 00:40:54,603 Never in any fear and never in any danger." 768 00:40:54,763 --> 00:40:58,403 Caveney: I don't know how much effect that first flight in Australia 769 00:40:58,563 --> 00:41:00,163 had elsewhere in the world, 770 00:41:00,323 --> 00:41:03,203 because all over the world there were people 771 00:41:03,363 --> 00:41:06,403 who were the first to fly in that country. 772 00:41:06,563 --> 00:41:11,203 He had to figure out other ways to keep his name in the headlines. 773 00:41:11,363 --> 00:41:14,283 And of course, when you're doing things that are death‐defying, 774 00:41:14,443 --> 00:41:17,203 you have to keep upping the ante. 775 00:41:17,363 --> 00:41:20,163 And that's a slippery slope to be trapped on. 776 00:41:28,363 --> 00:41:32,243 Fishburne: In 1916, determined to cement his persona 777 00:41:32,403 --> 00:41:33,963 as the greatest showman who ever lived, 778 00:41:34,123 --> 00:41:36,443 the 42‐year‐old Houdini 779 00:41:36,603 --> 00:41:39,443 unleashes his masterpiece to the world‐‐ 780 00:41:39,603 --> 00:41:43,243 a highly potent combination of danger, jeopardy, and drama 781 00:41:43,403 --> 00:41:47,683 that is still today perhaps the most iconic image in magic history. 782 00:41:47,843 --> 00:41:51,843 The aerial straitjacket escape. 783 00:41:52,003 --> 00:41:54,043 Teller: Houdini figured out how to take what could be a crappy little trick, 784 00:41:54,203 --> 00:41:56,243 which is getting out of a straitjacket, 785 00:41:56,403 --> 00:41:58,003 and figured out how to make that 786 00:41:58,163 --> 00:42:00,723 into a gigantic outdoor spectacle. 787 00:42:00,883 --> 00:42:03,803 There is nothing like that image, 788 00:42:03,963 --> 00:42:08,403 just a man upside down hung by his ankles, 789 00:42:08,563 --> 00:42:11,043 holding this restraint before he drops it to the ground. 790 00:42:11,203 --> 00:42:14,763 It's like the Mona Lisa. It's a one of a kind. 791 00:42:17,043 --> 00:42:20,523 Teller: I have a photograph of Houdini escaping 792 00:42:20,683 --> 00:42:23,283 from a straitjacket upside down. 793 00:42:23,443 --> 00:42:26,403 The traffic is completely stopped. 794 00:42:26,563 --> 00:42:27,803 There's no room for a car to move, 795 00:42:27,963 --> 00:42:30,003 but there is one car in place. 796 00:42:30,163 --> 00:42:33,403 And that car has on the top of it 797 00:42:33,563 --> 00:42:38,603 a 15‐year‐old boy leaning on his elbow like this 798 00:42:38,763 --> 00:42:43,203 and gazing up at what is obviously an iconic hero. 799 00:42:43,363 --> 00:42:47,203 There is a look in that of pure love 800 00:42:47,363 --> 00:42:49,123 and pure identification. 801 00:42:49,283 --> 00:42:52,403 The kind of thing that we often see nowadays 802 00:42:52,563 --> 00:42:54,843 with great football players, 803 00:42:55,003 --> 00:42:58,803 he was able to pull that out of people 804 00:42:58,963 --> 00:43:01,603 doing what was essentially a magic act. 805 00:43:01,763 --> 00:43:02,923 That's a miracle. 806 00:43:09,563 --> 00:43:11,603 Fishburne: Houdini takes the most dangerous path imaginable 807 00:43:11,763 --> 00:43:14,803 to win back the adoration of the crowd. 808 00:43:14,963 --> 00:43:16,203 But the more daring he becomes, 809 00:43:16,363 --> 00:43:19,123 the more his audience expects. 810 00:43:23,963 --> 00:43:25,803 Houdini had found a niche 811 00:43:25,963 --> 00:43:28,923 in adding danger into his performances. 812 00:43:29,083 --> 00:43:32,883 There were thousands of people there to see him risk his life. 813 00:43:33,043 --> 00:43:38,403 And I guarantee that the thought process from that moment was, 814 00:43:38,563 --> 00:43:42,203 "Okay, this is great, but how do I bring this on stage? 815 00:43:42,363 --> 00:43:44,323 How can I bring all of the elements 816 00:43:44,483 --> 00:43:48,003 that I get from the bridge jump into my show?" 817 00:43:48,163 --> 00:43:50,403 And so, that was his challenge. 818 00:43:50,563 --> 00:43:53,603 A lot of Houdini's escapes and stunts revolved around the theme of water. 819 00:43:53,763 --> 00:43:55,403 He almost had an obsession with water. 820 00:43:55,563 --> 00:43:58,803 Having been a championship swimmer when he was younger, 821 00:43:58,963 --> 00:44:00,723 there was the manacled bridge jumps into the river. 822 00:44:00,883 --> 00:44:02,403 Then he started doing it on stage 823 00:44:02,563 --> 00:44:04,963 padlocked inside a milk churn full of water. 824 00:44:07,763 --> 00:44:10,803 But the ultimate one was the Chinese water torture cell. 825 00:44:10,963 --> 00:44:12,683 And the great thing about this was the visual. 826 00:44:12,843 --> 00:44:14,643 For one, it made a perfect poster. 827 00:44:16,363 --> 00:44:17,683 Teller: It's a nightmare image. 828 00:44:17,843 --> 00:44:20,403 It's a great, great, great nightmare image. 829 00:44:20,563 --> 00:44:23,803 If I walked by a theater and saw a poster 830 00:44:23,963 --> 00:44:26,243 with that image, I would buy a ticket. 831 00:44:26,403 --> 00:44:30,803 Tersebic: It really was like a human sacrifice for the gods. 832 00:44:30,963 --> 00:44:32,763 Cox: It looked like a torture device. 833 00:44:32,923 --> 00:44:37,923 Some crazy despot's idea of what to do with Christians. 834 00:44:38,083 --> 00:44:41,483 Instead of feeding them to the lions, drop 'em in this tank. 835 00:44:45,363 --> 00:44:48,883 Tersebic: Doing the water torture cell escape is extremely dangerous. 836 00:44:49,043 --> 00:44:52,083 It's essentially a glass coffin onstage. 837 00:44:54,363 --> 00:44:57,403 He would have an apparatus of shackles 838 00:44:57,563 --> 00:45:00,803 that would come to attach around his ankles. 839 00:45:00,963 --> 00:45:03,003 They could slowly on his command 840 00:45:03,163 --> 00:45:05,483 lower him down into the icy water. 841 00:45:05,643 --> 00:45:10,003 And the minute they start dipping you down into that water, 842 00:45:10,163 --> 00:45:13,603 your whole body is now flooding with endorphins. 843 00:45:13,763 --> 00:45:15,603 The adrenaline is rushing. 844 00:45:15,763 --> 00:45:18,203 And at the same time you want to remain calm 845 00:45:18,363 --> 00:45:20,203 because you're still controlling your breathing. 846 00:45:20,363 --> 00:45:23,683 So you don't want the moment to get the best of you. 847 00:45:25,963 --> 00:45:28,803 Teller: So, already, in your mind as an audience member, 848 00:45:28,963 --> 00:45:31,003 you're seeing this incredible dramatic moment 849 00:45:31,163 --> 00:45:33,083 when Houdini's in there struggling and drowning. 850 00:45:35,163 --> 00:45:36,803 Zenon: The genius bit of showmanship 851 00:45:36,963 --> 00:45:39,003 was asking the audience to hold their breath with him. 852 00:45:39,163 --> 00:45:42,203 So, you're kind of invested emotionally. 853 00:45:42,363 --> 00:45:44,803 Goodwin: Franz Kukol was his main assistant at the time, 854 00:45:44,963 --> 00:45:47,203 and he would stand clutching an axe, 855 00:45:47,363 --> 00:45:48,963 increasingly agitated, 856 00:45:49,123 --> 00:45:52,203 as a giant stopwatch ticked down the seconds 857 00:45:52,363 --> 00:45:54,083 that Houdini was underwater. 858 00:45:54,243 --> 00:45:56,283 And all over the audience you could hear people going... 859 00:45:56,443 --> 00:45:59,003 ( exhaling ) 860 00:45:59,163 --> 00:46:00,403 ...as they ran out of air. 861 00:46:00,563 --> 00:46:01,803 Three minutes, four minutes. 862 00:46:01,963 --> 00:46:03,283 How‐‐ this is impossible. 863 00:46:03,443 --> 00:46:06,163 He's some kind of, you know, superhuman. 864 00:46:06,323 --> 00:46:08,603 And some guy comes in with an axe and breaks it. 865 00:46:08,763 --> 00:46:11,203 And the glass explodes and the water explodes, 866 00:46:11,363 --> 00:46:12,643 and all of this is happening. 867 00:46:12,803 --> 00:46:14,203 It never happened, mind you, 868 00:46:14,363 --> 00:46:16,723 but this has now happened in your head. 869 00:46:16,883 --> 00:46:20,003 And just at the point where everybody thought, 870 00:46:20,163 --> 00:46:22,403 "Well, that must be it. He's he's a goner. 871 00:46:22,563 --> 00:46:23,803 He's gotta be dead in there." 872 00:46:23,963 --> 00:46:25,603 Houdini would whip back the curtain, 873 00:46:25,763 --> 00:46:29,043 completely drenched, out of breath, but succeeded. 874 00:46:29,203 --> 00:46:31,963 And the crowd went wild. 875 00:46:37,403 --> 00:46:39,003 Out of Houdini's whole repertoire, 876 00:46:39,163 --> 00:46:41,843 the kind of two iconic images really 877 00:46:42,003 --> 00:46:44,643 are the suspended straitjacket escape 878 00:46:44,803 --> 00:46:47,203 and the dangling upside down in the water torture cell. 879 00:46:47,363 --> 00:46:51,563 Those two images, oddly enough, would secure his legacy. 880 00:46:51,723 --> 00:46:54,603 So, he's escaped from everything you can imagine escaping from, 881 00:46:54,763 --> 00:46:57,323 and there's only one thing that you can't escape from. 882 00:47:01,363 --> 00:47:02,803 Fishburne: His diaries offer evidence 883 00:47:02,963 --> 00:47:06,203 that death is already on Houdini's mind. 884 00:47:06,363 --> 00:47:11,003 He writes, "Ma, Bess, and I go to the photographers Gulekurst 885 00:47:11,163 --> 00:47:13,003 and have our photos taken‐‐ 886 00:47:13,163 --> 00:47:15,403 I hope not the last time together. 887 00:47:15,563 --> 00:47:18,883 Who knows? The old must die and the young can." 888 00:47:22,563 --> 00:47:25,283 Cuiffo: That diary entry is very interesting in‐‐ 889 00:47:25,443 --> 00:47:29,203 one, in the fact that it's Houdini really expressing a lot of emotion, 890 00:47:29,363 --> 00:47:31,043 which again, up to that point, 891 00:47:31,203 --> 00:47:35,003 his writings are very practical and scientific in a way. 892 00:47:35,163 --> 00:47:39,803 And perhaps it's part of his process of his awareness of life moving on, 893 00:47:39,963 --> 00:47:43,083 and he's coming to a new phase in his life 894 00:47:43,243 --> 00:47:45,443 and knows that his mother is going to die. 895 00:47:45,603 --> 00:47:48,203 Kalush: You do think of these things. 896 00:47:48,363 --> 00:47:50,803 What would I do without this person? 897 00:47:50,963 --> 00:47:53,323 And I think Houdini thought of that quite often, 898 00:47:53,483 --> 00:47:55,603 because she was a very central point to the family. 899 00:47:55,763 --> 00:47:58,003 Caveney: After Houdini's father died, 900 00:47:58,163 --> 00:48:00,603 he became the head of the house. 901 00:48:00,763 --> 00:48:03,003 And with this oath to take care of his mother, 902 00:48:03,163 --> 00:48:05,403 he's starting to see her getting frailer, 903 00:48:05,563 --> 00:48:09,523 and we can see it in photographs of her at that time. 904 00:48:09,683 --> 00:48:12,203 Fishburne: In August 1913, 905 00:48:12,363 --> 00:48:14,523 Houdini boards a ship for Denmark. 906 00:48:14,683 --> 00:48:16,603 "The gang plank was pulled away, 907 00:48:16,763 --> 00:48:18,003 and we started in to throw those 908 00:48:18,163 --> 00:48:19,803 long paper colored strips overboard 909 00:48:19,963 --> 00:48:22,003 to the folks onto the pier. 910 00:48:22,163 --> 00:48:25,443 Ma caught a few of them that I threw adroitly to her, 911 00:48:25,603 --> 00:48:27,763 and eventually we steamed away, 912 00:48:27,923 --> 00:48:29,803 and that was the last sight I saw 913 00:48:29,963 --> 00:48:32,483 of my darling mother alive." 914 00:48:32,643 --> 00:48:37,603 Cox: His mother had a stroke while he was on the ship 915 00:48:37,763 --> 00:48:40,563 and his brother sent telegrams. 916 00:48:40,723 --> 00:48:42,403 And when he finally opened the telegram and read 917 00:48:42,563 --> 00:48:45,243 that his mother had died, he fainted. 918 00:48:51,763 --> 00:48:53,403 He canceled a contract. 919 00:48:53,563 --> 00:48:57,323 He got right back on the ship and went home. 920 00:49:01,283 --> 00:49:02,443 Cuiffo: The story about sitting 921 00:49:02,603 --> 00:49:04,923 by his mother's bedside was legendary. 922 00:49:05,083 --> 00:49:08,603 This is probably the closest account we have of him 923 00:49:08,763 --> 00:49:11,403 facing real death of somebody who he really loved 924 00:49:11,563 --> 00:49:13,683 in a way that he didn't love anybody else. 925 00:49:13,843 --> 00:49:18,803 Fishburne: That night, Houdini places a gift by his mother 926 00:49:18,963 --> 00:49:22,003 and writes, "She looked so dainty and restful, 927 00:49:22,163 --> 00:49:24,003 only a small spot on her cheek, 928 00:49:24,163 --> 00:49:25,603 and the face which haunted me 929 00:49:25,763 --> 00:49:28,803 with love all of my life is still and quiet. 930 00:49:28,963 --> 00:49:30,563 And when she does not answer me, 931 00:49:30,723 --> 00:49:33,403 I know that God has taken her to his bosom 932 00:49:33,563 --> 00:49:38,923 and given her the peace which she denied herself on this Earth." 933 00:49:39,083 --> 00:49:42,163 Some of the prose in that diary entry about, 934 00:49:42,323 --> 00:49:46,403 you know, I'm sure she's peaceful in heaven and all of that sort of stuff, 935 00:49:46,563 --> 00:49:49,003 is less powerful to me than the fact 936 00:49:49,163 --> 00:49:52,403 that he brought home a pair of slippers 937 00:49:52,563 --> 00:49:55,803 that she had requested before he left 938 00:49:55,963 --> 00:49:59,923 so that he could put those slippers in the coffin with her. 939 00:50:01,363 --> 00:50:03,283 It's very touching. It's very touching. 940 00:50:06,963 --> 00:50:09,403 Brandon: Once his mother has died, 941 00:50:09,563 --> 00:50:12,123 he really starts to question his place in the world. 942 00:50:13,763 --> 00:50:15,803 That anchor that drove him for so many years 943 00:50:15,963 --> 00:50:17,803 to provide for her and achieve success 944 00:50:17,963 --> 00:50:21,603 and fulfill the oath of his father was now gone. 945 00:50:21,763 --> 00:50:23,403 In a sense, he had fulfilled it. 946 00:50:23,563 --> 00:50:27,243 But now here he is facing the question, what's next? 947 00:50:29,563 --> 00:50:33,203 Fishburne: As he turns 50, his life is at a turning point. 948 00:50:33,363 --> 00:50:36,603 His beloved mother is gone and his diaries reveal 949 00:50:36,763 --> 00:50:39,123 his body is beginning to fail, too. 950 00:50:39,283 --> 00:50:43,883 The pursuit of immortality is taking its toll. 951 00:50:44,043 --> 00:50:48,003 He writes, "Dr. Parsons examines my body and ankle. 952 00:50:48,163 --> 00:50:50,243 Claims I am in danger of death." 953 00:50:53,363 --> 00:50:54,403 Zenon: His body's not holding out, 954 00:50:54,563 --> 00:50:56,003 he's got a lot of injuries, 955 00:50:56,163 --> 00:50:57,803 and his escape career kind of feels as though 956 00:50:57,963 --> 00:50:59,723 it's behind him now pretty much. 957 00:50:59,883 --> 00:51:01,403 So he's got to find something new. 958 00:51:01,563 --> 00:51:04,403 He's not a guy to just lie down and take it, you know? 959 00:51:04,563 --> 00:51:06,763 It's as though he needs a new challenge. 960 00:51:13,843 --> 00:51:16,363 Fishburne: By 1920, 50‐year‐old Houdini 961 00:51:16,523 --> 00:51:20,163 is about to undertake the greatest challenge of his life. 962 00:51:20,323 --> 00:51:26,043 He wages war against the new scourge sweeping the nation‐‐ spiritualism. 963 00:51:32,723 --> 00:51:35,283 Zenon: In its most basic form, spiritualism is a belief 964 00:51:35,443 --> 00:51:37,443 that you can communicate with the dead. 965 00:51:37,603 --> 00:51:40,843 Cox: Spiritualism has this tremendous resurgence in the 1920s, 966 00:51:41,003 --> 00:51:43,403 especially after World War I. 967 00:51:43,563 --> 00:51:46,763 Fishburne: With millions dead, families are desperate 968 00:51:46,923 --> 00:51:48,963 to speak to their lost loved ones, 969 00:51:49,123 --> 00:51:52,763 and a new breed of performer emerges, the medium, 970 00:51:52,923 --> 00:51:56,683 a person who claims they can commune with the dead. 971 00:51:56,843 --> 00:52:00,563 Spiritualism at the time is‐‐ 972 00:52:00,723 --> 00:52:02,883 it's a combination of a lot of things. 973 00:52:03,043 --> 00:52:06,563 It is without a doubt a religion. 974 00:52:06,723 --> 00:52:09,963 And at the same time, it is organized crime. 975 00:52:10,123 --> 00:52:12,283 At the same time, it is fraud. 976 00:52:12,443 --> 00:52:17,163 But spiritualists were not just wrong. 977 00:52:17,323 --> 00:52:18,963 They were really immoral. 978 00:52:21,643 --> 00:52:25,523 Cox: Houdini was very conflicted over the question of spiritualism. 979 00:52:25,683 --> 00:52:27,803 He wasn't an out and out skeptic. 980 00:52:27,963 --> 00:52:31,163 Zenon: He didn't really believe that you could communicate with the dead. 981 00:52:31,323 --> 00:52:35,363 However, he would've given anything to be able to contact his mother after she died. 982 00:52:35,523 --> 00:52:37,763 Brandon: But every time he approached someone 983 00:52:37,923 --> 00:52:40,403 who claimed to be able to do that, 984 00:52:40,563 --> 00:52:42,763 it was always crass rubbish 985 00:52:42,923 --> 00:52:45,963 and he could see how the tricks were done. 986 00:52:46,123 --> 00:52:48,363 Fishburne: Desperate to find out the truth for himself, 987 00:52:48,523 --> 00:52:51,563 Houdini embarks on his own investigation. 988 00:52:51,723 --> 00:52:55,763 Cox: I think he thought this was a great intellectual pursuit. 989 00:52:55,923 --> 00:52:57,963 But actually, Harry Houdini was entering 990 00:52:58,123 --> 00:53:02,203 into probably the most dangerous part of his career. 991 00:53:02,363 --> 00:53:05,363 Zenon: In 1920, he decided to reignite 992 00:53:05,523 --> 00:53:08,483 his literary ambitions by writing a book about spiritualism. 993 00:53:08,643 --> 00:53:10,323 And it's possibly an odd choice, 994 00:53:10,483 --> 00:53:12,763 bearing in mind how badly he got burnt after writing 995 00:53:12,923 --> 00:53:16,123 "The Unmasking of Robert‐Houdin" a few years previously. 996 00:53:16,283 --> 00:53:18,963 Houdini reached out to Arthur Conan Doyle, 997 00:53:19,123 --> 00:53:21,483 who was kind of spiritualism's leading light, really, 998 00:53:21,643 --> 00:53:23,923 the main advocate if you will. 999 00:53:24,083 --> 00:53:25,603 He was very famous at the time, 1000 00:53:25,763 --> 00:53:27,803 being the author of Sherlock Holmes, obviously. 1001 00:53:27,963 --> 00:53:30,563 He had a very keen antennae always 1002 00:53:30,723 --> 00:53:32,883 for any sort of celebrity endorsement. 1003 00:53:36,123 --> 00:53:38,883 Cox: Lady Doyle was holding her own seances 1004 00:53:39,043 --> 00:53:43,523 and ostensibly building her own powers of psychic ability. 1005 00:53:43,683 --> 00:53:45,163 Kalush: She was an automatic writer. 1006 00:53:45,323 --> 00:53:48,163 That meant she went into a sort of a trance. 1007 00:53:48,323 --> 00:53:51,563 Sandford: A pen in her hand would appear to flow 1008 00:53:51,723 --> 00:53:56,003 across a piece of paper with words that were not hers 1009 00:53:56,163 --> 00:53:59,363 but that she was receiving from an unseen entity. 1010 00:54:02,883 --> 00:54:05,763 Fishburne: By way of introduction, Houdini sends Conan Doyle 1011 00:54:05,923 --> 00:54:08,123 "The Unmasking of Robert‐Houdin." 1012 00:54:08,283 --> 00:54:11,923 And within a month, Doyle invites him to visit. 1013 00:54:15,123 --> 00:54:19,563 Cox: Doyle said, "Listen, I agree with you that there's fraud, 1014 00:54:19,723 --> 00:54:21,363 but I've found the real thing." 1015 00:54:21,523 --> 00:54:22,803 Houdini was excited. 1016 00:54:22,963 --> 00:54:24,563 Fishburne: Houdini's lost diaries 1017 00:54:24,723 --> 00:54:28,043 suggest genuine anticipation, not skepticism. 1018 00:54:28,203 --> 00:54:31,963 "Met Lady Doyle and the three children. Had lunch with them. 1019 00:54:32,123 --> 00:54:35,163 They believe implicitly in spiritualism. 1020 00:54:35,323 --> 00:54:38,963 Sir Arthur told me he has spoken six times to his son. 1021 00:54:39,123 --> 00:54:41,683 No possible chance for trickery." 1022 00:54:41,843 --> 00:54:43,763 There's no doubt that Houdini wanted to believe 1023 00:54:43,923 --> 00:54:45,963 that you could contact the dead, you know? 1024 00:54:46,123 --> 00:54:48,563 He had a vested interest in his mother's case, obviously. 1025 00:54:48,723 --> 00:54:51,563 In the summer of 1922, 1026 00:54:51,723 --> 00:54:54,883 Arthur Conan Doyle invites Houdini and Bess down to Atlantic City 1027 00:54:55,043 --> 00:54:57,603 to spend the weekend and have a good time. 1028 00:54:59,483 --> 00:55:00,963 Cox: And it's during this time 1029 00:55:01,123 --> 00:55:04,283 that Doyle invites Houdini to a private seance. 1030 00:55:04,443 --> 00:55:06,363 Doyle said, you know, 1031 00:55:06,523 --> 00:55:10,243 "Your mother is trying to get in contact with you through Lady Doyle." 1032 00:55:10,403 --> 00:55:13,043 Houdini didn't go there or even consider it 1033 00:55:13,203 --> 00:55:17,963 that Doyle was going to try to defraud him or fool him. 1034 00:55:18,123 --> 00:55:20,563 He was really wondering whether it would work. 1035 00:55:20,723 --> 00:55:23,723 He really hoped perhaps his mother might come through. 1036 00:55:25,523 --> 00:55:27,563 Fishburne: This extraordinary diary entry 1037 00:55:27,723 --> 00:55:29,443 details what happens in the room. 1038 00:55:29,603 --> 00:55:32,163 "Sir Arthur asked Lady Doyle, 1039 00:55:32,323 --> 00:55:33,763 who was standing alongside of me, 1040 00:55:33,923 --> 00:55:36,563 and was it my mother? 1041 00:55:36,723 --> 00:55:38,963 Lady Doyle's hands struck the table three times 1042 00:55:39,123 --> 00:55:40,563 signifying, yes, 1043 00:55:40,723 --> 00:55:44,163 that my mother was alongside of me." 1044 00:55:44,323 --> 00:55:45,723 Sandford: Shortly thereafter, 1045 00:55:45,883 --> 00:55:50,003 a pencil in Lady Doyle's hand began to move, 1046 00:55:50,163 --> 00:55:52,243 apparently of its own accord. 1047 00:55:52,403 --> 00:55:57,123 Cox: And he received a several pages long message from his mother. 1048 00:56:00,323 --> 00:56:02,603 Fishburne: Houdini transcribes everything Lady Doyle 1049 00:56:02,763 --> 00:56:04,563 had claimed his mother told her. 1050 00:56:04,723 --> 00:56:08,163 Cox: He's cautious and he is recording everything 1051 00:56:08,323 --> 00:56:10,563 that happened in this seance because this is going 1052 00:56:10,723 --> 00:56:13,163 to become a point of dispute later on. 1053 00:56:13,323 --> 00:56:16,363 It's very important. 1054 00:56:16,523 --> 00:56:18,083 Fishburne: Part of that message reads, 1055 00:56:18,243 --> 00:56:22,883 "Never had a mother such son. Tell him not to grieve. 1056 00:56:23,043 --> 00:56:26,963 God bless you, too, Sir Arthur, for what you are doing for us. 1057 00:56:27,123 --> 00:56:29,563 A happiness awaits him that he has never dreamed of. 1058 00:56:29,723 --> 00:56:31,683 His eyes will soon be opened." 1059 00:56:33,923 --> 00:56:35,363 And Houdini didn't show it at the time, 1060 00:56:35,523 --> 00:56:37,563 but I think it must've enraged him. 1061 00:56:37,723 --> 00:56:41,363 Because in looking at that, what he can see is, 1062 00:56:41,523 --> 00:56:44,043 "I'm being manipulated. They think I'm stupid." 1063 00:56:47,923 --> 00:56:50,763 Teller: Now, of course, Houdini's a superstar. 1064 00:56:50,923 --> 00:56:52,523 Arthur Conan Doyle is a superstar. 1065 00:56:52,683 --> 00:56:55,363 They are going to drag him into press interviews 1066 00:56:55,523 --> 00:56:58,243 like Britney Spears is dragged into interviews. 1067 00:56:58,403 --> 00:57:01,563 They're going to say, "What did you think?" 1068 00:57:01,723 --> 00:57:03,643 And at this point Houdini says, 1069 00:57:03,803 --> 00:57:08,283 "I don't believe it was real. It couldn't have been." 1070 00:57:10,323 --> 00:57:13,843 Fishburne: On December 19th 1922, the gloves come off. 1071 00:57:14,003 --> 00:57:19,523 Houdini writes a deposition that declares Lady Doyle to be a fraud. 1072 00:57:19,683 --> 00:57:23,563 Of course, Conan Doyle and his wife Lady Doyle took great umbrage to this. 1073 00:57:23,723 --> 00:57:25,563 They were very upset. They took it personally. 1074 00:57:25,723 --> 00:57:28,963 Sandford: The fact that his wife's medium‐ship 1075 00:57:29,123 --> 00:57:31,163 specifically was being questioned 1076 00:57:31,323 --> 00:57:32,563 was I think really what lit 1077 00:57:32,723 --> 00:57:34,283 the blue touch paper with Doyle. 1078 00:57:34,443 --> 00:57:36,523 He was absolutely incensed. 1079 00:57:36,683 --> 00:57:39,163 Fishburne: Writing in the press, 1080 00:57:39,323 --> 00:57:43,363 Houdini vows that he will seek out and expose all fake mediums. 1081 00:57:43,523 --> 00:57:46,763 Teller: Houdini felt that absolutely gut‐level 1082 00:57:46,923 --> 00:57:50,603 as a moral issue of the greatest power. 1083 00:57:50,763 --> 00:57:54,683 Houdini was facing a pretty powerful, 1084 00:57:54,843 --> 00:57:58,203 essentially mafia of spiritualists. 1085 00:58:00,123 --> 00:58:02,363 Jillette: People were making money hand over fist. 1086 00:58:02,523 --> 00:58:04,763 And it was popular with the upper crust, 1087 00:58:04,923 --> 00:58:08,203 so that there was a lot of money to be stolen. 1088 00:58:08,363 --> 00:58:10,283 It was a real, real good racket. 1089 00:58:10,443 --> 00:58:15,563 These people were really crazy successful and rolling in dough. 1090 00:58:15,723 --> 00:58:18,963 Kalush: There had been mediums in the past who had poisoned people 1091 00:58:19,123 --> 00:58:22,163 or beaten people or killed people over these very issues. 1092 00:58:22,323 --> 00:58:24,803 He went into it with open eyes. 1093 00:58:32,243 --> 00:58:33,883 Fishburne: 1923. 1094 00:58:34,043 --> 00:58:35,883 Houdini's war against bogus mediums 1095 00:58:36,043 --> 00:58:37,483 is about to accelerate. 1096 00:58:41,443 --> 00:58:47,283 And to bolster his case, he teams up with "Scientific American Magazine." 1097 00:58:47,443 --> 00:58:49,883 Kalush: "Scientific American" offered a $2,500 prize 1098 00:58:50,043 --> 00:58:51,683 if you could demonstrate something 1099 00:58:51,843 --> 00:58:54,923 that would be essentially supernatural 1100 00:58:55,083 --> 00:58:58,643 in the presence of their committee. 1101 00:58:58,803 --> 00:59:01,283 Cuiffo: One of the members of the "Scientific American" committee, 1102 00:59:01,443 --> 00:59:05,283 Malcolm J. Bird, proposed a woman named Margery, 1103 00:59:05,443 --> 00:59:07,283 who was a medium in Boston, 1104 00:59:07,443 --> 00:59:10,043 to be one of the candidates for this prize. 1105 00:59:10,203 --> 00:59:14,083 Cox: When Houdini learned of this, he said, "Wait a minute. 1106 00:59:14,243 --> 00:59:18,563 No one's getting any prize until I sit with Margery." 1107 00:59:18,723 --> 00:59:21,083 Cuiffo: Margery was a very interesting medium. 1108 00:59:21,243 --> 00:59:25,083 Kalush: She was the third wife of Dr. Lee Roi Crandon. 1109 00:59:25,243 --> 00:59:30,483 She and her husband started doing these seances in their home, 1110 00:59:30,643 --> 00:59:34,203 inviting the top tier of Boston society. 1111 00:59:34,363 --> 00:59:37,443 Cox: And what went on in these seances was wild. 1112 00:59:37,603 --> 00:59:40,683 You know, some mediums might levitate a table 1113 00:59:40,843 --> 00:59:42,683 to show a spirit is present. 1114 00:59:42,843 --> 00:59:45,283 It's said that Margery's table would actually get up 1115 00:59:45,443 --> 00:59:47,523 and chase people out of the room. 1116 00:59:47,683 --> 00:59:50,683 People said they lost weight because of the psychic energy. 1117 00:59:50,843 --> 00:59:55,723 She channeled her dead brother, who told dirty jokes. 1118 00:59:55,883 --> 01:00:00,643 Margery also did her seances nude except for a silk kimono, 1119 01:00:00,803 --> 01:00:04,563 and you could search the medium if you so desired. 1120 01:00:04,723 --> 01:00:06,683 She was just the most interesting 1121 01:00:06,843 --> 01:00:08,443 and exciting medium of that time. 1122 01:00:08,603 --> 01:00:09,683 She was a star. 1123 01:00:11,643 --> 01:00:14,683 Behind the scenes, Conan Doyle and Crandon 1124 01:00:14,843 --> 01:00:16,483 were writing to each other and concerned 1125 01:00:16,643 --> 01:00:18,443 that Houdini was going to be on this committee 1126 01:00:18,603 --> 01:00:22,283 to try to prove that Margery wasn't real. 1127 01:00:22,443 --> 01:00:24,123 Cox: This is the championship bout. 1128 01:00:24,283 --> 01:00:25,763 The greatest medium 1129 01:00:25,923 --> 01:00:29,003 against the greatest exposer of fraudulent mediums. 1130 01:00:29,163 --> 01:00:31,163 Kind of everything hangs in the balance. 1131 01:00:35,643 --> 01:00:39,083 Kalush: It was probably a pretty tense night, that first seance. 1132 01:00:39,243 --> 01:00:41,203 They're sort of feeling each other out. 1133 01:00:41,363 --> 01:00:43,603 They didn't really know how Houdini was going to respond. 1134 01:00:47,443 --> 01:00:50,843 Cuiffo: Margery channeled her dead brother Walter to speak through her. 1135 01:00:51,003 --> 01:00:52,883 Sandford: The spirit said, 1136 01:00:53,043 --> 01:00:56,283 "What would you like me to do with this trumpet?" 1137 01:00:56,443 --> 01:01:00,283 And Houdini said, "Well, make it fall to the floor." 1138 01:01:00,443 --> 01:01:02,883 And sure enough, a second or two later in the darkened room, 1139 01:01:03,043 --> 01:01:04,843 it clattered to the floor. 1140 01:01:08,363 --> 01:01:10,043 Cuiffo: It actually hit Houdini on the feet. 1141 01:01:10,203 --> 01:01:12,883 Margery was thrown back in her chair, 1142 01:01:13,043 --> 01:01:14,843 and that was the main event. 1143 01:01:15,003 --> 01:01:20,083 And for Houdini, it was by the book classic fraud tricks 1144 01:01:20,243 --> 01:01:22,283 that he's known about for many, many years. 1145 01:01:22,443 --> 01:01:24,203 They go back to the hotel, 1146 01:01:24,363 --> 01:01:26,203 Houdini and the "Scientific American" committee, 1147 01:01:26,363 --> 01:01:28,283 and he says as much and wants to out her immediately 1148 01:01:28,443 --> 01:01:30,283 like they've done with other mediums before that. 1149 01:01:35,203 --> 01:01:36,883 Sandford: But other heads prevailed 1150 01:01:37,043 --> 01:01:40,243 and advised him to wait for at least one more seance 1151 01:01:40,403 --> 01:01:43,363 before they made any public statement about her. 1152 01:01:46,643 --> 01:01:49,603 Cuiffo: So for the second seance, he devised this contraption, 1153 01:01:49,763 --> 01:01:52,643 essentially a box that contained her entire body. 1154 01:01:52,803 --> 01:01:55,483 Kalush: Stopping her from doing anything, 1155 01:01:55,643 --> 01:01:59,083 proving in theory that it was the spirit Walter 1156 01:01:59,243 --> 01:02:01,483 that was actually doing the physical manifestations. 1157 01:02:01,643 --> 01:02:04,483 There's so many fascinating dynamics in that second seance 1158 01:02:04,643 --> 01:02:06,643 because Houdini does get his limitations put in place, 1159 01:02:06,803 --> 01:02:10,683 and that succeeds in stopping Margery 1160 01:02:10,843 --> 01:02:14,163 from making any physical manifestations from occurring. 1161 01:02:14,323 --> 01:02:17,763 It was an acrimonious seance, to put it very mildly. 1162 01:02:17,923 --> 01:02:22,083 Kalush: Walter started singing little songs, 1163 01:02:22,243 --> 01:02:25,763 calling Houdini epithets, anti‐Jewish epithets. 1164 01:02:25,923 --> 01:02:28,883 The phrase, "You're a son of a ‐‐, Houdini," 1165 01:02:29,043 --> 01:02:33,003 was the one‐‐ the sort of takeaway phrase of the seance. 1166 01:02:33,163 --> 01:02:35,883 Cuiffo: That must have affected him. 1167 01:02:36,043 --> 01:02:38,483 It was a direct personal attack on Houdini 1168 01:02:38,643 --> 01:02:40,443 and also the memory of his mother. 1169 01:02:40,603 --> 01:02:42,483 It did make him very angry, 1170 01:02:42,643 --> 01:02:45,083 and Walter then became threatening 1171 01:02:45,243 --> 01:02:47,283 started saying that Houdini wasn't going to live, 1172 01:02:47,443 --> 01:02:49,683 that he was going to put a curse on him 1173 01:02:49,843 --> 01:02:51,883 that was going to last until the day he died. 1174 01:02:54,043 --> 01:02:57,443 Cuiffo: Houdini had won this battle, had succeeded in stopping her. 1175 01:02:57,603 --> 01:03:01,083 And now it was just coming out as this vitriol 1176 01:03:01,243 --> 01:03:05,563 that would then soon really explode in the months to come. 1177 01:03:11,043 --> 01:03:14,683 In February 1925, the "Scientific American" 1178 01:03:14,843 --> 01:03:17,843 rejected Margery's claim to their prize. 1179 01:03:18,003 --> 01:03:22,683 Kalush: I think it was a major victory for Houdini. 1180 01:03:22,843 --> 01:03:24,683 If this had gone the other way, 1181 01:03:24,843 --> 01:03:26,083 I think it could have been very damaging 1182 01:03:26,243 --> 01:03:28,083 to Houdini's reputation. 1183 01:03:28,243 --> 01:03:31,483 He had this opportunity now to keep his name 1184 01:03:31,643 --> 01:03:34,203 in front of the public in a different way altogether. 1185 01:03:34,363 --> 01:03:37,643 Caveney: He discovered that he no longer had to jump off a bridge 1186 01:03:37,803 --> 01:03:42,803 into a freezing cold river to end up on the front page. 1187 01:03:42,963 --> 01:03:47,283 He could expose exactly how these mediums are doing what they're doing 1188 01:03:47,443 --> 01:03:50,083 and he still got huge press coverage. 1189 01:03:50,243 --> 01:03:51,883 So, he went for it, 1190 01:03:52,043 --> 01:03:55,083 despite the danger and regardless of the threats 1191 01:03:55,243 --> 01:03:58,723 and the other insults that were thrown his way. 1192 01:03:58,883 --> 01:04:03,883 Jillette: What Houdini I don't think knew he was monkeying with 1193 01:04:04,043 --> 01:04:07,883 was the level of complete immorality. 1194 01:04:08,043 --> 01:04:12,923 Spiritualists at the time were organized as criminals 1195 01:04:13,083 --> 01:04:15,283 and were also part of organized crime. 1196 01:04:15,443 --> 01:04:20,603 It's like you're dealing with, you know, a drug cartel. 1197 01:04:20,763 --> 01:04:24,003 Caveney: Many of these people wanted to see him dead. 1198 01:04:33,523 --> 01:04:35,243 Fishburne: 1925. 1199 01:04:35,403 --> 01:04:38,523 Houdini's secret diaries reveal he has a new obsession, 1200 01:04:38,683 --> 01:04:43,043 one that many believe would lead to his demise. 1201 01:04:45,323 --> 01:04:47,003 Cuifo: Houdini would go to these mediums himself, sometimes in disguise‐‐ 1202 01:04:47,163 --> 01:04:49,283 there's a great photo of Houdini as an old man‐‐ 1203 01:04:49,443 --> 01:04:50,603 partly for his own entertainment 1204 01:04:50,763 --> 01:04:52,803 under the guise of getting research. 1205 01:04:52,963 --> 01:04:56,083 Lynch: He would go in and get a reading and he would play along. 1206 01:04:56,243 --> 01:04:57,963 And then as soon as they slipped up, he would be like, 1207 01:04:58,123 --> 01:05:00,843 "Ah, it is I, Houdini, and I'm shutting this place down!" 1208 01:05:03,363 --> 01:05:05,763 Kalush: After this information was gathered, he would use it in his show, 1209 01:05:05,923 --> 01:05:09,563 and he would publicly expose the most egregious of these mediums. 1210 01:05:09,723 --> 01:05:12,603 Teller: I believe that Houdini's passion was absolutely genuine. 1211 01:05:12,763 --> 01:05:14,563 But I don't think at any point 1212 01:05:14,723 --> 01:05:18,083 he ever forgot that conflict makes a great story. 1213 01:05:18,243 --> 01:05:20,403 All of these things made great press 1214 01:05:20,563 --> 01:05:24,203 at the same time that they were actually making a very important point. 1215 01:05:24,363 --> 01:05:26,603 Fishburne: The mediums, 1216 01:05:26,763 --> 01:05:30,803 and their shrinking wallets, are livid. 1217 01:05:30,963 --> 01:05:35,203 Spiritualists were very fond of making indirect death threats. 1218 01:05:35,363 --> 01:05:36,963 "Houdini doesn't have long to live." 1219 01:05:37,123 --> 01:05:39,203 "Houdini is not long for this world." 1220 01:05:39,363 --> 01:05:43,203 So the atmosphere around him included 1221 01:05:43,363 --> 01:05:46,603 an element of really virulent hostility. 1222 01:05:49,683 --> 01:05:51,763 Cuiffo: People writing him letters threatening him, 1223 01:05:51,923 --> 01:05:53,803 putting curses on him. 1224 01:05:53,963 --> 01:05:57,003 It became a new level of aggression towards Houdini, 1225 01:05:57,163 --> 01:06:00,323 enough that he would mention it in newspaper articles. 1226 01:06:04,963 --> 01:06:06,323 Fishburne: For all of his public bravado, 1227 01:06:06,483 --> 01:06:09,003 Houdini is becoming greatly unnerved 1228 01:06:09,163 --> 01:06:11,323 by these constant threats. 1229 01:06:13,163 --> 01:06:14,923 Zenon: Obviously, Houdini was fronting it out, 1230 01:06:15,083 --> 01:06:16,603 but you get the idea that behind the scenes 1231 01:06:16,763 --> 01:06:18,203 he was actually quite worried. 1232 01:06:18,363 --> 01:06:20,803 These organizations had real clout behind them. 1233 01:06:20,963 --> 01:06:22,803 Teller: There's hostility in the air. 1234 01:06:22,963 --> 01:06:25,603 There's criminal activity on all sides. 1235 01:06:25,763 --> 01:06:29,803 There's this weird feeling of hatred that he, 1236 01:06:29,963 --> 01:06:32,483 I don't believe, previously had been living with. 1237 01:06:32,643 --> 01:06:35,603 I don't think he had been living with that poisonous sort of thing 1238 01:06:35,763 --> 01:06:40,203 where there's a group of people that just hate you all the time. 1239 01:06:40,363 --> 01:06:42,723 That's a difficult thing emotionally to deal with. 1240 01:06:42,883 --> 01:06:47,203 Fishburne: By the fall of 1926, 1241 01:06:47,363 --> 01:06:50,403 the feud is taking its toll. 1242 01:06:50,563 --> 01:06:52,803 Kalush: He seemed to be breaking a little bit. 1243 01:06:52,963 --> 01:06:57,643 He called a long‐time friend, Joseph Dunninger, 1244 01:06:57,803 --> 01:07:00,803 to come over at midnight in a rainy night. 1245 01:07:00,963 --> 01:07:02,803 Cox: He collects Houdini. They drive off. 1246 01:07:02,963 --> 01:07:04,843 And suddenly Houdini says, 1247 01:07:05,003 --> 01:07:07,043 "Turn around Joe. Go back to the house." 1248 01:07:07,203 --> 01:07:11,403 Houdini gets out, stands staring at his house, 1249 01:07:11,563 --> 01:07:14,603 and then gets back in the car and says, "Okay, we can go." 1250 01:07:14,763 --> 01:07:18,243 And they leave, and Dunninger turns and sees that Houdini's crying. 1251 01:07:18,403 --> 01:07:20,563 That's when Harry proclaims to Joe, 1252 01:07:20,723 --> 01:07:23,003 "That's the last time I've seen my house. 1253 01:07:23,163 --> 01:07:25,403 I will never see it again." 1254 01:07:25,563 --> 01:07:28,403 Cox: Turns out, that was the last time he saw his house. 1255 01:07:28,563 --> 01:07:33,083 But it's fascinating. Did Houdini have a premonition of his own death? 1256 01:07:36,203 --> 01:07:38,723 Goodwin: On October the 19th in 1926, 1257 01:07:38,883 --> 01:07:43,083 Houdini gave a lecture at McGill University in Montreal. 1258 01:07:43,243 --> 01:07:45,603 Cuiffo: Houdini was giving these spiritualistic lectures. 1259 01:07:45,763 --> 01:07:47,803 It was like his new act in a way, 1260 01:07:47,963 --> 01:07:49,283 and it was a much easier act to perform 1261 01:07:49,443 --> 01:07:50,803 because it was basically a lecture. 1262 01:07:50,963 --> 01:07:52,923 But he would demonstrate some of the methods 1263 01:07:53,083 --> 01:07:56,683 that fraudulent mediums would use. 1264 01:07:56,843 --> 01:07:58,603 Goodwin: He spoke very vitriolically 1265 01:07:58,763 --> 01:08:01,163 about Margery and Lady Doyle. 1266 01:08:01,323 --> 01:08:03,403 It raised the hairs on the backs of the reporters' necks 1267 01:08:03,563 --> 01:08:05,403 enough to mention in the papers 1268 01:08:05,563 --> 01:08:07,603 that it was quite a scathing attack, 1269 01:08:07,763 --> 01:08:10,003 which inevitably got back to them. 1270 01:08:12,643 --> 01:08:15,243 Goodwin: After the lecture, Houdini is relaxing 1271 01:08:15,403 --> 01:08:16,803 in a common room or dressing room. 1272 01:08:16,963 --> 01:08:18,203 He's surrounded by students 1273 01:08:18,363 --> 01:08:21,003 and people that wanted to talk to him. 1274 01:08:21,163 --> 01:08:25,763 Cuiffo: And it was at this casual gathering of students after this lecture 1275 01:08:25,923 --> 01:08:29,883 where he started to boast that he could withstand punches. 1276 01:08:32,363 --> 01:08:33,803 Cox: He said, "Hey, if anyone wants 1277 01:08:33,963 --> 01:08:35,403 to punch me in the stomach, I can take it." 1278 01:08:35,563 --> 01:08:37,803 And a student named Gerard Pickleman 1279 01:08:37,963 --> 01:08:39,723 did indeed punch him in the stomach. 1280 01:08:42,363 --> 01:08:44,603 Goodwin: And to his credit, Houdini didn't react, 1281 01:08:44,763 --> 01:08:47,243 didn't wince, and just stood there and took it. 1282 01:08:47,403 --> 01:08:49,523 And that was kind of the wrap‐up of the evening. 1283 01:08:49,683 --> 01:08:53,603 So that was ostensibly punch number one for Houdini 1284 01:08:53,763 --> 01:08:55,123 while he was in Montreal. 1285 01:08:58,923 --> 01:09:01,403 Tuesday, he does this performance. 1286 01:09:01,563 --> 01:09:04,163 Then that Friday, Houdini goes to the theater, 1287 01:09:04,323 --> 01:09:05,803 and he's met at the theater 1288 01:09:05,963 --> 01:09:07,963 by two students who want to chat with him. 1289 01:09:09,963 --> 01:09:11,403 They sit with Houdini. 1290 01:09:11,563 --> 01:09:13,203 Houdini's laying down on the couch relaxing 1291 01:09:13,363 --> 01:09:15,963 while this student begins to sketch him. 1292 01:09:16,123 --> 01:09:20,403 Shortly after, another student comes in‐‐ 1293 01:09:20,563 --> 01:09:21,883 J. Gordon Whitehead. 1294 01:09:24,643 --> 01:09:26,723 He came in and immediately started initiating 1295 01:09:26,883 --> 01:09:29,403 a lot of conversation with Houdini. 1296 01:09:29,563 --> 01:09:33,403 Sandford: Apparently the conversation turned towards his physical strength 1297 01:09:33,563 --> 01:09:36,403 and his ability to withstand a blow to the stomach. 1298 01:09:36,563 --> 01:09:39,443 Whitehead said, "Could I test your stomach muscles?" 1299 01:09:39,603 --> 01:09:41,803 Some people characterized it as sudden, 1300 01:09:41,963 --> 01:09:44,723 that Whitehead suddenly came at him and started punching him. 1301 01:09:48,563 --> 01:09:50,683 Sandford: And he hit him two or three times 1302 01:09:50,843 --> 01:09:53,443 before one of the other students told him to lay off. 1303 01:09:55,363 --> 01:09:58,523 By then, the damage had almost certainly been done. 1304 01:10:03,763 --> 01:10:06,523 I don't think he was aware of the severity of it. 1305 01:10:06,683 --> 01:10:10,403 Even the night that he was attacked in his dressing room, 1306 01:10:10,563 --> 01:10:12,123 he went on and gave a show. 1307 01:10:15,283 --> 01:10:17,403 They basically had to force him to go to hospital, 1308 01:10:17,563 --> 01:10:21,203 at which point they decided that they needed to operate. 1309 01:10:21,363 --> 01:10:24,403 And as soon as they opened him up, the doctors, the surgeon, 1310 01:10:24,563 --> 01:10:27,683 realized just how serious the situation was. 1311 01:10:29,963 --> 01:10:33,803 Kalush: They didn't have antibiotics like we have now. 1312 01:10:33,963 --> 01:10:36,283 Probably they knew that there wasn't much chance. 1313 01:10:36,443 --> 01:10:40,563 He basically hung on for‐‐ what was it? Seven or eight days. 1314 01:10:40,723 --> 01:10:44,603 He was in his brother Theo's arms, 1315 01:10:44,763 --> 01:10:48,203 and he said, "I'm tired of fighting. 1316 01:10:48,363 --> 01:10:49,803 I guess this thing is going to get me." 1317 01:10:49,963 --> 01:10:54,603 And we would lose Harry Houdini on October 31st, 1926. 1318 01:11:02,963 --> 01:11:05,883 Cox: Houdini's death really did shock people. 1319 01:11:06,043 --> 01:11:10,483 The Great Houdini, who couldn't be defeated, is suddenly dead. 1320 01:11:10,643 --> 01:11:12,003 It was truly shocking. 1321 01:11:12,163 --> 01:11:15,003 I think people had a hard time 1322 01:11:15,163 --> 01:11:17,723 accepting the fact that the great Houdini, 1323 01:11:17,883 --> 01:11:21,803 the guy that defied death all of his life, 1324 01:11:21,963 --> 01:11:24,443 was punched in the stomach by a college kid 1325 01:11:24,603 --> 01:11:26,003 and it killed him. 1326 01:11:26,163 --> 01:11:28,003 It's like, how can that be? 1327 01:11:28,163 --> 01:11:30,043 There's gotta be more to it than that. 1328 01:11:30,203 --> 01:11:33,203 Kalush: Almost immediately, 1329 01:11:33,363 --> 01:11:35,363 there were rumors in the newspapers 1330 01:11:35,523 --> 01:11:38,803 and swirling around that Houdini had been murdered. 1331 01:11:38,963 --> 01:11:40,763 Cox: And like any time a celebrity dies, 1332 01:11:40,923 --> 01:11:42,643 it opens the door to conspiracy theories. 1333 01:11:42,803 --> 01:11:45,403 The tabloid press begin 1334 01:11:45,563 --> 01:11:48,923 to make these suggestions almost from the beginning. 1335 01:11:49,083 --> 01:11:53,003 Kalush: All those threats, it just raises the question 1336 01:11:53,163 --> 01:11:55,803 as to were there plots against him? 1337 01:11:55,963 --> 01:11:57,403 Cox: What exactly happened? 1338 01:11:57,563 --> 01:11:59,203 How could Houdini be brought down so quickly? 1339 01:11:59,363 --> 01:12:00,723 Was there more to the story? 1340 01:12:12,003 --> 01:12:14,003 Fishburne: Halloween, 1926. 1341 01:12:14,163 --> 01:12:16,963 Houdini the superman is dead. 1342 01:12:17,123 --> 01:12:20,443 Immediately, rumors begin to swirl. 1343 01:12:20,603 --> 01:12:22,163 Had Houdini been murdered? 1344 01:12:25,883 --> 01:12:31,243 The first group that fall under suspicion are the spiritualists. 1345 01:12:31,403 --> 01:12:33,843 After their relentless campaign of death threats, 1346 01:12:34,003 --> 01:12:36,643 they are impossible to ignore. 1347 01:12:36,803 --> 01:12:39,243 Jillette: True believers, once you get someone 1348 01:12:39,403 --> 01:12:42,843 who's talking about God and the great beyond, 1349 01:12:43,003 --> 01:12:45,843 that's an end that justifies any means. 1350 01:12:46,003 --> 01:12:48,043 And I also know the spiritualists are, um, terrible, 1351 01:12:48,203 --> 01:12:50,643 terrible, awful criminals, 1352 01:12:50,803 --> 01:12:52,603 and are not beyond poisoning. 1353 01:12:55,203 --> 01:12:57,443 Cox: The great beneficiaries of Houdini's death 1354 01:12:57,603 --> 01:13:01,483 were spiritualists and people like Doyle and Crandon. 1355 01:13:01,643 --> 01:13:04,843 They'd become the leading lights in the spiritualist movement. 1356 01:13:05,003 --> 01:13:08,323 With Houdini out of the way, the world was their oyster. 1357 01:13:08,483 --> 01:13:11,843 Cuiffo: We know that the spiritualists 1358 01:13:12,003 --> 01:13:13,643 were definitely celebrating this moment. 1359 01:13:13,803 --> 01:13:16,643 Crandon was kind of gloating to Doyle 1360 01:13:16,803 --> 01:13:19,843 that Houdini was dead. 1361 01:13:20,003 --> 01:13:22,243 Kalush: The newspapers began reporting 1362 01:13:22,403 --> 01:13:25,683 that Doyle had been predicting Houdini's death. 1363 01:13:25,843 --> 01:13:28,643 Cuiffo: So it does seem plausible that perhaps 1364 01:13:28,803 --> 01:13:31,603 in this vast decentralized network 1365 01:13:31,763 --> 01:13:35,203 of fanatical spiritualists that somebody could take that 1366 01:13:35,363 --> 01:13:37,243 in very real way and act on it. 1367 01:13:37,403 --> 01:13:40,283 Kalush: So I think Houdini expected something to happen. 1368 01:13:40,443 --> 01:13:43,843 He took to carrying a gun. 1369 01:13:44,003 --> 01:13:49,363 Fishburne: People ask, "Was J. Gordon Whitehead part of a plot to kill Houdini? 1370 01:13:51,603 --> 01:13:56,643 People were trying to tie Whitehead to spiritualist movement 1371 01:13:56,803 --> 01:13:59,443 and say that he knew Crandon 1372 01:13:59,603 --> 01:14:01,643 and maybe they had colluded in some way 1373 01:14:01,803 --> 01:14:03,683 in order to murder Houdini. 1374 01:14:03,843 --> 01:14:07,443 Kalush: And it also seems quite evident 1375 01:14:07,603 --> 01:14:10,723 that Houdini was aware of who Whitehead was 1376 01:14:10,883 --> 01:14:13,043 before this happened in his dressing room. 1377 01:14:13,203 --> 01:14:15,843 It wasn't just a stranger who wandered in. 1378 01:14:16,003 --> 01:14:17,283 He was returning a book. 1379 01:14:17,443 --> 01:14:19,443 He also claimed in his deposition 1380 01:14:19,603 --> 01:14:22,843 that he was in touch with Houdini two more times 1381 01:14:23,003 --> 01:14:25,243 before Houdini left Montreal. 1382 01:14:25,403 --> 01:14:29,243 So, I think it's likely that Whitehead 1383 01:14:29,403 --> 01:14:33,603 was connected in some way to spiritualists. 1384 01:14:36,403 --> 01:14:40,043 Fishburne: Eyewitness testimonial, rarely seen in public since, 1385 01:14:40,203 --> 01:14:42,563 claims Whitehead asked Houdini a series of questions 1386 01:14:42,723 --> 01:14:47,443 before he punched him in the stomach. 1387 01:14:47,603 --> 01:14:50,443 Kalush: One of the tactics of the spiritualists at that time 1388 01:14:50,603 --> 01:14:53,643 were to try to turn the conversation to the point 1389 01:14:53,803 --> 01:14:59,203 where they said that Jesus and the apostles were actually mediums. 1390 01:14:59,363 --> 01:15:03,443 Man: And at one point, Whitehead does ask Houdini, 1391 01:15:03,603 --> 01:15:05,763 you know, how do you explain the miracles in the Bible? 1392 01:15:05,923 --> 01:15:08,363 Are those frauds? 1393 01:15:10,763 --> 01:15:12,163 Kalush: Houdini then said, 1394 01:15:12,323 --> 01:15:14,843 "Well, if I had lived back in those times, 1395 01:15:15,003 --> 01:15:16,723 what would they have thought of me?" 1396 01:15:16,883 --> 01:15:19,683 And this sort of set off Whitehead, 1397 01:15:19,843 --> 01:15:21,043 and Whitehead came forward 1398 01:15:21,203 --> 01:15:23,843 and punched Houdini in the abdomen. 1399 01:15:24,003 --> 01:15:26,643 And the stories have been on both sides, 1400 01:15:26,803 --> 01:15:28,043 but two of the witnesses say 1401 01:15:28,203 --> 01:15:30,283 that Houdini did not invite it or encourage it. 1402 01:15:31,803 --> 01:15:36,843 Were spiritualists bad enough to commit murder? 1403 01:15:37,003 --> 01:15:38,643 Yes. 1404 01:15:38,803 --> 01:15:41,043 Did people believe in spiritualism enough 1405 01:15:41,203 --> 01:15:42,843 that they would kill for that? 1406 01:15:43,003 --> 01:15:43,843 Yes. 1407 01:15:44,003 --> 01:15:47,163 Was Houdini kind of a macho‐‐ 1408 01:15:47,323 --> 01:15:49,843 wanted to show how tough he was? 1409 01:15:50,003 --> 01:15:51,563 Yes. 1410 01:15:51,723 --> 01:15:55,843 Can a university student punch wicked hard? 1411 01:15:56,003 --> 01:15:58,043 Yes. 1412 01:15:58,203 --> 01:16:00,483 Culliton: There's all kinds of ways to murder somebody. 1413 01:16:00,643 --> 01:16:03,243 You can shoot 'em, stab 'em, poison 'em, 1414 01:16:03,403 --> 01:16:04,763 push 'em out a window. 1415 01:16:04,923 --> 01:16:07,243 But who has ever murdered somebody 1416 01:16:07,403 --> 01:16:09,203 by punching them in the stomach? 1417 01:16:09,363 --> 01:16:11,243 It doesn't really make sense, 1418 01:16:11,403 --> 01:16:14,843 even by the wildest stretch of the imagination. 1419 01:16:15,003 --> 01:16:17,843 I don't think Houdini in his final hours 1420 01:16:18,003 --> 01:16:21,243 was ever under the impression that it had been anything 1421 01:16:21,403 --> 01:16:24,443 but a terrible accident or a misunderstanding. 1422 01:16:26,603 --> 01:16:28,443 Fishburne: In fact, on his deathbed, 1423 01:16:28,603 --> 01:16:30,843 Houdini himself ruled it out. 1424 01:16:31,003 --> 01:16:34,843 He stated to his nurse Sophia Rosenblatt that, 1425 01:16:35,003 --> 01:16:37,443 "The poor boy didn't mean it." 1426 01:16:37,603 --> 01:16:40,043 Sophie Rosenblatt's deposition says that, 1427 01:16:40,203 --> 01:16:43,003 you know, in a moment of lucidity, 1428 01:16:43,163 --> 01:16:46,243 Houdini says very clearly that if the blows were the cause of it, 1429 01:16:46,403 --> 01:16:49,283 that Whitehead didn't‐‐ didn't know what he was doing. 1430 01:16:49,443 --> 01:16:51,243 Houdini felt it was an accident. 1431 01:16:51,403 --> 01:16:53,243 And to hear him say "that poor boy" 1432 01:16:53,403 --> 01:16:56,483 is‐‐ is‐‐ is moving. 1433 01:16:59,403 --> 01:17:02,243 Fishburne: The official cause of death was peritonitis. 1434 01:17:02,403 --> 01:17:03,963 His appendix, hugely inflamed, 1435 01:17:04,123 --> 01:17:08,843 hadn't been operated on in time and had ruptured. 1436 01:17:09,003 --> 01:17:11,363 Goodwin: The truth is, how he died was very simple. 1437 01:17:11,523 --> 01:17:14,043 And I think it was very difficult for the public 1438 01:17:14,203 --> 01:17:17,043 and the media to accept it, 1439 01:17:17,203 --> 01:17:19,123 and they wanted to make something more of it. 1440 01:17:19,283 --> 01:17:22,043 So it's almost a sort of ridiculous end 1441 01:17:22,203 --> 01:17:24,443 to this fantastic, magnificent life. 1442 01:17:24,603 --> 01:17:26,443 And it's hard to accept, 1443 01:17:26,603 --> 01:17:30,643 but I believe the facts do support that. 1444 01:17:30,803 --> 01:17:35,043 Fishburne: So should responsibility for the death lie with Houdini himself, 1445 01:17:35,203 --> 01:17:39,843 allowing himself to be punched when he knew his body was failing him? 1446 01:17:40,003 --> 01:17:42,443 It seems the desire to cheat death at every turn 1447 01:17:42,603 --> 01:17:44,363 finally got the better of him. 1448 01:17:46,403 --> 01:17:49,243 On November 2nd, 1926, 1449 01:17:49,403 --> 01:17:52,483 people wept openly as Houdini's body was returned 1450 01:17:52,643 --> 01:17:56,283 to his adopted home city of New York. 1451 01:17:56,443 --> 01:17:57,483 Cox: People turned out. 1452 01:17:57,643 --> 01:17:59,363 They wanted to get one last look 1453 01:17:59,523 --> 01:18:01,123 at Houdini, you know, 1454 01:18:01,283 --> 01:18:04,163 in the box that he'll never escape. 1455 01:18:08,363 --> 01:18:10,843 Kalush: It's almost like a state funeral. 1456 01:18:11,003 --> 01:18:15,043 And it speaks to, A, not just how famous he is, 1457 01:18:15,203 --> 01:18:16,643 but also how well‐loved he was. 1458 01:18:16,803 --> 01:18:19,883 Terbosic: In Harry Houdini's obituary, 1459 01:18:20,043 --> 01:18:22,403 he was referred to as a scientist. 1460 01:18:22,563 --> 01:18:25,043 And I'm sure as a young Harry Houdini 1461 01:18:25,203 --> 01:18:27,243 who had dropped out of school, 1462 01:18:27,403 --> 01:18:31,643 that probably brought a smile to his face. 1463 01:18:31,803 --> 01:18:33,643 Fishburne: So having delved into the secrets 1464 01:18:33,803 --> 01:18:35,323 hidden in Houdini's lost diaries, 1465 01:18:35,483 --> 01:18:40,043 just who was the man behind the mask? 1466 01:18:40,203 --> 01:18:42,843 Kalush: I think Houdini was the American dream. 1467 01:18:43,003 --> 01:18:46,043 He came from almost nothing. 1468 01:18:46,203 --> 01:18:47,723 And through just grit, 1469 01:18:47,883 --> 01:18:51,243 and hard work and ingenuity and imagination, 1470 01:18:51,403 --> 01:18:53,803 he did everything in his life he wanted to do. 1471 01:18:53,963 --> 01:18:59,803 Very few entertainers or performers can become synonymous with their art. 1472 01:18:59,963 --> 01:19:04,723 His legacy as a performer will live on forever. 1473 01:19:08,603 --> 01:19:10,883 Jillette: And it's just so odd 1474 01:19:11,043 --> 01:19:15,923 that the superstar of the 20th century 1475 01:19:16,083 --> 01:19:17,603 ended up being a magician. 1476 01:19:17,763 --> 01:19:23,723 And all we can do is thank God he wasn't a ventriloquist. 1477 01:19:27,323 --> 01:19:30,163 Fishburne: Houdini's diaries are a chance to probe the mind 1478 01:19:30,323 --> 01:19:33,283 and personality of the first global celebrity. 1479 01:19:33,443 --> 01:19:37,043 While he was a complex and uniquely driven man, 1480 01:19:37,203 --> 01:19:39,443 Houdini succeeded because 1481 01:19:39,603 --> 01:19:41,883 in the turmoil and change of the 20th century, 1482 01:19:42,043 --> 01:19:45,883 he gave back to the world a sense of wonder and magic. 1483 01:19:46,043 --> 01:19:47,443 I'm Laurence Fishburne. 1484 01:19:47,603 --> 01:19:51,923 Thank you for watching "History's Greatest Mysteries."