Such neat tricks as the magician's escapes from a strait-jacket while hanging head down from a Manhattan rooftop from a supposedly foolproof London jail and from a steel trunk dropped into the frozen Detroit River are calculated to keep a spectator interested.But the saga of the romance and backstage trials and tribulations of Houdini and the young girl he quickly woos and marries is pat stuff. Despite the rich sources at hand, the fabulous magician's career emerges as a succession of escapes, legerdemain and a rags-to-riches idyll that does not precisely cleave to the truth and rarely breaks away from standard screen fiction.In following Philip Yordan's script, director George Marshall is largely dependent on the more spectacular highlights of Houdini's colorful story than the man himself.
Although his exploits mystified and captivated a previous generation, the Technicolored biography of "Houdini," which turned up at the Holiday yesterday, is hardly spellbinding.
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