historicalHoudini Posters, Photos, Vintage Memorabilia

Original Vintage Magic Movie Poster Lobby Card

GRIM GAME, 1919
Harry Houdini

JUST ACQUIRED!

Being a lifelong Houdini collector,  I've spent decades searching for the opportunity to own an original piece of film history from this once believed long lost Harry Houdini 106+ year old masteriece!

Escaping from what his captures thought was impossible, as they tried to drown him, Houdini comes to the surface in this spectacular vintage lobby card close-up portrait.

Condition: This amazing piece of history is in incredible excellent condition with just a couple pinholes at top corners for theater display.  That said, it has been astonishingly well preserved for the past 105+ years. 

See enlargeable images of front and back

Note:   You will see on the bottom right, it is dated 1920.     This is Not unusual.   Although The Grim Game was first released in late 1919, many theaters—especially outside major cities—didn’t screen it until 1920.  Studios often printed new lobby cards with the current exhibition year, not the original release year,  for theater owners that were still requesting them a few months thereafter..

Note that there is a stamp on the back that reads "FROM THE COLLECTION OF Michael R. Hawks", who most would consider the premier lobby card collector and expert in the world, as there have been books written about him and his lobby card collection which you can find on Amazon.  

The Grim Game (Paramount/Famous Players Lasky, 1919). Lobby Card (11" X 14").
Harry Houdini got to perform plenty of escapes in one of his first film efforts, to keep from being falsely imprisoned for murder. What is very interesting to note, is the tagline at the bottom of the card, as he emerges from the water..."they couldn't even drown Houdini." Although his character name in the film is "Harvey Hanford" the studio, along with the public, could only see the mesmerizing showman as himself!  

Harry Houdini got to perform plenty of escapes in one of his first film efforts, to keep from being falsely imprisoned for murder. What is very interesting to note, is the tagline at the bottom of the card, as he emerges from the water..."they couldn't even drown Houdini." Although his character name in the film is "Harvey Hanford" the studio, along with the public, could only see the mesmerizing showman as himself!

This escape-laden thriller starred famous magician and showman Harry Houdini in his first feature film (a year earlier he had appeared in a serial), after which he was inspired to delve deeper into the medium. He reportedly signed a long-term contract with Paramount-Famous Players-Lasky after the release of The Grim Game, but he only made one more film with the studio before moving back to New York to start his own production company and film lab. He independently produced two more films that he also starred in before ending his film career after a total of just five films, because he was dissatisfied with the profits of these lone efforts. The Grim Game recently resurfaced and was restored and screened at the Turner Classic Movies Festival in 2015, joining other surviving materials for the film.

This impossible to find portrait card has only a couple border pinholes, and the overall impressive condition is almost as hard to believe as Houdini's immortal escapes (which no one has ever figured out, only speculations exist).  Simply Breath-taking!

History on this once long lost film:   The Houdini film "Grim Game" was once thought lost and how it was rediscovered and restored.

The Grim Game is a 1919 silent drama starring legendary escape artist Harry Houdini, made at the peak of his fame and featuring him in thrilling stunts and escapes. For decades it was regarded by film historians as a lost film, with only short fragments (notably the airplane crash scene) surviving publicly. This fate was common for silent films, many of which deteriorated or were destroyed because of the fragile nitrate film stock used at the time. 

Unbeknownst to most of the world, a complete print of The Grim Game did survive — but only in the private collection of Larry Weeks, a retired juggler, magic collector, and self-described “Houdini’s biggest fan.” Weeks had acquired the print as early as 1947 from Houdini’s estate and kept it mostly hidden in his Brooklyn apartment, occasionally showing it to friends and fellow magicians.

Magicians and Houdini historians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, knew the film existed because Weeks had shown it to them years earlier. Despite repeated attempts to acquire it, Weeks initially refused to part with the print. 

Finally, in 2014, they introduced Weeks to film preservationist Rick Schmidlin and contacted Turner Classic Movies (TCM). After persistent negotiations — partly motivated by Weeks’s declining health — he agreed to sell the film and allow it to be transferred to preservation experts.

*SEE IT HERE:
If you've never seen this re-discovered, restored masterpiece,  Here is the link.  Not sure how long it will be available before it is taken down. 

Note: Cvtreasures stamp Not on original