![houdini 1953 houdini 1953](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sk0AeDzmAwU/VVX-AYyk3-I/AAAAAAACMCo/wvwZEZ6o5Wo/s1600/Houdini%2B(1953)%2B38.png)
reels, so when a release print is made, those 1000 ft reels are combined into one “A/B” reel (two 1000 ft loads). However, theaters projectors could eventually handle 2000 ft. That became the standard reel length for post production work right up to the end. In TI’s day, film reels couldn’t be longer than 1000 ft. So that explains one reel, but two reels are missing.
#HOUDINI 1953 TV#
Since the underwater packing box escape scene was the only part needed for that TV show, it appears the techs removed that particular reel from the canister and never bothered to put it back after it was used. Those reels went into metal canisters that looked kinda like clam shells.
![houdini 1953 houdini 1953](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xKYO_zLzJlU/V9R339Zx6cI/AAAAAAAEvAc/hKe4OJm6pfQnzDgczyQ98hyX4wI0H1KkQCPcB/s1600/Houdini%2B1953%2B00000%2B108102.jpg)
The completed picture was divided into half a dozen or so reels.
![houdini 1953 houdini 1953](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GBbb_BaNE1A/VVX98hS6cbI/AAAAAAACMB4/NvIeSj_7g-w/s1600/Houdini%2B(1953)%2B31.png)
It’s the only thing I can think of that would explain the missing reel. In July of 1952, Tony Curtis was preparing for his role in Houdini (released 1953), by surveying Silent Houdini Films at Paramount, which included Terror Island. So, what happened to these missing reels? My colleagues (John Cox, Leo Hevia) and I feel that it was around the time of the Tony Curtis “Houdini” movie, when Parts 3 and 4 got separated from the rest. If you compare the running time of the five existing reels (1, 2, 5, 6 and 7) at 55 minutes (54.19) to the footage per reel, the LoC print is missing about 25 minutes (Reel 3 and 4) played at 20 fps (75 feet a minute). Reel One: 975 feet, Reel Two: 848 feet, Reel Three: 958 feet, Reel Four: 917 feet, Reel Five: 889 feet., Reel Six: 784 feet and Reel Seven: 568 feet. Terror Island Part 4 (2 of 2) Underwater Box Escapeĭocumentation at the Margaret Herrick Library gave the original length of each of the seven reels, which added up to 5939 feet:.The exisiting version of “Terror Island” found in the Library of Congress (LoC) is from the Realart print and is approximately 55 minutes, but it is missing its reels (Parts) Three and Four: Terror Island was released by Famous Players Lasky’s Paramount Artcraft Production Unit in 1920 and then re-released in 1922 under their Realart Picture Production Unit, where the title cards changed to reflect that it was a Realart Picture. The film also follows his love for his wife Bess Houdini and his most dangerous stunts and stage illusions.Disclaimer at the start of the Kino edition of Terror Island Following the death of his mother, he exposes various fraudulent Mediums in the spiritualist movement, while always hoping to make contact with her. It details his beginnings as a locksmith, up through his international success as a world-renowned escape artist and stage magician. The film's storyline is a fictionalized account of Houdini's life. The art direction was by Albert Nozaki and Hal Pereira and the costume design by Edith Head. The film's music score was by Roy Webb and the cinematography by Ernest Laszlo. The film's screenplay, based upon the life of magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, is by Philip Yordan, based on the book Houdini by Harold Kellock. Houdini is a 1953 American Technicolor film biography from Paramount Pictures, produced by George Pal and Berman Swarttz, directed by George Marshall, that stars then husband-and-wife Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.