1 00:00:00,165 --> 00:00:01,166 Nothing. 2 00:00:03,167 --> 00:00:08,170 This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. 3 00:00:10,172 --> 00:00:18,177 The producer's purpose is to suggest some possible explanations, but not necessarily the only ones to the mysteries we will examine. 4 00:00:19,178 --> 00:00:26,182 The Master Mystifier of the Age 5 00:00:26,182 --> 00:00:34,188 Houdini called himself the Master Mystifier of the Age, the undisputed king of handcuffs. 6 00:00:35,188 --> 00:00:37,190 No ropes could bind him. 7 00:00:38,190 --> 00:00:41,192 No icy waters drowned him. 8 00:00:42,193 --> 00:00:49,198 In prison in chains or suspended in straight jackets, Houdini emerged from every restraint. 9 00:00:50,198 --> 00:00:58,204 Though denying he had supernatural powers, he spent his life in pursuit of death and hoped to communicate from beyond the grave. 10 00:00:59,204 --> 00:01:02,206 What were the secrets of the Great Houdini? 11 00:01:02,206 --> 00:01:18,217 The Great Houdini died on Halloween 1926. In death he remains as enigmatic as he was in life. 12 00:01:19,217 --> 00:01:26,222 For years he visited spiritual mediums and seances seeking proof of life after death. 13 00:01:26,222 --> 00:01:32,226 And shortly before he died, he promised to send word from the beyond, if he could. 14 00:01:33,227 --> 00:01:40,231 Houdini was perhaps the best known escape artist of all time. From the beginning he was surrounded by mystery. 15 00:01:41,232 --> 00:01:48,237 Born Eric Weiss in Hungary in 1874, he would later claim Wisconsin as his birthplace. 16 00:01:49,237 --> 00:01:56,242 He was a restless child who rarely slept, his only consolation, the beat of his mother's heart. 17 00:01:59,244 --> 00:02:07,249 It became the driving rhythm of his life, an affirmation that all was well, even through difficult times. 18 00:02:09,251 --> 00:02:14,254 Magic fascinated young Eric and provided escape from a life of hardship. 19 00:02:15,255 --> 00:02:21,259 Already captivated by sleight of hand masters, he happened upon a book that would change his existence. 20 00:02:22,259 --> 00:02:27,263 The life story and secrets of France's greatest conjurer, Robert Houdin. 21 00:02:28,263 --> 00:02:34,267 Taking Houdin's illusions and adopting his name, Eric became Houdini the magician. 22 00:02:35,268 --> 00:02:44,274 These simple props, now in a museum, were among the first that he could afford as he struggled to survive in an already overcrowded field. 23 00:02:45,275 --> 00:02:50,278 In an attempt to appear successful, he dubbed himself the King of Cards. 24 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:58,283 While playing beer halls on Coney Island, Harry fell in love with a beautiful young singer. 25 00:02:58,283 --> 00:03:05,288 Her name was Beatrice Runner. Harry called her Bess. 26 00:03:06,289 --> 00:03:11,292 She was part of an act called The Floral Sisters and Just 18. 27 00:03:12,293 --> 00:03:19,297 Although Harry was Jewish and Bess Catholic, their romance blossomed. 28 00:03:19,297 --> 00:03:26,302 Despite her family's objections, within weeks she would become Mrs. Harry Houdini and join his act. 29 00:03:27,302 --> 00:03:35,308 The highlight of their show became a disappearing trick called Metamorphosis, in which Harry and Bess would exchange places inside a bag, inside a trunk, in three seconds. 30 00:03:36,308 --> 00:03:41,312 The film was shot in the morning, and the film was shot in the morning. 31 00:03:41,312 --> 00:03:48,316 Metamorphosis, in which Harry and Bess would exchange places inside a bag, inside a trunk, in three seconds. 32 00:03:49,317 --> 00:03:56,322 Although audiences were intrigued by the illusion, it was not unique, and Harry would continue to seek new tricks. 33 00:03:57,322 --> 00:04:04,327 Handcuff escapes were common entertainment, though the audiences knew that performers used phony cuffs. 34 00:04:05,328 --> 00:04:09,330 But Harry practiced with real ones every night. 35 00:04:10,331 --> 00:04:17,336 He developed a locksmith's mastery of what became a huge collection and could escape from every cuff. 36 00:04:18,336 --> 00:04:23,340 Still, the audiences were unimpressed, so Houdini searched for a more challenging restraint. 37 00:04:24,340 --> 00:04:27,342 He found it in the straight jacket. 38 00:04:29,344 --> 00:04:38,350 After seeing an inmate at an insane asylum struggling futilely in such a device, Houdini was inspired to incorporate the stunt into his act. 39 00:04:39,350 --> 00:04:44,354 This rare piece of film documents his entire escape in less than three minutes. 40 00:05:09,370 --> 00:05:19,377 Yet even with the straight jacket, Houdini's climb to Vondel fame seemed agonizingly slow. 41 00:05:20,378 --> 00:05:25,381 He despaired being at the bottom of the bill, below such acts as the tiniest triplets ever born. 42 00:05:26,382 --> 00:05:30,384 Desperate for publicity, he was a very good actor. 43 00:05:30,384 --> 00:05:36,388 He despaired being at the bottom of the bill, below such acts as the tiniest triplets ever born. 44 00:05:37,389 --> 00:05:42,392 Desperate for publicity, he dared police to try to lock him in their cuffs. 45 00:05:43,393 --> 00:05:45,394 The challenge would become his trademark. 46 00:05:46,395 --> 00:05:51,398 Houdini expert and owner of many of his handcuffs is amateur magician Sid Radner. 47 00:05:52,399 --> 00:05:55,401 Houdini didn't invent the Handcuff Escape Act, but he did perfect it. 48 00:05:55,401 --> 00:06:00,404 Unlike his competitors and the people who preceded him, Houdini took on all comers. 49 00:06:01,405 --> 00:06:08,409 Every sheriff, every chief of police, every deputy, everybody from anywhere could bring in handcuffs, ordinary handcuffs, bring them up in the stage. 50 00:06:09,410 --> 00:06:20,417 They had to be in good working order and as long as they were in good working order, Houdini would accept the challenge and he would proceed to get out of these handcuffs, ordinary handcuffs just as these are here. 51 00:06:21,418 --> 00:06:29,423 Finally, Houdini's skill caught the attention of a major vaudeville booker and he and Best started a national tour. 52 00:06:30,424 --> 00:06:32,425 They were paid $120 a week. 53 00:06:33,426 --> 00:06:41,431 For publicity, Houdini added jail breaks to his repertoire, allowing police to strip and search him before locking him in a cell. 54 00:06:43,433 --> 00:06:48,436 Minutes later, Houdini would appear free, unfettered and fully clothed. 55 00:06:51,438 --> 00:06:56,441 It was not until he toured Europe that he achieved the fame he had dreamed of. 56 00:06:57,442 --> 00:07:00,444 Success would stretch his tour to four years. 57 00:07:01,445 --> 00:07:04,447 France paid homage to the king of cuffs. 58 00:07:05,447 --> 00:07:12,452 German theaters begged him to extend his tour and in Russia, he freed himself from a Siberian patty wagon. 59 00:07:13,453 --> 00:07:16,455 But escaping from bonds of rope and steel were not enough. 60 00:07:17,455 --> 00:07:22,459 To generate bigger audiences for his stage shows, he risked a drowning death. 61 00:07:33,466 --> 00:07:36,468 Houdini yearned to share his success with his now widowed mother. 62 00:07:37,469 --> 00:07:47,475 So he sent for her in Budapest and giving her a gown designed for the late Queen Victoria presented her like royalty to relatives and old family friends. 63 00:07:49,477 --> 00:07:55,481 Triumphantly, he returned to America as a vaudeville headliner earning $1,200 a week. 64 00:07:57,482 --> 00:08:04,486 Drumming up business in each new town with increasingly hazard stunts, it now seemed as though nothing could hold him. 65 00:08:06,488 --> 00:08:24,500 It was impossible for audiences to understand how he could survive in a box in the dark underwater for four minutes. 66 00:08:25,500 --> 00:08:32,505 Only the few close to him knew how he picked locks with his toes and even dislocated his joints to escape. 67 00:08:37,508 --> 00:08:48,516 The crowds always wondered if this time Houdini would die. How often did he wonder himself? 68 00:08:52,518 --> 00:08:59,523 Death fascinated him and he would frequently hire a local photographer to take his picture by a famous tombstone. 69 00:09:00,524 --> 00:09:14,533 He even arranged the stunt in which he was buried alive six feet deep. The weight of the earth nearly suffocated him. He swore he'd never attempt it again. 70 00:09:16,534 --> 00:09:25,540 Houdini delighted in convincing his audience he was always just a breath away from death. No stunt achieved that better than the water torture cell. 71 00:09:26,541 --> 00:09:33,546 The audience was allowed to inspect the 100 gallon tank but they could never detect a trick. 72 00:09:34,546 --> 00:09:41,551 Behind a drawn curtain, Houdini would somehow escape and then wait unseen as minutes passed. 73 00:09:42,552 --> 00:09:49,556 When the audience could bear the tension no longer, Houdini would emerge breathless to their immense relief. 74 00:09:50,557 --> 00:09:57,562 Some were so amazed by Houdini's prowess they were sure he possessed paranormal abilities. 75 00:09:58,562 --> 00:10:05,567 Magic expert Walter Gibson discussed this issue with Houdini during their friendship in the 1920s. 76 00:10:06,568 --> 00:10:15,574 The question has been raised about Houdini's approach to the supernatural. Many thought that he had a mediumistic powers himself. 77 00:10:15,574 --> 00:10:23,579 And that he didn't want to advertise that fact so he simply pretended that his escapes were normal things. 78 00:10:24,579 --> 00:10:37,588 So they thought that the reason that he enclosed himself in a cabinet was to get the darkness that would bring spirit aid and that he actually would dematerialize from some of these contraptions in which he'd been placed. 79 00:10:38,589 --> 00:10:48,595 The more successful Houdini became the more his mother was proud of him. Ironically his act grew so popular they rarely saw each other anymore. 80 00:10:49,596 --> 00:10:58,602 When he and Bess set sail for another European tour, Mama came to say her farewell. It was the last time they would see her alive. 81 00:10:59,603 --> 00:11:09,609 Devastated by the loss, Houdini would spend hours by her grave hoping for a word from beyond. 82 00:11:10,610 --> 00:11:16,614 The vigil became an obsession that would change the course of his life. 83 00:11:17,615 --> 00:11:25,620 Houdini entered a period of intense mourning following the death of his mother. 84 00:11:26,621 --> 00:11:31,624 He edged his stationery in black and published elaborate tributes to her. 85 00:11:32,625 --> 00:11:40,630 After a year he recovered from his grief and burst upon the American scene with renewed vigor and purpose. 86 00:11:41,631 --> 00:11:49,636 The public response was greater than ever as Houdini introduced a new twist to his straight jacket escape. 87 00:11:53,639 --> 00:12:00,643 Although it appeared more dangerous, Houdini would later admit the inverted position made his release simpler. 88 00:12:01,644 --> 00:12:10,650 In city after city his genius for publicity drew huge crowds and packed the theaters night after night. 89 00:12:19,656 --> 00:12:21,657 Movies made his tricks even easier. 90 00:12:21,657 --> 00:12:37,668 Playing characters named Harvey Hanford and Harry Harper, the movies and serials featured the stunts that had made him famous. 91 00:12:37,668 --> 00:12:44,672 Within a few years he formed his own motion picture company. 92 00:12:45,673 --> 00:12:57,681 The theme of his first movie was reincarnation as Houdini comes back to life from an icy arctic grave as the man from beyond. 93 00:13:08,688 --> 00:13:16,694 The plot of the movie nearly caused him disaster at Niagara Falls. 94 00:13:18,695 --> 00:13:24,699 Despite Houdini's safety precautions, the stunt almost killed him and his costar. 95 00:13:38,708 --> 00:13:44,712 There are those who say he encouraged these brushes with death. 96 00:13:45,713 --> 00:13:53,718 Death and what lay beyond would always fascinate Houdini, for this was the barrier that separated him from his beloved mother. 97 00:13:54,719 --> 00:13:57,721 Trying to contact her became an obsession. 98 00:13:58,722 --> 00:14:06,727 During the 1920s spiritualism was widespread giving hope to the living that they could communicate with the dead. 99 00:14:07,728 --> 00:14:10,730 Houdini was once more prospered in darkened seance rooms. 100 00:14:11,730 --> 00:14:16,734 Sir Arthur Cunnand Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, was one of its major advocates. 101 00:14:17,734 --> 00:14:26,740 On tour in England, Houdini accompanied Doyle to over 100 seances, but still no messages came from his beloved mother. 102 00:14:27,741 --> 00:14:35,746 So great was Houdini's distress and disappointment that Lady Doyle volunteered to use her powers to contact the spirit of his mother. 103 00:14:35,746 --> 00:14:43,752 A seance was held and Lady Doyle began writing in a trance, unaware of the words that flowed on to the paper. 104 00:14:44,752 --> 00:14:48,755 Oh my darling, thank God at last I am through. 105 00:14:49,756 --> 00:14:55,759 I want to talk to my boy, my own beloved boy. Now I can rest in peace. 106 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:01,763 First moved by this demonstration, Houdini later rejected it. 107 00:15:01,763 --> 00:15:10,769 Why was a cross drawn when his mother was Jewish? Why was the letter in English when she spoke only German and Yiddish? 108 00:15:11,770 --> 00:15:14,772 If Lady Doyle couldn't contact her, could anyone? 109 00:15:15,773 --> 00:15:19,775 Walter Gibson recalls Houdini's turn against spiritualism. 110 00:15:20,776 --> 00:15:24,779 Now Houdini respected Cunnand Doyle and he knew there were lots of believers of that type. 111 00:15:24,779 --> 00:15:34,785 But he also knew that psychic matters, spiritualistic seances were studded with fakers and he started out to expose the fakes. 112 00:15:35,786 --> 00:15:38,788 Houdini and Bess knew all the tricks of the spooky trade. 113 00:15:39,789 --> 00:15:48,795 Built in their struggling years as Professor Harry and Mademoiselle Beatrice, they faked spirit writing on a slate and did a phony mind reading act. 114 00:15:48,795 --> 00:15:54,799 Now he attended seances disguised, exposing mediums in the course of their trickery. 115 00:15:55,799 --> 00:16:10,809 Soon he incorporated his debunking into his stage performance, demonstrating how bells were wronged by spirits, how photographic negatives were tampered with to produce ghostly images, and how props were used to fake spirit voices. 116 00:16:10,809 --> 00:16:23,818 Somebody would hold a trumpet, Houdini would stand away from the trumpet and whisper, and they didn't see a whisper, but they would catch these voices as though they came through the trumpet and he showed how that was done. 117 00:16:24,819 --> 00:16:30,823 He explained several other spiritualistic tricks, but the one that was most impressive was the slate writing. 118 00:16:30,823 --> 00:16:43,831 Houdini showed how a mediums accomplice would exchange a blank slate for one with writing, and how some mediums were so skilled they could write spirit messages with chalk between their toes. 119 00:16:44,832 --> 00:16:55,839 Houdini challenged mediums to prove their claims were real, and so did the prestigious journal The Scientific American, whose publishers asked him to join their investigation committee. 120 00:16:55,839 --> 00:17:08,848 A young medium known as Marjorie claimed to manifest a wide range of psychic phenomena. However, when Houdini devised a special box to prevent her from manipulating objects in the dark, the phenomena ceased. 121 00:17:09,848 --> 00:17:14,852 When she failed to collect the award, Marjorie predicted imminent doom for Houdini. 122 00:17:15,852 --> 00:17:23,858 As he began his September tour in 1926, Houdini himself had the premonition he would never see his home again. 123 00:17:24,858 --> 00:17:43,871 Strangely, Houdini did not die performing a dangerous stunt. While waiting backstage before a show, he was punched in the stomach by a young man who had heard of Houdini's legendary Iron Midriff. 124 00:17:44,872 --> 00:17:55,879 Unfortunately, Houdini was caught off guard and had not prepared himself for the blow. He suffered for a week from a ruptured appendix and peritonitis. He died on Halloween. 125 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:03,884 Houdini was buried in a coffin he had purchased for his act, a stack of his mother's letters under his head. 126 00:18:04,885 --> 00:18:14,892 Ironically, even though Houdini was proud of all the spiritualist fakery he exposed, he never lost his hope that there was life after death. 127 00:18:15,892 --> 00:18:23,898 While he lay dying, he made a pact with Bess that if it were possible to communicate from the other side, he would do so. 128 00:18:24,898 --> 00:18:37,907 They agreed upon a code that would prove the message was really from him. The words that would reunite them were inspired by the song that had brought them together. 129 00:18:38,908 --> 00:18:40,909 Rosa Bell, Believe 130 00:18:52,917 --> 00:18:56,920 Bess did believe and kept the light of hope burning in their home. 131 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:01,923 Mediums claimed to make contact with Houdini, but the code words were never right. 132 00:19:02,924 --> 00:19:16,933 Finally, the agreed upon message was produced by psychic Arthur Ford. Bess confirmed it at first, but later discovered there were ways he could have learned the code, ways that were not supernatural. 133 00:19:17,934 --> 00:19:29,941 On Halloween 1936, 10 years after Houdini's death, Bess and a circle of Houdini's friends met in Hollywood for a last seance. The event was recorded. 134 00:19:31,943 --> 00:19:49,955 All thou disembodied spirits, we greet thee. It is the spirit of Houdini we wish to contact. Are you here, Houdini? Please manifest yourself in any way possible. We have waited, Houdini. Oh, so long. 135 00:19:50,955 --> 00:20:00,962 Speak, speak, Harry, in the name of humanity and love, if there is communication from the great beyond, come through with the evidence. 136 00:20:01,963 --> 00:20:04,965 Speak, speak, speak, speak, speak, speak, speak, speak. 137 00:20:07,967 --> 00:20:12,970 The evidence did not come. Bess sadly closed her final seance. 138 00:20:13,971 --> 00:20:29,981 My last hope is gone. I do not believe that Houdini can come back to me or to anyone. The Houdini shrine has burned for 10 years. I now reverently turn out to life. 139 00:20:29,981 --> 00:20:31,983 Good night, Harry. 140 00:20:34,985 --> 00:20:48,994 Buried with Houdini was his hope that he could be contacted after death. Although Bess gave up, there are still those who try to reach him and dream that he may yet be the man from beyond. 141 00:20:49,995 --> 00:21:02,003 Although Houdini's will specified that all his illusions and theatrical props be destroyed after his brother's death, many of them have survived in private collections. 142 00:21:03,003 --> 00:21:10,008 At the Houdini Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Canada, two of his challenges still wait to be met. 143 00:21:11,009 --> 00:21:19,014 Since his death more than 50 years ago, no other magician has exactly duplicated his escape from the water torture cell. 144 00:21:20,015 --> 00:21:31,022 And within this envelope is a secret code. So far, no medium has come forth with the precise code words to prove communication with the dead. 145 00:21:32,023 --> 00:21:37,026 No one could be more pleased that the challenges continue than the great Houdini. 146 00:21:45,031 --> 00:21:52,036 Coming up next, agents unraveled the events surrounding the murder of a state prosecutor on FBI, the Untold Stories. 147 00:21:53,036 --> 00:21:58,040 Then history's crimes and trials chronicles the Hollywood crime rampage of Charles Manson and his cult followers. 148 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:07,046 And later tonight, Hex Factor Week continues on History's Mysteries with a journey into America's psychic past from seances to CIA telepathy. 149 00:22:08,046 --> 00:22:11,048 At 8 here on the History Channel where the past comes alive.