Houdini is a two-part, four-hour History Channel miniseries written by Nicholas Meyer and directed by Uli Edel. It premiered on September 1, 2014. The series stars Adrien Brody as Harry Houdini and features the life of the legendary illusionist and escape artist from poverty to worldwide fame.

Cast Adrien Brody as Harry Houdini, world-famous magician Louis Mertens as Erich Weiss, young Harry Kristen Connolly as Bess Houdini, Harry's wife Evan Jones as Jim Collins, Harry's assistant Eszter Ónodi as Cecilia Weiss, Harry's mother Tom Benedict Knight as Dash Houdini, Harry's younger brother Connor Kelly as Young Dash Weiss Tim Pigott-Smith as William Melville, head of MI5 Shaun Williamson as Sidney Reilly, MI5 agent and Harry's handler David Calder as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes and believer in spiritualism Linda Marlowe as Lady Jean Doyle, Arthur Conan Doyle's clairvoyant wife Megan Dodds as Margery Crandon, spiritualist Eric Loren as John Wilkie, head of the United States Secret Service Gyula Mesterházy as Kaiser Wilhelm II, German emperor Iván Kamarás as Grigori Rasputin, Russian mystic Simon Nader as Tsar Nicholas Romanov, emperor of Russia Bori Karádi as Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, empress of Russia Alexis Latham as Arthur Ford, psychic

Production

Development History first announced the development of a Harry Houdini biopic miniseries with Adrien Brody attached to star on April 10, 2013. The series was officially green-lit on August 19, 2013, with Kristen Connolly announced as Brody's co-star and Uli Edel as director. The screenplay was to be penned by veteran author and filmmaker Nicholas Meyer, based on the 1976 book Houdini: A Mind in Chains: A Psychoanalytic Portrait by his father, Bernard C. Meyer. Patrizia von Brandenstein and Karl Walter Lindenlaub were also announced as production designer and cinematographer, respectively. On September 17, 2013, it was announced that actor Evan Jones had been added to the cast as Houdini's assistant Jim Collins.

Filming Filming on the miniseries began on September 30, 2013. It was shot entirely in Budapest, Hungary (coincidentally the real Harry Houdini's birthplace), which executive producer Gerald W. Abrams described as having "more turn-of-the-century architecture—that's the 19th century—than almost any city in Western culture." Brody, who had studied magic as a child, performed many of the show's stunts himself, including the suspended strait jacket escape and the famous Chinese Water Torture Cell.

Music The score to Houdini was written by the veteran film composer John Debney. A lifelong fan of Harry Houdini, Debney joined the project at the behest of a producer with whom he had previously collaborated on the A&E miniseries Bonnie & Clyde. Rather than compose a period score for the series, Debney instead elected to write an "electronic/contemporary" score, with "instruments from the period that would give you the flavor of the times and give you the feeling of who this guy was." A two volume soundtrack was released for digital download by Lakeshore Records on August 26, 2014 and later on CD September 23, 2014.

Promotion A trailer for Houdini was released online in early August 2014.

Episodes

Reception

Ratings Part 1 of the series was watched by 3.7 million viewers, averaging 1.2 million among adults 18–49 and 1.5 million in 25–54. Despite debuting much lower than History's previous series' Hatfields & McCoys and Bonnie & Clyde, Houdini was nevertheless cable television's top miniseries debut of 2014 to date.

Critical response Houdini received a mixed response, with praise for the direction, sound design and Brody's performance as a "comeback", although the script was criticized. The series currently holds a 44% "Rotten" rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with a consensus "Houdini's cast is talented, but given the decades of fascination surrounding its subject, the show is oddly lacking in intrigue."

Allison Keene of The Hollywood Reporter praised Brody's Houdini as possessing "infectious zest" and commented that "... the miniseries nails the most important thing: spectacle. Edel's refreshingly dynamic direction and Brody’s buoyant performance allow Houdini's tricks to retain their wonder, even for the jaded modern viewer. That's a magical feat indeed." Despite referring to some aspects of the series as "a bit heavy-handed," Mark Perigard of the Boston Herald gave Houdini a positive "B" rating and opined, "You’ll almost believe in magic—the magic of a miniseries to capture the tics and tricks of a complicated, driven man."

Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times called Brody "a treat to watch," but criticized the screenplay and direction. He added, "A better version of this amazing life will surely be made in one genre or another, but this one's at least diverting." Brian Lowry of Variety, however, spoke less favorably of the series, describing Brody's performance as being "ultimately overwhelmed" by Meyer's "misbegotten, heavy-handed, narrated-ad-nauseam script (...) and Uli Edel's equally obtrusive direction." Meyer addressed the voiceovers in a subsequent interview with StarTrek.com, stating "Well, they – you know, sort of re-cut the movie, and tore a lot of it out, and put in a lot of voiceovers and stuff that I just wasn't crazy about. And [it] wasn't our intention. It hadn't been written."

Awards and nominations Year Awards Category Recipient Outcome Ref.2015Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a MovieOutstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic SpecialPrimetime Creative Emmy AwardsOutstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or MovieOutstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or MovieOutstanding Makeup for a Limited Series or a MovieOutstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a SpecialScreen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television MovieArt Directors Guild AwardsExcellence in Production Design for a Television Movie or Limited SeriesCinema Audio Society AwardsOutstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movie or Mini-SeriesCostume Designers Guild AwardsOutstanding Made for Television Movie or MiniseriesDirectors Guild of America AwardsOutstanding Directing – Television FilmMotion Picture Sound EditorsBest Sound Editing - Dialogue and ADR in Short Form TelevisionBest Sound Editing - Sound Effects and Foley in Long Form TelevisionWriters Guild of America AwardsLong Form AdaptedHollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild AwardsBest Period and/or Character Makeup - Television Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Best Special Makeup Effects - Television Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionBest Period and/or Character Hair Styling - Television Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionOnline Film & Television Association AwardsBest Cinematography in a Non-SeriesBest Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries

International broadcast Houdini was first shown on Channel 4 in the UK in September 2014 and later released on Netflix UK on 7 March 2015. Houdini premiered on the Seven Network on June 23, 2015. It is available on Shomi in Canada. In Brazil, Houdini aired on January 5, 2016 as a four-part series on Globo channel. It is available on SonyLIV in India.

References

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