The Magic Man

The eminent film producer Ray Stark appears to be having a difficult time finding an exciting plot in the life of Harry Houdini. This is about as demanding as discovering a sports theme in the Babe Ruth story (“Houdini, the Movie: Many Have Escaped Already,” Film Clips, Oct. 11).

Houdini, one of 10 children of a failed Hungarian rabbi, rose from a poor home in Appleton, Wis., to become the unchallenged king of all the magicians who ever lived, and his name is still invoked to describe various impossibilities achieved by those performers today who emulate his feats.

As a professional magician and escape artist myself, I know what it is to walk in his dark shadow.

In 1953, George Pal ground out a Houdini film, fictionalizing the facts until star Tony Curtis had created a character who only vaguely resembled the famous magician. Those of us who were aware of the real fascination of Houdini were shocked and disappointed to see the caricature that was presented to filmgoers.

Stark would do well to represent the true story of Harry Houdini, a story that needs no Hollywood fabrications or hyperbolizing to be exciting, provocative and absorbing. He was a figure of almost-myth, a giant of his profession and an inventive, clever performer. Houdini stands above Hollywood and the worst it can do to his memory.

JAMES RANDI

Plantation, Fla.

Magician-investigator James (The Amazing) Randi is the author of nine books, five of them dealing with magic.